Alfred University, Alfred, New York
For the past 10 years, the Alfred Systems Group (ASG)—a unique conglomeration of students and faculty from Alfred University’s College of Business—has provided consulting services to nonprofit agencies in the Southern Tier of New York State. As an extension of the classroom learning environment, ASG provides systems analysis and market research for their nonprofit clients. Through on-site visits and on-campus meetings, clients and ASG teams work together to assess needs and perform analyses. Recently, ASG helped a variety of clients, encompassing many different industries. Students designed a computer-based document and management information system for the Allegany County Chapter of the New York State Association for Retarded Citizens (NYSARC) and modified the blood supply tracking for Olean General Hospital (saving the hospital thousands of dollars in consulting fees). Organizations such as the Jones Memorial Hospital, Allegany County Office for the Aging, the Health Department and Wellsville Police Department also received similar services. "The services we provide are vital to the success of many of the nonprofit organizations in the region," said David Szczerbacki, dean of the College of Business. "In fact, we receive so many requests for help that we currently can’t service the demand."

For more information, contact: Frank Duserick, associate dean, College of Business, 607-871-2294

Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee
Aspirations to grow a caring and healthy community have blossomed across the community of Clarksville, Tenn. Partnerships formed among business, academic, government and community organizations have seeded a landscape of new initiatives during the past decade that are taking root in the rapidly growing "gateway to the new south." At the center, tilling the soil, is the College of Business at Austin Peay State University, which opens its doors to share ideas through faculty and alumni teaching and consulting, as well as student involvement in special projects. Among its successes is the "Families First" initiative, developed and launched by an alum to reduce the cost of welfare by facilitating the training and employment of welfare recipients, and the joint "Collaborations Project," which involves the dean, alumni, faculty and students with local leaders in a community-wide grassroots needs assessment. Another successful program is "Aspire 2000," in which alumnae participated in an initiative for the Economic Development Council to develop agendas for community enhancement including a project currently providing $280,000 to establish an online database of regional economic information. Although each of these initiatives has had a positive impact on the community at large, according to Carmen Reagan, dean of the College of Business, "Perhaps the greatest long-term effect is the lasting impressions planted in the minds of students that both profit and nonprofit organizations have a responsibility for raising social, as well as financial, capital."

For more information, contact: Carmen Reagan, dean, College of Business, 931-648-7674

Babson College, Boston, Massachusetts
Veta Weir was not your typical MBA candidate. With a background in and a passion for the fine arts, this competitive black marathon runner in her late 30s decided she needed her MBA. Veta realized that by strengthening her foundation of business skills and studying strategic approaches in the for-profit sector, she would be better equipped to pragmatically attack the complex business situations that she often faced as the program coordinator for the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Given the broad-based job responsibilities inherent in many nonprofit organizations, Veta recognized that enhancing her functional knowledge of such areas as law, accounting, information technology and marketing would enable her to have a more significant impact on the organizations with which she was affiliated. After two years of rigorous study at the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College, Veta turned her realizations into reality, having recently secured a position as the director of educational outreach at the Boston Lyric Opera. Veta credits the Babson MBA program with providing her not only with the strong business foundation she originally desired, but also tremendous confidence, enhanced credibility and ongoing support from the faculty, her fellow students and local alumni. Consistent with her passion for marathons, Veta already is planning for continued partnerships with these folks, seeking creative ways to increase her donor base and continuing to benefit from Babson in the long run!

For more information, contact Jim McKellar, assistant director of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship, jmckellar@babson.edu 

Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York
Investing in tomorrow’s workforce is a top priority for rural upstate New York’s major industries, particularly when counties such as St. Lawrence rank only 59th out of 62 counties in per capita income. That’s why Clarkson University's School of Business has established a total of seven partnerships, among 11 school districts and 10 businesses, to prepare elementary and secondary students to face the challenges that await them in the highly competitive and rapidly changing global economy. During the past five years, the Business-Educational Partnership Program has matched teams of graduate business students with school districts and business sponsors to set goals and organize and implement customized programs. Each partnership has its own personality and objectives that are dependent upon the needs of the schools and outcomes the businesses would like to see. For example, Xerox has sponsored a program over the past four years that brings more than 200 "city kids" and "country kids" together to prepare them for a global workforce by building career awareness and valuing cultural diversity. Since its inception, Clarkson’s partnership efforts have received several awards, including the NYNEX Foundation "Excellence in Education Award."

Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
If MBA’s are a dime a dozen, and Sustainable MBA’s possibly a quarter, then CSU’s Master of Science in Business Administration (MSBA) in Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise (GSSE) is one in a million. Designed for the advanced business student with a higher purpose in mind, the GSSE is not your garden-variety, graduate business degree. We educate as diverse a group of students as you’ll find anywhere. Half of our students are international, most from “base of pyramid” countries. American students are selected based upon their work and life experience, with a premium on international and entrepreneurial work. GSSE students have experience as engineers, agricultural economists, business people, and non-profit leaders. They are bound together by a common belief that agile, creative, competitive enterprises hold the key to producing sustainable results in developing countries. The GSSE takes in one cohort of 25 students each year in a highly competitive selection process. We build into each cohort an extraordinary level of diversity. In addition to the rigors of graduate business coursework, GSSE students are required to take on project work for enterprises, often travelling overseas for ten weeks during their summer. Thus far students have worked on projects in Peru, Bangladesh, Mexico, Nepal, India, Ethiopia, among others. (please see http://www.biz.colostate.edu/ms/gsse/ProgramOverview/Projects.htm) If you are looking for a program that is focused on the applied rather than the theoretical, that is truly global and that is redefining the paradigm for sustainable enterprise, look carefully at CSU’s GSSE Program (http://www.biz.colostate.edu/ms/GSSE/). 

Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Irene Tschernomor’s diploma in health care administration gave her the background she needed to protect a local hospital from being closed due to government cutbacks. Creating an innovative plan to provide both public and private health care at the hospital, Tschernomor was able to keep essential services in the community. "My training as a nurse, a Concordia bachelor of commerce and the diploma in administration specialized in health care provided me with the perfect blend to run a health complex in an entrepreneurial fashion," said Tschernomor, executive director and chief executive officer, Queen Elizabeth Health Complex. The Graduate Diploma in Administration, established in 1974, is a unique program in Canada that offers a graduate specialization in the following areas: Arts and Cultural Administration, Sport Administration, Community, Public and Parapublic Administration, and Health Care Administration. With enrollment between 130 and 150, it is the second largest graduate program at the university. In addition to academic course work, the students undertake a three-month, project-based internship in a nonprofit organization within or outside Canada. In many instances, the internship helps nonprofit organizations to carry out projects and implement programs that they otherwise would not have been able to achieve.

For more information, contact: Clarence Bayne, director, Diploma in Administration Program, 514-848-2976.

University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio
The L. William Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the University of Dayton provides a distinctive approach to entrepreneurial education.  This multidisciplinary major, designed to meet the educational needs of future entrepreneurs, gives students the opportunity to start actual micro-businesses and offers exposure to businesses and business leaders.  The Crotty Advisory Council, comprised of successful entrepreneurs and economic development leaders reviews the curriculum, activities, and supplements classroom instruction, allowing students to learn from the best of academic thought and business practices.

For more information, contact: Robert F. Chelle, director, School of Business Administration, 937-229-2022.

East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina
Businesses in eastern North Carolina are serviced by the School of Business’ Small Business Institute program at East Carolina University. The Institute pairs interested agencies with a team of two to four students at the graduate or undergraduate level. Under supervision of the director, the students prepare an in-depth analysis of the organization and its industry, and provide recommendations to the management for improvement. Since its inception in 1974, the Institute has helped more than 500 nonprofit and for-profit clients. One recent nonprofit agency, The Downtown Business and Professional Association of New Bern, received assistance and recommendations pertaining to its operations and strategic direction. The student team’s effort was recognized by the Small Business Institute Director’s Association as Case of the Year for its region.

For more information, contact: Steve Childers, director, Small Business Institute, 252-328-6063

Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison & Teaneck, New Jersey
Since 1994, nonprofits in Northern New Jersey wishing to increase outreach without jeopardizing their financial status, have turned to Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Rothman Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies for business plans free of charge. During the past five years, more than 100 such plans have been developed by MBA students for area nonprofits and small businesses as part of a graduate course called "Venture Creation, Development and Financing." This year, students have helped the Market Street Mission, a social service agency in Morristown, increase their funding by approximately 10 percent through additional revenues. In addition, the recommendations of the students have prompted the organization to shift its focus from warehousing to retailing and to develop a comprehensive marketing program. Further, it is hiring more retail staff in order to operate more effectively and profitably. "We expected big things, and we got them," said Dave Scott, executive director of the Mission.

