Keith Douglass Warner, OFM (seated 3rd from right), with SBE faculty members.

Keith Douglass Warner, OFM, Senior Director for Education and Action Research of the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship of Santa Clara University (SCU) in California, U.S.A., visited the University of San Carlos on August 26-31, 2018.

USC and SCU, together with the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI), have an existing collaboration for social entrepreneurship (see related story here).

Br. Warner’s five-day visit focused on capacity building in teaching social entrepreneurship and conducting action research. He delivered a lecture series to 33 faculty members from the departments of Business Administration, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Accountancy and Economics. His lectures included Laudato Si, Pope Francis’ second encyclical, and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals as motivating factors for business educators. He defined social enterprises and stimulated discussions in redefining social enterprise in the local context. The lecture series culminated with practical ways to produce business plans, concept papers, and action researches for local communities and would-be social entrepreneurs. Warner engaged with faculty members in small group interactions opening possibilities for future research collaborations.

Course syllabi for Social Entrepreneurship 1 and 2 were also crafted under Warner’s guidance and pilot-tested during the transition semester. Student entrepreneurs presented their concept papers from that semester which were critiqued by Warner, who provided valuable insight and heightened the students’ interest and understanding of social entrepreneurship.

Br. Warner also paid courtesy visits to University President Fr. Dionisio M. Miranda, SVD and Vice President for Academic Affairs Fr. Aleksander Gaut, SVD, affirming the School of Business and Economics’ focus on social entrepreneurship as a major contribution towards the University’s goal to become an entrepreneurial university by 2025.

by Corazon G. Anzano, Ph.D., Director, Center for Social Entrepreneurship

Tags: Business and Economics