Georgia State offers Georgia’s first B.I.S. degree in social entrepreneurship

NEWS – The Signal As of this spring semester, Georgia State began offering a degree in social entrepreneurship under the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (AYSPS).
Georgia State’s B.I.S. interdisciplinary undergraduate degree in social entrepreneurship is the first in the state, aiming to aid students in creating social change in communities around them through innovative start-ups or businesses.
Chris Markl, director of the program, said the purpose behind social entrepreneurship is to make lives “longer” and “better”, and to “solve a social problem.”
“The main goal isn’t to make as much money as possible. The main goal is to build something that improves the world. What it means to improve the world is to improve lives,” he said.
Markl said the concept  sometimes mean starting off simple.
“Social entrepreneurship is about augmenting the government’s ability to solve these problems with some unique, innovative solutions,” Markl said. “Some of these things can be simple – an app that sends a text to someone to remind them to take their medication. That could save thousands or millions of lives.”
Georgia State began work on the program in fall 2014, a process that lasted for two years.
According to Denise Jenkins, Andrew Young School financial officer, the program is funded by the AYSPS and the Provost’s Office. Entrepreneurship alone is available as a minor under the J. Mack Robinson College of Business (RCB), but not as a full degree, compared to social entrepreneurship.
“The business school decided to start a minor to create demand for entrepreneurship on campus and provide core courses to the majors being developed in other colleges, like social entrepreneurship,” Dr. Cynthia Searcy, assistant dean for academic programs, said. “RCB is planning to offer a major in entrepreneurship very soon.”
The social entrepreneurship degree pulls courses from both the RCB and the AYSPS with a collection of courses offered ...


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