they also visit exchanges in New York and Chicago, where they meet c-suite executives. “Those students are very successful at finding jobs,” Bhadury says. The SMIPO trading lab is one
of three classrooms where, this fall, the business school will be piloting tri-modal instruction that allows graduate students to experience their classes face-to-face, over an interactive internet connection or through video recordings. While the business school uses technology to reach more students off-campus, it’s also bringing middle and high school economics teachers on campus for free, three-day annual con- ferences to teach them how to prepare their students for business school.
Growing entrepreneurism For some time, Radford’s busi-
ness school has encouraged students to focus on entrepreneurship and innovation, to develop ideas for new businesses. “What we haven’t had in the past that we are working on now,” says Childers, “is a systematic approach to helping them actually launch those ventures.” An important part of that system
will be the Venture Lab, housed in Kyle Hall, the business school’s home. “Think of it as a business incuba-
tion space,” says Bhadury.
“Our success as a business school, as a public business school, is highly tied to the success of the regional businesses,” says Joyendu Bhadury, dean of Radford’s Davis College of Business and Economics.
Photo by Don Petersen It’s a co-working space offering
faculty support, virtual reality and 3-D printing that students can access it 24 hours a day. When they’re ready to take the next step, the Small Busi- ness Development Center will be just a few steps away. “They can come one level up in
Since 2014, Radford has hosted the RUSecure Capture the Flag contest, in which student teams have to solve a series of problems and defend a network from attacks.
Kyle Hall and seek direct advice from an SBDC adviser who will be seated there,” Bhadury says. “The whole idea is to create, to seed, to crystallize, to cre- ate a system of innovation in the minds of all Radford students. … Innovation will be the key to our future.” The Venture Lab is not a busi-
ness school-only operation and it’s not for business students alone. “We’re growing it organically,
but we’re putting a lot of cross-disci- plinary expertise from across campus into that and we’ll have external partners as well,” says Kenna Colley, interim provost and vice president of academic affairs. “We really want it to be a destination for all students from across campus.” It’s important to promote entre-
preneurship across disciplines, she says, even for students who aren’t planning to open a business. “There has to be a certain level
of entrepreneurship that’s embedded into the academics because things change way too fast in our society,” says Colley. “I think we just have to teach that way of thinking.”
Photo courtesy Radford University
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