UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 36, Page 3
July 6, 1995
New title; Center's name emphasizes entrepreneurship

     The Center for Economic Education has added "and Entrepreneurship" to
its title, and it's more than just a name change, according to director Jim
O'Neill. The addition reflects an increased emphasis on entrepreneurship in
the center's mission and its master's degree program.
     Entrepreneurship is a concept that reflects the emphasis and
importance of individual initiative in the marketplace in the '90s. By
definition, an entrepreneur is a person who organizes, manages and assumes
the risks of a business or enterprise, and these are the qualities that are
the focus of the center's program, O'Neill said.
     The center recently received a $50,000 grant from the Ewing Marion
Kauffman Foundation's Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership to emphasize
entrepreneurship in its master's degree program, which serves educators
from across the country. Like the center, the degree name has also changed
to "master of arts in economic education and entrepreneurship."
     This year, the program's six-week summer session will include
Entrepreneurship Education Week, beginning July 10. In addition to the 25
participants in the master's program who represent states from Alaska to
Delaware, a limited number of program alumni will have an opportunity to
attend the session on entrepreneurship.
     Lance L. Weaver, vice chairperson and chief administrative officer of
MBNA America, will open Entrepreneur Education Week July 10 with a keynote
address. A graduate of Georgetown University, Weaver has had a career in
consumer banking and worked for Wells Fargo and later Citicorp/Citibank
before joining MBNA America in 1991. Currently, he oversees personnel,
administrative services, facilities, security and law.
     Other speakers during the week will include Marilyn Kourilsky, vice
president of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership; Carol Allen, a
graduate of the Delaware program and now a manager with the Kauffman
Foundation; and others from the University, industry and business.
     The week will emphasize how entrepreneurship can be taught in the
classroom through economics education and hands-on projects, O'Neill said.
For example, the Mini Society, in which the classroom functions as a small
town with its own government and businesses, will be focused more on
entrepreneurship in developing, producing and marketing a product or
service.
     "Entrepreneurship has taken on new importance in the '90s," O'Neill
said. "In the past, when employees joined a company, frequently they spent
their entire careers there. But that has changed. There are no guarantees,
and people change jobs more frequently. There is more personal freedom, but
people also must take more initiative and risks.
     "Entrepreneurship can lead to failure as well as success. Most people
don't make a home run the first time they are up at bat. However, by trying
something new, by using the skills they have, by making judgments and
decisions, students can learn from experience and gain self-confidence to
compete in today's world," O'Neill said.
                                                        -Sue Swyers Moncure