St. Mary's University

E-Scholars
The E-scholars Program is a yearlong certificate program that includes academic and extra-curricular activities for students from all disciplines and majors. It helps students overcome the five common barriers to learning: isolation, time, limited expertise, rapid globalization and cost.  The program consists of a carefully selected blend of  classroom and real world exposure. E-Scholars attend classes designed specifically for them, go on domestic and international business trips, receive one-on-one advice and assistance from business mentors while developing and implementing their entrepreneurial ideas. They also get the opportunity to network with successful entrepreneurs and executives from the business community. The program is administered by the Algur H. Meadows Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.

Algur H. Meadows Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
The Algur H. Meadows Center for Entrepreneurial Studies was founded in 1981 to build strong relationships and partnerships with South Texas entrepreneurial businesses in order to provide valuable St. Mary’s students with valuable learning opportunities. The Center sponsors two events: the Forum on Entrepreneurship Breakfast Series and the Executive Speaker Series.

Now in its 24th year, the Forum on Entrepreneurship Breakfast Series hosts four breakfast meetings each academic year that feature prominent entrepreneurs who share their experiences and insights. Past speakers include executives, President and CEOS from San Antonio Spurs, Southwest Airlines, Anheuser Busch, Frost National Bank and many other local and nationally known companies. Students attending the breakfasts not only have the opportunity to gain insight from the speakers, but also meet and mingle with the area’s top business leaders.

In 2006, the Center also began offering the Executive Speaker Series as part of a course entitled, "Exploring Entrepreneurship: Profiles of Successful Entrepreneurs and Senior Executives." Students enrolled in this class have the rare opportunity to hear autobiographical speeches from nationally known entrepreneurs and senior level executives about their "road maps" to success. Students read biographies of well known entrepreneurs, analyze prospective success patterns, and contribute to the class through verbal and written projects.

Greehey Scholars
The Greehey Scholars Program provides enriched academic opportunities to incoming freshman, junior-level transfer, and MBA students. Greehey Scholars receive full academic scholarships and have access to numerous academic opportunities and individualized experiences that create graduates with the following qualities: ethical leadership, technical excellence, global awareness and professional orientation. Along with having certain academic requirements, students also make site visits of a broad range of industries and participate in community service projects every semester.

Rattlers Enterprises
St. Mary’s University boasts the first student managed business at a Texas college or university, and only one of a handful nationwide. Rattler Enterprises, a real business that is completely managed by students, opened in the spring of 2010. The first business venture under the Rattler Enterprises is TLC Tees—a custom design and t-shirt printing business. Rattler Enterprises was made possible by a gift from two generous alumni, Tom and Leti Contreras, begetting the name TLC Tees. The goal of Rattler Enterprises is to add a valuable experiential learning element to the experiences available for undergraduate students at St. Mary’s Bill Greehey School of Business.

Small Business Institute
The Small Business Institute within the Bill Greehey School of Business accepts both small and nonprofits business clients. The institute offers an in-depth consulting service for local businesses. Areas of expertise include accounting, entrepreneurship, finance, human resource management, information technology, international business and marketing. Senior business students, under the supervision of the business faculty, provide the consulting services at no cost to the small businesses.

Student Managed Investment Portfolio
The Student Managed Investment Portfolio course is part of the Finance curriculum giving undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to invest up to $1 million. The class is taught in the state-of-the-art trading room which features a Trans-Lux LED jet ticker, a Trans-Lux data board, and a 57-inch LCD television for up-to-date financial information. Students and faculty in the class have 24/7 access to necessary financial information to develop trade recommendations and support trade decisions.

VITA
Every year St. Mary’s University operates a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site for the residents from the neighborhoods surrounding St. Mary’s campus (other VITA sites are run by the City of San Antonio and other organizations). VITA provides free tax filing services to qualifying families that make less than $55,000 a year. St. Mary’s VITA site is open to the entire community, but specifically targets residents on the Westside within the University’s Neighborhood Revitalization area.

The mix of volunteers includes students, faculty and staff from St. Mary’s University’s Bill Greehey School of Business, the School of Law, the graduate and undergraduate programs. St. Mary’s alumni, community business leaders and volunteers from Wells Fargo/Wachovia. In 2010, there were 97 volunteers that worked more than 3,300 hours, including training, and filed 743 returns putting $1.3 million back in to the pockets of citizens in these tough economic times.

