Michigan State University’s (MSU) acclaimed School of Hospitality Business will start offering entrepreneurship courses this fall to accommodate an industry that’s dominated by self-starters.
“Even
though we know, in the hospitality industry, up to 70 percent of
businesses are sole proprietorship or partnerships, we hadn’t really
done a lot of work with it,” says Jeffery Elsworth with the School of
Hospitality Business.
The school already
offers an introductory entrepreneurship classes, but will start
offering the advanced class in the fall. Through this class students
will have to complete a business plan, put together a business venture
team and present their idea to a panel of experts at the end of the
year.
Hotel mogul and MSU alumni, Hugh
Andrews, suggested that the school start offering the course to remain
competitive and give students an entrepreneurial foundation.
“We
have one of the best schools in the U.S. for teaching the hospitality
business, but the one thing we don’t do as well as he thought we could
do is teach people about ownership,” Elsworth says.
More
than 50 students signed up for the introductory course in 2007.
Elsworth says only 20 to 30 students generally sign up for new courses.
“Academics
has limited space and limited resources, and you have to focus on the
things you think are your strengths. And we think our strength is
business in hospitality, and entrepreneurship falls right into that,”
he says.
Source: Jeffery Elsworth, MSU School of Hospitality and Business
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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