For more information, contact: Leo Rogers, director, Rothman Institute, 973-443-8885

Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
During the 1998 academic year, MBA students from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University have helped businesses in economically disadvantaged areas of Washington, D.C. Through Professor Cathy Tinsley’s introductory management course, MBA students have conducted industry analyses, found market niches and improved overall business strategies. Among the businesses that benefited from the students' research was a minority-owned cleaning supplies firm. Students conducted an analysis of how the firm might pool with its competitors in order to win government contracts. To help coordinate and institutionalize students’ efforts to assist businesses in the area, the business school is exploring the possibility of establishing a business development initiative. This initiative would enable disadvantaged businesses seeking assistance to draw upon the resources and talents of McDonough students.

For more information, contact: Elizabeth Shine, assistant director, communications, 202-687-4080

Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan
Eighteen graduate students from Grand Valley State University's "Small Business Management" class spent 14 weeks researching the Heartside district of Grand Rapids during the fall of 1998. Like many urban cores, modernity had passed Heartside by and it fell into disrepair. Recently, however, the district has been the focus of revitalization efforts—wonderful news for the city, but Professor Thomas Dandridge wondered: What will happen to the urban poor who have made Heartside their home? What will happen to the small businesses that have only marginally survived as trendy boutiques move into their neighborhood? Dandridge's students compiled case histories of 15 businesses in the area and provided consultation to one-third of them. They prepared marketing plans, customer identification, profit center analyses and cash flow projections for both nonprofit agencies and for-profit Heartside businesses. Several organizations report that they began to act on the students' advice even before the final report was delivered. For example, a florist shop received its marketing budget and allocation on the spot. A nonprofit organization made major changes in its spring fund raiser. And a child care center now has profit centers by age group. Preparing Heartside businesses for the emerging competitive environment is an on-going task. A new group of students will build new case histories and provide consultation during the next academic year.

For more information, contact: Vonnie Herrera, administrative assistant, 616-895-2162

Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
The Initiative on Social Enterprise is a major effort at Harvard Business School focusing on nonprofit organizations and other private social-purpose enterprises. It was created to respond to the growing social and economic importance of the nonprofit sector and its ever-increasing interrelationship with business. These forces have led to an expanding demand among nonprofit organizations for management skills and a corresponding need among business leaders and corporations for more effective means of involvement with the social sector. The Initiative serves these constituencies through a broad portfolio of research, executive education, and MBA courses and programs. Nonprofit organizations benefit by participating in two executive education programs: Strategic Perspectives on Nonprofit Management (for top nonprofit managers) and Governing for Nonprofit Excellence (for board leaders). MBA students can enroll in "Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector" and "Field Studies in Social Enterprise" and participate in extra-curricular activities such as the Nonprofit and Public Enterprise Club, Volunteer Consulting Organization and HBS Volunteers.

For more information, contact: Jim Aisner, associate director of communications, 617-495-6157

Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia
The Cobb Microenterprise Council was established in the fall of 1998 and is housed in the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University. A unique joint venture to provide business development education and life skills management to Cobb County's economically disadvantaged residents was formed among the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, the YWCA and Cobb (County) Family Resources. The Council began holding the first of three sessions of classes in early February 1999. After completing the 10-week course and preparing a business plan, participants can apply for a micro loan of $100 to $2,500. The program's first student was a woman who, though living in a battered woman's shelter with her two children, dreamed of owning her own catering business. Undaunted, she found technical training and support in life skills management from the Council. Since then, she has grown her business, Epicure Catering, by building her client base—including the Council itself!—and applying her newly acquired business know-how to apply for grants and other funding.

For more information, contact: Patricia Harris, executive director, Cobb Microenterprise Council, 770-499-3228

La Salle University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
La Salle University's Nonprofit Management Development Center, founded in 1981, just received a $50,000 grant from CoreStates/First Union to develop a nonprofit social entrepreneurship program. The goal of the program is to help nonprofits decide whether, and if so, how, to transform themselves from charity-driven organizations to more market driven/commercial organizations, still keeping in mind the uniqueness of the nonprofit sector.

