Santa Clara University

Centers and Institutes

The centers and institutes at the Leavey School of Business focus on interdisciplinary research and cultivate partnerships with the business community to broaden and test their findings. These partnerships provide learning opportunities for students and professionals, and give faculty the chance to investigate particular business problems.

CENTER FOR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

“Connect. Educate. Launch.”

Established to lead the extension of Santa Clara University’s 155-year-old mission into the study and practice of innovation and entrepreneurship, the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) provides a hub for all entrepreneurial activity within the community, drives the development of entrepreneurship curricula and assists students, faculty, and alumni with the launch of new ventures.  

The CIE is led by director and a distinguished advisory board that includes alumni entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, venture attorneys and accountants, corporate executives, and the deans of the schools of business, engineering, law and the college of arts and sciences.

For more information, contact the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at 408-554-5757, or visit their Web site at: www.scu.edu/business/cie.

EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT CENTER

Founded in 1957, the Executive Development Center (EDC) has collaborated with hundreds of companies to provide educational experiences geared towards developing the leadership capabilities of their employees and the vitality of their organizations.

The EDC offers business programs on emerging and critical topics-of-the-day, as well as customized programs designed to assist companies in meeting the challenges of future business environments. We draw upon the complete resources of the University and its network of distinguished educators, scholars, practitioners, and consultants in designing and facilitating business programs.

Certified Equity Professional Institute

The Certified Equity Professional (CEP) Institute was established in 1992 to promote and provide a certification for the equity compensation administration profession. The CEP Institute offers three sequential independent study courses designed for equity compensation professionals to develop their knowledge and credibility in issues pertinent to the industry. The CEP Institute curriculum has served as the industry’s educational standard. Organizations and individuals use the institute’s exams as a measurement of basic (Level I), intermediate (Level II), and advanced (Level III) knowledge, skills, and abilities related to equity compensation administration. The CEP program is designed for those directly involved in the day-to-day management and administration of equity compensation plans, as well as those working in related fields such as investment banking, equity brokerage, tax accounting, and law. Upon completion of the three courses and their corresponding examinations, the candidate receives the designation of Certified Equity Professional.

For further information, please contact:
Executive Development Center
Phone: 408-554-4521
Fax: 408-554-5143
E-mail: edc@scu.edu
Web: http://www.scu.edu/business/edc

RETAIL MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE

The institute was formed in 1980 by Santa Clara faculty members working with an advisory board of leading figures in Northern California retailing. Today the advisory board includes national leaders in the retail industry, including senior executives from Collectable USA, Disney Stores, Levi Strauss, Macy’s, Mervyn’s, Robinsons-May, Saks Fifth Avenue, Trader Joe’s, Williams-Sonoma, and Wal-Mart. The institute provides unique educational and career development opportunities for students and retail professionals through three major programs.

The Retail Studies Program for the students of Santa Clara University produces Institute graduates who are strongly motivated and highly educated in both business and the humanities. They are already well-informed about retailing through internships and on-campus exposure to retail executives. Open to undergraduates in every field who are interested in retailing careers, Santa Clara University’s Retail Management Institute is a leader in preparing graduates to meet these new and heightened challenges.

The institute also is a leader in two other important areas: management development and serious research into questions of concern to the retail industry. Retailers are served, too with executive education consisting of open-enrollment Management Development Programs, seminars, and custom-designed programs. The institute works with individual companies, trade organizations, and other industry groups to develop programs of current interest. Service to the retail industry is rendered in a third key area by the institutes retail research program, the Retail Workbench Research and Education Center. The Workbench aims to expand knowledge and solve important problems using advanced information technologies to meet the needs of decision makers in rapidly changing retail environment.

CENTER FOR ACCOUNTING EDUCATION AND PRACTICE

The Center for Accounting Education and Practice (CAEP) was established in 2000 to expand and develop relations among business students, faculty, and Silicon Valley accounting professionals.  One of the Center's responsibilities is to sponsor or co-sponsor seminars on contemporary issues of interest to our students and our external constituents. Guest speakers include chief financial officers, fraud auditors, accounting policymakers, valuation experts, and government regulators. MBA students are welcome to attend all CAEP events, which are announced on the CAEP’s Web site at www.scu.edu/business/accounting/center.

FOOD AND AGRIBUSINESS INSTITUTE

The Food and Agribusiness Institute offers educational training through the MBA degree and executive training program to prepare students for management positions in the food and agricultural industries. The Concentration in Food and Agribusiness Management is one of the few programs in the nation that combines a fully accredited MBA degree with an emphasis on food and agribusiness management.

We also offer a four-week training program annually in the summer months.

The Institute’s professors are consistently ranked among the best teachers in the Leavey School of Business, and their research is known nationally for its originality and quality. The Institute was founded in 1973 and now has more than 550 alumni working in the food and agribusiness industries throughout the world.

GLOBAL WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP NETWORK

Women remain the world’s greatest untapped source of leadership at a time when economic, social, political, technological, spiritual, and environmental challenges demand new levels of creativity, talent, and innovation. The Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN) at Santa Clara University is working to meet this demand by building a global network of women leaders who dare to transform the future of their organizations, communities, and the world.

The Global Women’s Leadership Network is unique in the arena of women’s leadership development.  The GWLN:

• Supports women leaders who are working at the forefront of closing the Global Gender Gap in five critical areas:  economic participation, economic opportunity, political empowerment, educational attainment and health and well-being.
• Brings together women leaders from multiple sectors -  business, government, civil society organizations, and academia – to provide the education, resources, and networks that enable them build on each others and their own success.
• Develops leaders of competence, conscience and compassion using global leadership skills that create breakthrough thinking and breakthrough results.
• Combines the academic, ethical and social justice values of California’s oldest institution of higher education with the entrepreneurial spirit and future focus of the Silicon Valley.
• Believes that the effective use of technology has a profound potential for good, and that by engaging women in all aspects of technology new options and alternatives for action will be created.