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Spotlight Engagement in Learning Elon University, The Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Elon, North Carolina Although the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business thrives within the small, private-school atmos- phere of Elon University, its facul- ty and 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students take great pride in its international reach, says dean John Burbridge. "We have one of the highest levels of study- abroad programs for a school of our size," he says. From its location, a town in the LEFT: The façade of Elon University's Long Building. BELOW: A senior works in the computer lab at the Love School of Business. southeast United States with a population of more than 4,000, the school sends faculty to Mexico, Southeast Asia, Europe, and elsewhere abroad. In addition, at least half of its students study abroad during the win- ter term. One popular activity is the school's "annual international trip," conducted by Professor Jim Barbour. The three-week trip exposes students to the facets of the newly formed European Union through visits to four economically important European cities. ABOVE: Professor Barth Strempek discusses the design of a CD with students in the Entrepreneurship Leadership Program. RIGHT: Students on the annual international trip to learn about the EU pose near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, one stop in a four-city tour. program typically attracts young pro- fessionals in their early 30s. Its intro- ductory MBA course, called "MBA 500," is an intensive, two-week course in which students manage a fictitious company under changing global mar- ket conditions. The "Legends of Business" program invites distin- guished guest speakers, senior executives who bring their expert- ise to students. A twice-annual "Theme Week" brings students face-to-face with executives from companies such as Cisco, Sun, and GlaxoWellcome to discuss major topics in business that range from globalization to technology. In addition, one of the school's Dean John Burbridge speaks with students outside the Long Building, which houses the Love School of Business. 64 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2001 Established in 1984, the Elon MBA small business in which they produce and market music CDs to consumers. The program recently earned a grant from the Department of Edu cation's Fund for the Improve ment of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). In 2001, U.S. News & World Report most popular programs is its Entre - preneurial Leadership Program, headed by Associate Professor Barth Strempek. The program allows students to launch an actual ranked Elon University No. 9 of 130 Southern schools, while Yahoo Internet Life magazine ranked it among its "Top 100" wired colleges and universities. What earns Elon University—and the Elon MBA—such recognition, says Burbridge, is its foundation "on the concept of 'student engagement,'" in which students learn primarily through collaboration, co-curricular activity, and hands-on experience. s z PHOTOS: JEROME STURM