For more information, contact Anne-Marie Welsh, consultant, NMDC, 215-951-1918

Loyola College in Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland
While field study programs—student pro-bono consulting projects with local nonprofits and small businesses—are an MBA requirement at the Sellinger School of Business and Management, the spirit of community betterment doesn’t end at graduation. Nineteen-ninety grad, Troy Brewer, now a financial executive, believes that investment in the community should never end, even if field study coursework has. Working with Doris Van Doren, an associate professor of marketing, he has formed an MBA alumni group to offer pro-bono consulting services to nonprofits throughout the region. Currently, the group is developing a business and marketing plan for the Center for Domestic Violence.

For more information, contact: Doris Van Doren, professor, marketing, 410-617-2741

Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
The Kellogg Graduate School of Management’s Public and Nonprofit Program, which began in 1971, focuses on nonprofit management with the goal of preparing students for careers across a range of sectors. Many students complete case study work for nonprofit organizations that otherwise would not be able to fund marketing, strategic or fund raising research and planning. In addition, Kellogg just received a major grant to establish a Nonprofit Center at the school.

For more information, contact Rich Honack, assistant dean and director, marketing and communications, 847-491-2829

Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Saint Joseph’s University’s Erivan K. Haub School of Business puts a stake in developing business leaders who are aware of social issues and problems, and who are inclined to do something about them. Stephen Porth, associate professor of management, says that students are realizing they can make a difference in real-world problems because business service-learning courses are incorporated as a part of the curriculum for undergraduate and graduate business students. For example, students in a senior-level management course identified a viable grant opportunity for Voyage House, Pennsylvania’s first runaway and homeless youth agency, and helped position the agency to receive $84,000 in funding. Amelia Belardo-Cox, executive director of Voyage House, commented, "Through their work, more than 180 homeless, run-away and at-risk youths will receive counseling, case management and advocacy services during the next three years." Among other successes, students also have helped Simpson House, a local retirement community and health care center, start an adult daycare center as a new venture. Doors opened to the facility last December.

University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
Graduates from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles receive a healthy dose of encouragement from their professors to assist nonprofits. Home to one of the country's oldest and best-known nonprofit training programs ("Head Start" directors from Atlanta to Alaska come to strengthen their management skills and entrepreneurial competence each year), students are immersed in an environment that mandates social awareness. The spirit of social responsibility is rubbing off on the student body. Graduate Ann Gusiff, a former marketer for DEP Consumer Products, opted out of a career in brand management to start "Clothes the Deal," an organization that provides needy folks with work clothes for job interviews. Originally financed with her credit cards, Gusiff has grown her organization to provide five Los Angeles homeless shelters with interview clothing for their guests.

For more information, contact: Lynn Lipinski, director, media relations, 310-206-8197

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois
Going boldly where few business students have gone before, a group of 16 students in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Office for the Study of Business Issues (OSBI) went to work for the Springfield office of the Illinois Department of Public Aid last spring. During a 10-week period, the group took a look at the workings of the state agency and came up with a full range of recommendations, covering practices in human resources, management information systems, finance and operations. Recommendations that resonated with the department centered around outsourcing and shortening the cash flow cycle. For Robert Lyons, the administrator of the child support program for the department (and a member of the LAS class of ’82), "Having Illinois, and the credibility the University brings, complete the assessment helped our management staff here realize that the changes we’re trying to make are not necessarily a bad thing. Now when we’re recruiting people, we show them the student report and say, ‘This is a very good report about the problems we face and how we need to address them.’ "

For more information, contact: Alice Waldoff, director, Commerce Publications, 217-244-8146

University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
Business schools can be profitable for people interested in working for charitable and nonprofit agencies, according to two faculty members at the University of Iowa who currently are teaching a course on managing such organizations. "Perspectives in Nonprofit Management" is taught by law professor and University of Iowa and Field Museum president emeritus, Willard Boyd, and Hall Perrine Foundation president and chief executive officer, Jack Evans. The course is one of a growing number of its kind taught at universities and colleges in the United States designed to hone the management, financial and marketing skills of people who work and volunteer for nonprofit organizations. Designed as a broad-based introduction to nonprofit management, the course leads graduate students through topics such as the role of nonprofits, management, finances and marketing. "We need people with good management skills to lead organizations in the nonprofit area just as we need people with good management skills to lead organizations in the for-profit area," said Boyd.

