Entrepreneurship has long been a cornerstone of the campus experience at the College of Saint Benedict and St. John’s University.
For over 20 years, the Donald McNealy Entrepreneurship Center has served as an entrepreneurial education resource, providing classes, mentoring and support to aspiring entrepreneurs, including through the acclaimed Entrepreneurial Scholars (E-Scholars) program, now in its 21st class, which provides a diverse group of students the opportunity to design and execute world-class business ventures.
Building on that foundation, in May, the Board of Trustees of the College of Saint Benedict and St. John’s University approved the creation of an entrepreneurship minor. The 20-credit minor will be open to all students and is expected to be offered at the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year.
“Students who minor in entrepreneurship are usually found in business schools,” said Paul Marsnick, professor of entrepreneurship and global business and academic director of the Entrepreneurial Scholars Program, “but it’s unusual to have an entrepreneurship minor at a liberal arts school like this.”
“Still, it’s a perfect fit. A liberal arts school is a great place to foster an entrepreneurial mindset, and the interdisciplinary exposure here allows students to draw on ideas from a variety of perspectives.”
Structurally, the miner is set up as follows:
- 4 credits from two of the 2-credit classes offered in the ENTR 101 (Topics in Entrepreneurship) series, with students able to choose from over 20 topics.
- 12 credits from the following 4-credit classes: ENTR 201 (Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship), ENTR 304 (Applied Entrepreneurship), and ENTR 394 (Entrepreneurship Practicum).
- An additional four credits from elective courses from other departments related to entrepreneurship.
“This is very similar to the steps taken in the E-Scholars program,” Marsnik said.
“Of course, there’s a business component to it – students in the minor will understand things like break-even analysis, pro forma financial statements and so on. But what makes this minor different is the emphasis on idea generation, opportunity recognition, and how to train your brain to think laterally and consider more possibilities. There’s a focus on more creative problem solving.”
Michael Tripicchio, a finance major who will be a senior at SJU this fall and is participating in the E-Scholars program, thinks the minor is perfect for students who are interested in starting their own ventures or who are looking for new ways to apply what they’ve learned in their other courses.
“Entrepreneurship gives you the opportunity to try different things and apply them,” said Tripicchio, general manager of The T Spot, which specializes in custom apparel for campus clubs and organizations.
“I think this minor will help provide students with real-world experience that’s unmatched by anything else on campus.”
