Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/56535
Grassroots Efforts by Tricia Bisoux at Berkeley's Haas School of Business that allows any student to organize a one-credit course. Young found other students interest- ed in microfinance, filled out a one-page form with the university, lined up leaders at microfi- nance institutions (MFIs) who were willing to participate as guest lecturers, and launched a student-led speaker series. When Young graduated and left to work at an MFI in Bethes- A da, Maryland, venture capitalist Sean Foote, who was teaching a course at Haas in venture capital and private equity, had heard of the series. In 2007, Foote offered lectures to supplement the guest speakers' presentations—he then expanded the course to reach students at other schools, via an interactive Internet simul- cast. Last fall, students at 13 other schools watched the course via video stream and asked questions in real time through an online chat room. This year, 20 schools are signed up to take part in the simulcast microfinance course, which runs once a week from October to December. A professor at another business school has even added his own lecture to the course material and created a three-credit microfinance course of his own, Foote says. "We'd love to have more—we can accommodate up to 50 campuses that have inter- ested students and an Internet-ready classroom," he says. "This 38 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2009 microfinance course at the University of California, Berkeley, began in way that's atypical at most busi- ness schools. In 2006, then-MBA student Douglas Young decided to take advantage of an unusual option Business students are often leading the charge to bring sustainability into the business curriculum.