DePaul’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business has signed an agreement with the University of Orange Free State (UOFS) in South Africa to provide assistance in developing a curriculum for an MBA degree concentration in entrepreneurship at the South African university.

Harold Welsch, the Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship at DePaul, will oversee the entrepreneurship program’s collaboration with the UOFS, which plans to launch its entrepreneurship program in fall of 1999. DePaul’s role will be consultative, offering advice and expertise to create a successful program.

"Unemployment is a major problem among black South Africans," Welsch said. "Because there aren’t enough jobs, there’s a major public policy initiative to create jobs through self-employment. The University of Orange Free State is looking to DePaul for help in developing their entrepreneurship curriculum in order to nurture more South African entrepreneurs through education." The University of Free State, which was once exclusively Afrikaner, is expected to be predominately black African in five years.

DePaul’s College of Commerce Dean Ronald Patten said he hopes the collaboration also will result in joint research by professors at the two academic institutions and short-term professor exchanges. "I think this is a win-win situation," Patten said. "We’ll help them build a program whose graduates will benefit their country’s economy, and in exchange, we’ll gain valuable knowledge about their culture and markets."

DePaul’s highly regarded entrepreneurship program has been named one of the 25 best programs for entrepreneurs in the United States by SUCCESS Magazine for five consecutive years. The program was ranked second in the nation in the magazine’s most recent ranking issue in August.

DePaul’s School for New Learning (SNL), an innovator in designing curricula for adults, has also signed an agreement with UOFS to create an extensive adult education program at the South African university. Using the SNL model, UOFS has begun to offer degree programs specifically geared to the needs of adults.

Like entrepreneurship education, there is a growing need for adult education in South Africa, according to David Justice, vice president of Lifelong Learning at DePaul. His 1996 visit to UOFS began the collaboration talks between the two universities.

"The University of Orange Free State is responding to a rapidly changing South Africa," said Justice. "Its recruitment began as a need to serve black South Africans with positions of real responsibility who did not have degrees. The program will help them attain degrees quickly using experience they have acquired on the job."

SNL is providing expertise in developing faculty and supporting students. It is also explore ways the two institutions can pool resources through distance learning and experiential curricula to provide both universities with tools that offer students greater classroom options. The first full class in the adult degree program at UOFS began in January. More than 100 applicants applied for the 40 available slots.

Note to Reporters: Welsch can be reached at 312/362-8471; Patten can be reached at 312/362-6781; Justice can be reached at 312/362-6055.