College pilots new business electives

By Brian Babcock
Staff Writer

Starting in the winter 2020 semester, WCC is offering two new business classes: Introduction to Esports and Nonprofit Management.

Both courses offer three credits and can make for great electives, said Kelli Smith, a part-time faculty member at the college who will teach the first esports class. When business faculty member Randy Van Wagnen approached Smith with the idea of creating a new class, she was enthusiastic.

“I do love esports; I’ve been following the [League of Legends] esports team, and I also love teaching and finding students who know nothing about the subject I’m teaching and educating them,” said Smith.

Esports is a major source of entertainment, said Smith, and may provide students with the opportunity to mix their passions for video games with managing or owning a business.

“I think it will be a really good opportunity for people to get jobs in that market,” said Smith.

“I’m glad it’s come to light and now has a huge fan base,” Smith said. Esports have been around for a long time, but have recently increased in popularity, she added.

To put the scale of esports popularity into perspective, in November 2018, the League of Legends World Championship drew nearly 100 million viewers to the online event. In comparison, last year’s Superbowl had a little over 98 million viewers.

Ultimately, the business department’s goal is course expansion, so that students can take their passion for video games and transfer those skills into a professional career.

“I’m looking forward to seeing it grow.” Smith said. If the program is well-received, there is a possibility that WCC will develop an Esports Management certificate that could transfer to other universities, said Smith.

WCC will also be rolling out a new nonprofit management course.

This course is a business management elective and will offer a basic intro-level experience for students curious about working for a nonprofit or starting their own someday. The class will primarily operate seminar-style, with guest speakers, collaborative classroom projects and a hands-on learning approach.

Topics covered in the class will include: nonprofit legal compliance, board governance, nonprofit leadership and financial management. Students will also get the opportunity to craft their own professional nonprofit business plan from scratch.

“Many community colleges do not have a nonprofit track. It’s usually going to be something you gain at the four-year institution, so we wanted to give students a little bit of exposure early on in their academic career,” said Eva Samulski, dead of the business and computer technologies department at WCC.

Samulski added that if the course has a successful launch, it may be embedded into one or more of the college’s degrees as a required course.

“We’re hoping that it takes off and that students have an interest. Because it’s a pilot, we wanted to leave it loose until we see if students are receptive to taking it . . . before we permanently place it somewhere,” Samulski said.

The college’s goal in creating these two new courses was to “create awareness” for nonprofit and esports management.

“I think it will give students a new area of management and business that they’re not familiar with,” Samulski said.

Students interested in nonprofit management or esports management can register to take either class in the coming winter 2020 semester. Seats are still open for both of the three-credit business elective courses.

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