Business Plan Development and New Venture Creation
Students learn how to initiate a new business venture by developing business plans, analyzing case studies, lectures, and guest speakers. Each student will develop a unique and comprehensive business plan.

The Free Enterprise System
Develops a philosophical perspective of the objectives, functions, and challenges of the American free enterprise system. Past, present and probable future of individual freedom, students learn historical perspective of economic activity and as within an ethical framework. Required of all Entrepreneurial Studies majors.

Building World Class Ideas and Organizations
Students learn how to apply their natural strengths and interests toward creating new ventures. Sources of innovation are discussed as well as forms of capital. Each student develops a product/service idea and then learns how to build an organization around it. There is an emphasis on social entrepreneurship, which carries over into other E-Scholar classes and activities. Students will take a best practices tour and begin the mentoring component of the program.

Innovation and Creative Problem Solving
The entire development process from idea, to product development and patent, to identifying potential markets and commercialization is explored. Business opportunities through innovation and invention are identified. Unique ways to solve problems are examined. Creativity and aspects of systems thinking are used to put a new spin on existing products, markets, and problem solutions.

Business Ethics/Corporate Social Responsibility
Students learn the fundamentals of ethical leadership, the most common ethical lapses that occur within organizations, methods of making ethical decisions when confronted with ethical dilemmas, how to develop and implement ethical business strategies, the roles and responsibilities of business in the global economy, and the effects of business on society. Students may be required to complete an extensive project, as well as attend functions off-cam pus related to the course.

The Entrepreneurial Studies major at St. Mary's University is designed to prepare an individual seeking career fulfillment through the establishment of his or her own business rather than being a part of a corporate or institutional staff. Individuals who are interested in starting a new business or purchasing an existing one should consider this major.

Students in the entrepreneurial studies program gain the knowledge and skills necessary to launch their own venture, analyze the market, and solve real-life problems in business. Students gain valuable organizational tools in order to focus on good project management, and to identify and capture new markets and start-up companies.

The Bill Greehey School of Business and the M.B.A. program are ranked in the top 10 nationally for “Greatest Opportunity for Women” by the Princeton Review.

With a 60 percent average graduation rate, this is just one of the reasons why St. Mary’s University is ranked fourth in the West Region for quality and value in the “Great Schools, Great Prices” category of the U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 edition of “America’s Best Colleges.”

School type: Four Year, Private, undergraduate, graduate and law
Founded: 1852
Affiliation: Roman Catholic, Society of Mary (Marianist)
Website: www.stmarytx.edu

Student Profile:

Number of undergraduate, full-time students:
2,212

Percentage of undergraduate, full-time male students, female students:
37% male full-time (3% part-time), 56 female full-time (4% part-time)

Geographic areas represented by student body:
91% from Texas, 6% out of state, 3% international

Number of countries represented by student body:
26

Percentage of minority students:
53% Hispanic, 4.4% African-American, 3.4% Asian/Pacific Islander, 3.2% International, Unknown 4.6%, American Indian/AK Native .5%, and White non-Hispanic 30.9%

Number of undergraduate students enrolled in the Bill Greehey School of Business:
558

Number of undergraduate students majoring in Entrepreneurial Studies:
32

Faculty Profile:

Number of full-time faculty:
197 (Of all full-time instructional faculty, 94 percent have terminal degrees).

Student/Faculty ratio:
14 to 1

Athletics:

Athletic division:
NCAA Division II (since 1998)

Conference:
Heartland Conference

Number of varsity sports:
12

Financial:

Cost of tuition: $21,980 (2010-2011)
*find a detailed breakdown of tuition and fees here.

Cost of room and board: approximately $7,550, depending on housing and meal options chosen by the individual student

In 2009-2010, St. Mary’s University awarded a total of $29.2 million scholarships to undergraduate students.

St. Mary's University
Undergraduate Admissions Office
One Camino Santa Maria
San Antonio, TX  78228
Phone: (210) 436-3126 or 1-800-FOR-STMU
Fax: (210) 431-6742
uadm@stmarytx.edu

Brooke R. Envick, Ph.D.
Director, Algur H. Meadows Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
at St. Mary’s University’s Bill Greehey School of Business
Phone: (210) 431-4267
E-mail: benvick@stmarytx.edu