For more information, contact: Willard Boyd, professor of law, 319-355-9004

University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
The Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky, Lexington helps social entrepreneurs develop skills applicable to both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors with a unique program. In 1988, the business school partnered with the university's Fine Arts College to develop the Arts Administration program. Responding to an increase in the number of performing arts facilities, arts councils and arts advocacy groups, the business school recognized that people working in those organizations needed not only artistic sensibility, but also business know-how. Students in the Arts Administration program take classes in accounting, economics, marketing and fund raising, plus courses in dance, art, theater and music. Not only does the program train future leaders of healthy nonprofits, it also acts a valuable resource to local arts organizations. Nonprofit managers can receive training as well as host interns from the program. Graduates can be found in the development and management offices of the Guggenheim Museum, the Kennedy Center for the Arts, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Louisville Ballet.

For more information, contact: Cara Meade, communications coordinator, 606-257-9475

University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts
A recent study by the university’s Center for Economic Development reports that the human service sector contributes $320 million per year to the local economy and creates approximately 11,000 full-time jobs in the Pioneer Valley region of Western Massachusetts. Responding to the needs of this valuable sector of the economy, the Isenberg School of Management developed a Nonprofit Center in 1995. The Center offers graduate-level courses in nonprofit management, student consulting services to local nonprofits, workshops, research and a scholar-in-residence program. Average enrollment in courses—ranging from marketing to legal issues, to fund raising and human resource management—is about 20 students, comprised of MBAs, students from other departments such as public health and local non-degree students from the nonprofit community. Student consulting projects tied to coursework have been the most effective tools for providing direct management assistance to local nonprofits. In areas such as marketing, legal issues and general management, students are able to "solve" problems, providing a service to the agency while creating a teaching tool for the class.

For more information, contact: William Diamond, faculty director, Nonprofit Center, 413-545-5671

University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri
With "Building Healthy Communities through Nonprofit Leadership" as its motto, the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership, established in 1991 at the Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration, sponsors numerous initiatives to promote social entrepreneurship. Programs include the Fund-Raising Certificate Program, the Management Issues Forum, the Interactive Management program, Breakfast Forums, In-House Development Programs and Board Institute - a series of education programs designed to help individuals better serve on nonprofit boards of directors.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
The Center for Urban Investment Strategies at the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise is launching its first civic entrepreneurship training program in 1999, with support from First Union National Bank. The program, targeting 10 nonprofit organizations in Charlotte, was created by James Johnson, the director of the Center. It is designed to teach nonprofit and governmental organizations the nuts and bolts of sound, socially responsible business practices. "Successful completion of the program will enable those organizations to operate more efficiently and to pursue a wide range of entrepreneurial, income-generating strategies that reduce their dependency on external sources of funding," Johnson said.  More importantly, the program will begin to change the way nonprofit organizations and government agencies approach social problems. "We’re in the midst of a paradigmatic shift in the way nonprofits think about themselves," Johnson said. Nonprofit organizations should focus less on fund raising and redistributing money and more on creating wealth they can use to solve community problems, he said. "It's an entrepreneurial approach to solving pressing social problems," Johnson said. "You can do good and do well at the same time."

For more information, contact James Johnson, director, Center for Urban Investment Strategies, 919-962-2214

University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma
The "Integrated Business Core" (IBC) is designed to provide undergraduate students at the University of Oklahoma's Price College of Business with hands-on experience managing a business, while at the same time, raising funds for and giving service to local nonprofit organizations. In conjunction with three linked junior-level core courses, IBC students are formed into 30 to 40 member companies, each of which is required to develop a plan for a profitable business, apply for a bank loan and implement its business plan. Profits from the businesses are donated to local nonprofit agencies. Between 1995 and 1998, 590 students have formed and managed 17 remarkably successful businesses. With loans totaling $39,540, students have generated a total revenue of $317,349, a total net profit of $145,919 and nearly 5,500 hours of community service. The most financially successful student company marketed T-shirts celebrating OU's football heritage. The "Old School Traditions" company donated its profits of $25,227 (and more than 450 hours of community service) to the Little River Zoo and Positive Tomorrows, a community service organization.

