ABBOTSFORD — (CANADIAN CHRISTIAN NEWS SERVICE) –Columbia Bible College is pleased to announce the launch of its newest academic program: the Diploma in Social Entrepreneurship. This two-year program brings together Christian faith formation classes with a series of foundational business courses, with the goal of equipping students with the passion, entrepreneurial spirit, and marketplace skills to make a positive impact within society.
Students will be able to enroll in the Diploma in Social Entrepreneurship as early as September 2017, and will complete courses that include Introduction to Business, Essentials of Marketing, Accounting, Peace & justice Issues, Ethical Reasoning, and Non-Profit Organization Management. The program’s capstone class is Entrepreneurial Operations, which challenges students to learn to think like entrepreneurs and gives them the opportunity to build and pitch a business plan to a panel of real-world business owners.
“I’ll never forget my first marketing class at a mainstream college,” reflects Kurtis Kube, who created the Social Entrepreneurship diploma and is now its director. “The professor said to us, ‘Why are you here? I’ll tell you why you’re here! To make money!’ At Columbia, in contrast, we want to teach foundational business concepts and skills from a Christ-centered view, with a strong focus on the triple bottom line: financial stewardship, environmental stewardship, and social good. Our students want to care for creation, they want to help the poor, and they want to make an impact in their communities. We want to equip them to spread God’s love and the gospel in every sphere of life, including the marketplace.”
Many Columbia Bible College students have already benefited from Columbia’s business classes, which until now have been offered as electives or as part of the recently-launched Applied Leadership program. One such student is Luke Meister, who spent a year at Columbia before returning to Saskatchewan to pursue his Red Seal in Carpentry. His long-term plan is to launch his own construction business. “My experience in Intro to Business was eye-opening,” Luke comments. “The course challenged my views of the business world and its potential for the good of others. The most valuable part was the lens I came away with. I am much better equipped to see the potential for success in my ideas.”
The Diploma in Social Entrepreneurship takes its place among a series of new programs now offered at Columbia Bible College: the Diploma in Applied Leadership, the Diploma in General Studies, and the Emergency Rescue Technician Certificate. With these new programs, Columbia Bible College is maintaining its identity and mission as a Bible college, while creating new ways to prepare students for careers and ministries in a complex world.
“We are ready to innovate as God directs,” remarks Bryan Born, Columbia’s President. “We want to equip students with what they need so that they fully live into the calling and vocations that God has placed on their lives.”
For more information about the Diploma in Social Entrepreneurship, visit www.columbiabc.edu/SE. BA students are also able to complete a Minor in Social Entrepreneurship.