Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/62203
want them to understand how money works and how it can work for them. I want them to understand research skills and glimpse how they might be used in the next level in higher education. I want them to recognize that there is relevance in business for all people. And I really, really want them to know that they can have fun doing this." Of course, Aswad and other camp directors have yet By the time students have finished camp, Allen says, "I another goal: They want students to have such good memo- ries of summer camp that they seriously consider enrolling in the school that sponsored it. Student Search The first hurdle camp directors must clear is finding the right students to fill their summer programs. Most use a combina- tion of direct marketing and personal appearances to find high school students who might be interested in business camp. At TCU, the business camp is open to all high school students in Texas; therefore, the school sends recruiting posters to all the high school counselors in the state, says David Minor, TCU's William M. Dickey Entrepreneur in Residence and the direc- tor of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. Camp Curriculum minorities, is publicized through mass mailings to more than 400 schools across Colorado. Allen also makes personal visits to as many high schools as is feasible to promote the program. Since the money to fund these visits is limited, says Allen, "we have to be very strategic. This year we're shifting away from visiting the schools where we already have strong relation- ships, because I believe we will get applicants from these schools. Now we're looking at other schools where we don't have strong ties but where I think we might see good results." To some extent, this means changing the focus from sub- The Leeds camp, a statewide program designed to attract urban schools to metropolitan schools. Although the goal of his program is to reach minority students, many of whom are in the inner cities, Allen wants rural students and students with international experience as well. He says, "I do want to attract underrepresented minority students, but I want them to get into a program that is rich and broad in scope. While the program is called the Minority Business Leadership Program, I promote it as a business leadership program out of the office of diversity affairs. My philosophy is to be more inclusive in our outreach efforts." Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, holds an E- ■ The E-Commerce Summer Camp at Wayne State University is a ten-week program designed to attract minority students, primarily from Detroit's urban schools. The number of partici- pants has gone up from 25 in the first year to 36 this year. The curriculum covers technical skill development such as Web design, PowerPoint, and Excel programs; business skill devel- opment, such as personal finance and business plan concepts; and behavioral skill development. While some of the students who enroll in camp are top achievers, more are in the 3.0 range of grade point average, says Wayne State's Thomas Anderson. In fact, his goal is to recruit "middle-of-the-road" minority students who might not have given much thought to going on to college. At the end of the program, Wayne State holds a graduation ceremony where the keynote speaker is usually a political figure or cor- porate executive who's a minority. Kazoua Kue of Detroit's Cass Technical High School works with her internship supervisor at the City of Detroit. ■ The weeklong Business Leadership Program at The University of Colorado in Boulder was founded more than a decade ago to attract minority students to business education. At the moment, the program accepts about 30 students per year, though Aswad Allen hopes to increase that to 45 in the next few years. Students are selected based on their academic per- BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2003 45