Need business knowledge? Try boot camp

updated 6:13 p.m. ET May 31, 2005

DALLAS - As a junior at Southern Methodist University, Wade McDonald figured out he wanted to start his own video production business after graduation.

But there was a wrinkle in McDonald's plan. He was clueless about even the most basic elements of running a business. After all, he was a cinema-television major, not an MBA student.

"I was rapidly discovering that producing TV and video is largely business," McDonald said. "It's sales. It's face-to-face meetings. It's finance. I needed some business savvy."

McDonald signed up for a month-long summer crash course taught by SMU business professors and sprinkled with lectures from executives from major companies with nearby headquarters, such as movie-rental chain Blockbuster Inc. For six hours a day, he crammed lessons about marketing, accounting, finance, operations and business law.

The business boot camp, one of a handful like it across the country, aims to give liberal arts students a grounding in basic business concepts. It tries to make them better candidates for corporate jobs or starting their own business.

Dartmouth College pioneered the idea several years ago and its "business bridge program" is one of the largest. Vanderbilt University opened its program in late May.

Mike Sicard, faculty director of Vanderbilt's program, said the programs not only help students, they help future employers. Sicard — the former chief operating officer at Willis North America, a subsidiary of London-based insurance company Willis Group Holdings Ltd. — said employers are frustrated that even college graduates who know business theory lack problem-solving, teamwork and leadership skills.

"They can't figure out how to apply what they learned to a business situation," Sicard said. For many liberal arts students, he added, business terminology can sound like a foreign language.

Vanderbilt's program, whose students range from sophomores to recent graduates, will stress the importance of internships to gain practical business experience, Sicard said.

The crash courses come at a price. Stanford University charges $8,000 for four weeks, including dormitory living. Boarding and tuition are $7,500 at Vanderbilt and SMU. None offer college credit since the sampler courses are too short.

Parents who have paid the bills believe it's worth it.

Debbie Huddleston of San Diego sent her daughter, Ashley — who graduated from SMU with a degree in Spanish — to the school's business institute last summer.

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