Kelley school collaborates with DePauw

IU’s Kelley School of Business and DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., will use a $1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to support “The Liberal Arts in the New Economy,” a program for DePauw students.

The program, which will launch next fall, is the first collaboration between DePauw and Kelley, Dean of Kelley Idalene Kesner said.

It aims to give students an opportunity to build on the strengths of their liberal arts coursework with educational programs from Kelley, according to a press release.

The program covers a winter term of about 30 days at DePauw and includes real-world internship experiences and specialized support. Students are likely to be involved in more than one winter term if they elect to enroll in a second part of the program, Kesner said.

DePauw’s grant money will cover costs associated with student programming, Kesner said.

Kelley has always been interested in working with other schools in the state to keep students in Indiana, Kelley’s Director of Executive Communications Jeni
Donlon said.

Kesner said the collaboration will help keep students in the state by helping them make connections with local organizations, growing their leadership skills and working to solve problems in the Indiana business community.

The grant comes as part of the Lilly Endowment’s Initiative to Promote Opportunities Through Educational Collaborations aimed at improving employment opportunities for students graduating from Indiana colleges and universities, according to a press release.

IU and DePauw are two of 39 colleges to receive grants through the endowment’s initiative. IU received a separate $5 million grant to support student career placement, officials announced Dec. 9.

The endowment’s goal is to increase support for students’ post-graduation career search, as well as to increase focus on keeping graduates in Indiana after graduation, according to a release.

“DePauw has a long and proud tradition of connecting a powerful liberal arts education with preparation for a life’s work,” said Larry Stimpert, DePauw vice president for academic affairs.

The program reflects a growing trend in helping post-graduates benefit from business skills and experience, even for students who aren’t majoring in business.

Kelley has collaborated with the College of Arts and Sciences on the Liberal Arts and Management Program for decades. Other examples of cross-campus Kelley initiatives with liberal arts programs include the school’s Art of Business academy, the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Project Jumpstart — the Jacobs School of Music career development and entrepreneurship program, Donlon said.

The DePauw collaboration is another example of Kelley’s desire to reach out to other liberal arts institutions.

“The more they know about basic business concepts when they start their first job after college, the greater the chance of success,” Kesner said. “This is true regardless of whether new graduates begin working in for-profit companies, the government, not-for-profit organizations, or they start their own companies as entrepreneurs. When combined with the outstanding liberal arts education students gain while at DePauw, the business coursework students will receive as part of this joint program will help them achieve success in their first jobs and in their career beyond.”

Follow reporter Hannah Alani on Twitter @hannahalani.