Master of Arts in Leadership: Entrepreneurship Track

If you want impact, sometimes you have to build it yourself. Gordon College offers the only graduate leadership program in New England that leverages the strengths of a Christian liberal arts tradition.

The new one-year entrepreneurship track within the Master of Arts in Leadership is designed to equip you to tackle big challenges. In business and nonprofit settings alike, organization leaders are challenged to thoughtfully address the needs of multiple stakeholders, craft strategies and innovate change, and lead in a way that redeems and sustains with the hope of the gospel. This program assumes you are motivated to build the change you wish to see in the world, yet seek the business acumen to sustain new and existing ventures toward a lasting impact.

The entrepreneurship track is open to students participating in the Gordon Plus program.

HIGHLIGHTS

Access to resources in the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership—the only center of its kind

Intensive summer residency featuring experiential learning and nationally-recognized leaders

Hands-on internship experience to hone your skillset and prepare you for organizational leadership

Faculty

Janet Arndt
Director of the Graduate Program in Education
Associate Professor of Education
Licensure Officer

Dr. Arndt teaches in the undergraduate and graduate programs. She assists teacher candidates and alumni in obtaining Massachusetts as well as other states' teacher licensure. Dr. Arndt served in the public sector as a teacher, counselor, early childhood specialist, principal and policy maker for ten years as a state representative. Her research interests include transitions, learning needs of students with disabilities, the impact of social emotional competence on learning, family-school partnerships, and intentional teaching for young children.

Carter Crockett
Director, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership

Carter grew up in Paso Robles, California, and spends a lot of time practicing, studying, writing and teaching entrepreneurship. Carter is a practitioner at heart, one that is passionate about virtuous ventures and prefers to lead by example. His most recent start-up is Karisimbi Business Partners, a socially-motivated management consulting firm based in Rwanda. At Gordon, Carter serves as Founding Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, where his primary responsibility is to identify future founders and transform ideas into new ventures.

Andy Crouch
Senior Strategist for Communication, John Templeton Foundation

Andy most recently served as executive editor of Christianity Today. He continues to serve on the governing boards of Fuller Theological Seminary, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and Equitas Group, and is a senior fellow of the International Justice Mission’s IJM Institute. He is the author of Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk and True Flourishing, Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power and Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling.

Michael Lindsay
President of Gordon College

D. Michael Lindsay serves as the eighth president of Gordon College. He earned his undergraduate degree from Baylor University, graduate degrees from Princeton Seminary and Oxford University, and Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University. Prior to his appointment as president of Gordon, Dr. Lindsay served on the faculty of Rice University. He is the author of two dozen scholarly publications, including Faith in the Halls of Power and View from the Top.

COURSES

Leadership Courses (15 hours)

LEA 701: Liberal Arts Approach to Leadership (3 credits)
Course will provide comprehensive liberal arts overview of major issues in leadership perspectives and theories as reflected in the works of leading researchers and theorists. From a Christian perspective, the students will examine profiles of exceptional leaders to identify their humanity and what characteristics (personal traits and skills) provide effective leadership of schools and educational programs. Examination of theory underlying leadership style will enable the identification of a personal leadership style.

LEA 702: Leadership Theories and Practices (3 credits)
Case studies and problem-based learning are used to address challenging issues encountered by leaders. Students develop personal skills and confidence using leadership theories and strategies introduced in LEA 701. Through a case-study and problem-based learning approach, major issues and perspectives of leadership are examined with particular emphasis on problem-solving, consensus building, conflict resolution, ethics, and building relevant community connections from a biblical worldview. Participants will study how to work with governing boards, solve financial issues, foster collaboration, student achievement, and school improvement.

LEA 715: Developing, Leading and Managing People (3 credits)
Course explores the nature and function of supervision relative to being a leader of leaders, which can be a challenge. Steps to develop collegial supervision are studied with an emphasis on planning, organizing, and evaluating leadership. Course will explore the transition from supervising of teachers to managing and supervising administrators and other campus leaders. Retention and evaluation of staff will be examined. Students will be introduced to entrepreneurial structures and the process of building a school culture of innovation along with cultural diversity.

LEA 720: Personnel and Strategic Planning (3 credits)
A leader must possess those skills and understandings that best enable one to work with other adults. Course focuses on ways to manage change to build a strategic campus culture. Topics include personnel searches, interviewing, staff selection, teacher induction, professional development, policymaking, teacher contracts, promotion, dismissal, and conflict management. Course also addresses strategic thinking and the process of enlisting support for creative, positive change along with interpersonal dynamics.

LEA 725: Business, Finance and Operations (3 credits)
Leaders are required to assess organizational needs and develop a financial plan to successfully address these goals. Students will be able to read and interpret financial statements, identify the major types of budget models, and build a sample school budget. Course provides students with a comprehensive overview of budgeting processes and business administrative functions. A biblical view of stewardship will be explored. Understanding depreciation, managing of investments and controlling costs are introduced. Other related issues regarding the operation and maintenance of facilities and grounds, acquisition and maintenance of instructional equipment and materials (including technology), and transportation management are examined as well.

Entrepreneurial Courses (12 hours)

ISE 505: Foundations of Social Enterprise (4 credits)
An introduction to the purpose and practicalities of entrepreneurial activity, the creative process that establishes new organizations (non-profit, business, hybrid, etc.). This course offers practical guidance for students from any major interesting in starting (or managing) an organization with an explicit social or environmental mandate. This course provides an overview of the central concepts of entrepreneurship, as segmented into the individual factors, institutional varieties and common challenges facing this dynamic process. These topics will be brought to life by case studies, discussions and group exercises that offer students the opportunity to use entrepreneurial thinking and wield enterprising power as relevant for animating their own personal convictions. This class will serve as inspiration and training ground for those curious to know if they can develop the creativity and determination necessary to start an organization.

ISE 506: Innovation: Theory to Practice (4 credits)
An introduction to innovation, from abstract origin to practical implementation. This course offers practical guidance for students from any major interesting in understanding better how new products and services are built (invention), shared (marketing) and used to impact our world. Innovative thinking will be brought to life by human-centered design prescriptions, case studies, discussion and group exercises that offer students the opportunity to employ their own innovative thinking and wield creative power as relevant for addressing real-world challenges. This class will serve as inspiration and training ground for those curious to know if they can develop the creativity and determination necessary to launch new products and services.

ISE 508: Resourcing Change for the Greater Good (4 credits)
The world needs change of the type your organization can bring. How will you deliver such change? Resourcing is vital. Resources-especially funding and dedicated people -are the power behind innovative ideas that create positive change. This course studies methodologies for nurturing human and financial resources within a nonprofit context for delivering greater good. Along the way, you will also learn concepts associated with organizational management, financial management, the development of ideas that are credible and fundable, and perhaps most importantly, how to rally others who share your passion and purpose.

Internship/tutorial (3 hours)

TUITION

$700 per credit hour (for courses taken after the initial 1–2 free courses through Gordon Plus)

Learn more about financial aid for graduate students ➔

CONTACT
For more information, contact:

Jewerl Maxwell, Ph.D.
Dean of Academic Initiatives & Global Education
Gordon College
[email protected]