Lauren Way Recognized at International Conference
02.16.2010
LONGMEADOW, Mass.—Business students at Bay Path have long-known Lauren J. Way, EdD, director of Entrepreneurial Programs and assistant professor of business at Bay Path, as an educator on the verge of the latest trends in entrepreneurial instruction. Her innovative teaching style and practices took center stage this year at the annual United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Conference, an international meeting of entrepreneurial educators. Way and her collaborators at the Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK—Lester Lloyd-Reason, director of Ashcroft International Business School and professor of international enterprise strategy, and Paul Bourne, visiting fellow and freelance theatre director and business consultant—were recognized by Conference organizers for their presentation Embedding Entrepreneurs into the Academic Curriculum—Examples of Innovative Practice from the UK and USA, which received the Best Workshop Award.
“It is absolutely wonderful to have our work recognized by our peers. This serves as another example of Bay Path’s global presence, and the international perspective of its faculty,” said Way. “The nature of our USASBE presentation and its focus on Bay Path's unique business pedagogy demonstrates how the College is able to continue to act innovatively and offer its students exciting and unique opportunities, despite the difficult economy.”
Focusing on pioneering teaching practices in enterprise and entrepreneurial design, the workshop was designed to address the criticisms often leveled against business schools regarding the way the subject matter is taught. Drawing upon their teaching styles, Way’s and her colleagues’ interactive program introduced the participants to practical ways in which entrepreneurs can be effectively rooted into academic courses and successfully deliver a highly innovative, stimulating learning environment. Bourne, who used his theatre director skills, provided role playing exercises for participants, while Lloyd-Reason and Way delivered real-life case studies and extracted examples from their respective programs, in which entrepreneurs serve as students’ mentors, and are actively involved in curriculum development and delivery. Way commented that students who attend Bay Path—a private, four-year, women’s college—are inspired and motivated by the women entrepreneurs she brings into the program. She said, “Our students can see themselves in the enterprising and successful women business owners they meet through the program, and realize they too can achieve entrepreneurial success.”