For more information, contact: Larry Michaelsen, professor of management, 405-325-5692

University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
The Lundquist College of Business at the University of Oregon encourages social entrepreneurship through the support of a diverse host of student activities, many of which are integrated into the programs of the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship. Among the most notable is a graduate student project with Julie Lewis, founder of the recycled shoe pioneer, Deja, Inc. Currently, students are assessing the feasibility of re-launching the company as a nonprofit entity operated by students. The goal is to offer students the opportunity for hands-on management of a socially/environmentally responsible business enterprise within an academic setting. The Lundquist Center also is looking at incorporating the project into its entrepreneurship incubator. Through subsidized internships, student consulting, self-designed courses, immersion days and an active 20-member chapter of the Students for Responsible Business, social entrepreneurship is a theme woven throughout the MBA experience at the College of Business.

Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama
We have structured the Social Entrepreneurship Program at Samford University to provide students with both the conceptual framework and skill set needed to help address critical societal problems in the local, national, and global community. For business students, we offer a concentration that includes a four-course sequence in management, marketing, and not-for-profit accounting, followed by a comprehensive Social Entrepreneurship/Not-for-Profit Management (SE/NFP) course team-taught by entrepreneurship, marketing, and economics faculty. The concentration also provides students the opportunity to take business (e.g., Economics of Poverty taught overseas in a developing country) or general (e.g., Urban Geography) electives to customize their studies to their individual career goals in for-profit or not-for-profit organizations. For non-business students, we offer a minor that provides foundational business knowledge followed by the comprehensive SE/NFP Management course to complement a student’s major field. The Program also offers a field course experience and paid internship opportunities for both business and non-business students.
http://www.samford.edu/business/majors.html 

For more information, contact: Franz T. Lohrke, Entrepreneurship Program Coordinator, 205-726-2373

The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Project MIND, which stands for "MBAs Investing in Nonprofit Development," is a unique program stemming from the Students for Responsible Business chapter on the University of Texas campus. Project MIND links students with organizations in the community that have short-term, definable business problems. During last semester, groups of students developed strategies and counseled six area organizations free of charge.

Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Three United Way agencies in North Carolina and Wake Forest University's Babcock School of Management have formed a unique partnership—perhaps the first of its kind—that will assist in the success of the state's nonprofit communities. For the next five years, the school will offer three full scholarships for its executive MBA program to members of the United Ways of the Central Carolinas, Greater Greensboro and Forsyth County. A total of 15 scholarships for the two-year executive programs will be provided; the total value of the education will exceed $700,000. "We expect this initiative to result in a substantial increase in the managerial capabilities and effectiveness of many United Way agencies in the Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Greensboro areas," said Charles Moyer, dean of the Babcock School. "We currently are working to involve other graduate business schools in this endeavor so that the benefits can be shared nationwide."

For more information, contact: Eric Whittington, assistant director, external relations, 336-758-5030

Warwick Business School, Coventry, England
Warwick Business School has strong links with the nonprofit sector through its research and teaching. The school’s thriving MBA program, with more than 2,100 current students across its four concentrations, attracts increasing numbers of managers from the nonprofit sector (currently around 15 percent of its students). These managers find that the skills and techniques they acquire are as relevant to their fields of work as they are to the commercial sector. The wide diversity of class members ensures that managers have a broad range of complimentary experience to draw upon, and that they learn from each other as well as from the coursework. Paul Streets, chief executive of the British Diabetic Association and former deputy director of Amnesty International UK, completed the full-time MBA program in 1993 and said of the program, "The MBA certainly opened doors for me, and was great in introducing me to best practice, and also in reassuring me that learning is not all one way. It gave me a good theoretical backdrop on which I could build on my experience in the nonprofit sector, and confidence to understand current management issues important for operating in 2000 and beyond."

For more information, contact: Jill Dwyer, assistant communications manager, 44-1203-524286

Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
Who says MBA students can't do good while getting ahead? Each year, approximately 75 students from Washington University prove they can. Twice a year, near the end of the fall and spring semesters, student teams devote a minimum of 75 hours to consulting projects for local nonprofits including the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club, Center for Contemporary Arts and the Central Institute for the Deaf. The teams, mentored by professionals from Deloitte Consulting, develop marketing strategies, improve accounting systems and analyze organizational and management operations. The nonprofits received expert recommendations from the groups, and the students got the opportunity to work side-by-side with professionals in their industry.

For more information, contact the Center for Experiential Learning, 314-935-4512.