World-class Scottish entrepreneurs, social enterprise leaders and business advisers will become Founding Entrepreneurs at Strathclyde Business School after attending the Babson Global Symposia for Entrepreneurship Educators (SEE) programme, teaching best practice to students across the University.
Professor Eleanor Shaw, head of the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, and vice dean Enterprise and Knowledge Exchange, was amongst the 47-strong group of academics and entrepreneurs.
She said, "We are building the capacity of our faculty to deliver world class teaching and learning. Our ambition is to ensure that everyone involved in a Strathclyde Business School programme - from undergraduate to postgraduate to business owners - experiences the very best, and leaves our programmes feeling energised, refreshed, and with the know-how and tool sets to make a difference. That might be through growing an entrepreneurial business, leading a large corporate or delivering value and innovation in the public sector.
"It's not just Hunter Centre academics taking part - there is a cross-section of academics from across the faculty. What this means is that students and executives on our programmes will benefit from the entrepreneurial and innovative mind-set fostered in our academic team, developing their knowledge and capacities and releasing their creativity through an education with an innovative outlook. Once participants have experienced one of our programmes they will be ready to contribute to their next endeavour with passion and enthusiasm."
Professor Shaw added, "We have had great success in designing and delivering programmes for students and participants at all levels, and we are keen to build our capacity to translate useful learning into effective action. To do more, and to do this even more effectively, we want to invest in our faculty and build their capacity. This recognised Babson programme for educators does exactly that.
"We're delighted to announce that the entrepreneurs taking part in the programme will become 'Founding Entrepreneurs' at the Business School and will work with us in the future on the design and delivery of our programmes. We're grateful to the Hunter Foundation for making this possible."
Sir Tom Hunter, who endowed the Hunter Centre and funded the SEE programme, said, "This marks a major step forward in our ambition to have the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship and Strathclyde Business School lead globally in entrepreneurial teaching and research.
"The Entrepreneurial Founders are giving back their time to help Strathclyde students become the next generation of entrepreneurs and by combining theoretical and practical learning Scotland can lead in this field.
"Aligning the entrepreneurs and advisers with academia will be a powerful force for an education that equips students for a business world where the pace of change has never, ever been so accelerated. I'd like to offer my personal thanks to everyone participating in this important step forward for Strathclyde University and Scotland."
Key Babson faculty delivered their flagship Global Symposia for Entrepreneurship Educators from September 18-20. The Symposia has been developed to prepare educators to teach with an entrepreneurial mind-set and build a network of like-minded educators dedicated to innovative and entrepreneurial education. Babson College is consistently ranked as the top entrepreneurial university and provider of executive education globally.
Support for the Symposia is being provided by the Hunter Foundation and participants are made up of 50% faculty and 50% entrepreneurs. The Hunter Foundation invited a number of entrepreneurs who are well-known names in the Scottish entrepreneurial ecosystem to take part including Sir Tom Hunter himself.
Earlier this year, Strathclyde Business School (SBS) was selected by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) for its Entrepreneurship Spotlight Challenge. AACSB recognised the School's outstanding commitment to creating and incubating business innovations and fostering entrepreneurship at its Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship. SBS was also named Business School of the Year by Times Higher Education (THE) for its outstanding overall performance and its innovative and entrepreneurial outlook.
More information on the Babson Global Symposia for Entrepreneurship Educators.