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Spotlight Not Business as Usual Millsaps College Else School of Management Jackson, Mississippi The tradition of business education at Millsaps College started when the school awarded its first bachelor's degree in economics in 1941 and its first bach- elor of business administration degree in 1974. Established in 1979, the Else School of Management now serves 200 students in its undergrad- uate program and 100 students in its graduate program. Students at the Else School of are trained to solve unstructured problems using a wide variety of cre- ative solutions across disciplines and to motivate others to test and imple- ment new ideas, says Else's dean Randy Boxx. "Business leaders across the country remark that traditional MBA programs are not meeting the needs of today's businesses. They seek leaders who are not limited by the boundaries of what is commonly accepted practice or established thinking," he says. At Else, he adds, the RMBA is "not business as usual." Management can take advantage of unique opportunities such as its spe- cialized Renaissance MBA program, which combines the development of business knowledge, managerial skills, and core liberal arts study. RMBA students read classic and modern materials that provide cultural and historical context to management topics. For example, students might explore organizational structure and leadership styles by reading about Caesar's Gaelic campaign against Vercingetorix or learn about diploma- cy through a study of Beowulf. Students in the RMBA program 64 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2002 Left: Randy Boxx, dean of the Else School. Above: A fountain that serves as a popu- lar gathering place at Millsaps College. Right: Murrah Hall, a main building for the Else School. grams to Latin America and Europe. In Latin America, students visit Mexican cities across the economic spectrum, from Kaxil Kiuic, where they study a basic economy based on subsistence farming, hunting, and logging; to Merida, where they see industrial development in action; to Cancún, where they observe the evolution of tourism. In the summer European program, students visit businesses such as Lloyds of London, the London Stock Exchange, Land Rover, and Nestlé to get a firsthand look at a global business environment. Through internships, Else students Else also offers study abroad pro- also can participate in executive shad- owing, offer consulting to local busi- nesses and nonprofits, and manage an $87,000 stock portfolio fund, estab- lished with funds from the Merrill Lynch Foundation and General Louis Wilson in 1989. The fund has consis- tently outperformed the S&P 500. The students managing the fund took second place in "growth style of man- agement" at this year's Redefining Investment Strategy Education (RISE) symposium at the University of Dayton, Ohio. The Else School of Management's business program is accredited through AACSB International. ■ z