Cutting-Edge Online Courses in Entrepreneurship, Patents, and High-Tech Law Being Offered by the Leavey School of Business
Deborah Lohse
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 5, 2012— To help advance the high-tech knowledge base of entrepreneurs, executives, and professionals, the Executive Development Center of Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business has launched 10 online, non-credit courses on topics that include entrepreneurship, patents, high-tech law, and “law school lite.”
Students can purchase the 10 courses online, for prices ranging from $595 to $3,995, and complete them at their own pace. Future courses are expected to blend the self-paced online format with group learning at set class times, in some cases utilizing live video feeds of SCU classes or audio discussions.
The courses are complemented with hundreds of videos and audio recordings of lectures as well as interviews with Silicon Valley insiders. They make use of advanced rich-media technologies such as e-textbooks and e-quizzes, and offer students the option of interacting with fellow students and professors via message boards and integrated web conferencing.
Designed for a wide audience of entrepreneurs, executives, and patent professionals, the course material was gathered and curated over the past decade by serial entrepreneur David Smith, who received his J.D. in 2008 from Santa Clara University School of Law and wrote the book Zero to IPO.
Smith, who narrates many of the videos, is president of Silicon Valley Business School®, a startup company formed to commercialize courses online.
“Online learning is certainly not new, but recent advances in technology and bandwidth have enabled us to educate people in rich, engaging ways that were never before possible,” says Larry Robertson, associate dean for executive education in SCU’s Leavey School of Business.
For the class Startup Formation, Organization, and Planning, for example, an online startup simulator will enable students to play the role of CEO, and run through a year in the life of a high-tech startup during an hour-long simulation.
“High-tech entrepreneurs, corporate executives, patent and legal professionals from all over the world are looking to learn from Silicon Valley, and the courses we are announcing today represent the latest thinking in entrepreneurship, patents, and high-tech law,” says Robertson. “These are topics in which Silicon Valley and Santa Clara University excel.”
“We're thrilled that Santa Clara University, an institution steeped in history and tradition, is taking a leadership position in the wave of technology that’s currently transforming education,” says Smith. “This initiative extends Santa Clara's reach to students worldwide, and strengthens the University’s position at the heart of Silicon Valley.”
Further details are available from: scu.svbs.co.
About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its more than 8,800 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, theology, and engineering, plus master’s and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.
About SVBS
SVBS Co. develops and delivers online courses and integrated learning programs to provide contemporary skills for modern business. “Silicon Valley Business School” is a registered trademark of SVBS Co. For more information, see http://scu.svbs.co/
Media Contact
Deborah Lohse | SCU Media Relations | dlohse@scu.edu | 408-554-5121