Barrett's article discusses Webster University's certificate in entrepreneurship program, a cross-curriculum, six-course program that teaches students basic business techniques with the intention of ensuring a chance to succeed as business people, no matter what their field of study.

Dr. Benjamin Ola. Akande, Ph.D., dean of the School of Business and Technology, is also proposing that an apprenticeship be added as part of the educational experience where students are matched up with participating entrepreneurial professionals to try to make the educational experience more practical and hands-on.

Overview of Certificate in Entrepreneurship:

Entrepreneurship Core - The curriculum's foundation is built upon a core of three 3-credit hour entrepreneurship-focused courses that all students are required to take. Core courses focus on integrating entrepreneurship, business theory, and real-world applications.

Bill Barrett

Non-School of Business Majors - For students with majors outside the School of Business and Technology, the core courses are followed with elective courses focusing on business development in the student's major or area of interest. The Certificate initially offers tracks for certain majors offered in the College of Fine Arts and School of Communications. Other majors and areas of interest will follow as developed.

Business School Majors - For students with majors in the School of Business and Technology, the core is followed with elective courses designed to develop entrepreneurial marketing, and entrepreneurial creativity and innovation.

The business courses include studies in small business and financial management, and marketing. Students also complete two elective courses within their major, and finish with a capstone course where they develop an achievable business plan that could be used when they graduate.

Each business plan is reviewed by entrepreneurial business people such as inventors, franchisers and chief executive officers-all of whom provide practical and viable real-world feedback.

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Barrett Baebler

Barrett Baebler, a business professor in the Management Department within the School of Business and Technology, collaborated with Bill Barrett and Michael Parkinson, chair of the music department in the Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts, to develop the certificate program. Baebler believes the cross-curriculum approach is better than developing individual programs within each school and college.

Bill Barrett, who spent a great deal of time in Central American refugee camps in the 1980s, and taught basic photography there with a tent for a darkroom, says teaching the technical part of photography, while absolutely essential, is in many ways the easier part.

"The real challenge, the one that keeps me excited, is to draw out students' interesting ideas, to help them express those ideas through the photographic medium, and to combine technical excellence with creative expression. Achieving that goal is successful photographic education, and produces students who can love what they do and can earn their living doing it," he said. "The certificate in entrepreneurship will make them even better prepared for the professional world."

Bill Barrett teaches Professional Development in Photography, Digital Photo Imaging, Photography Gallery Management, International Photojournalism, Ethics in the Media and more.

To learn about this program, please visit www.webster.edu/entrepreneurship.

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