Loyola University offers teens a mission-driven approach at business camp

The average class size at Loyola Maryland University is just 21 students.

So the faculty of the Sellinger School of Business know that a small size is effective.

This summer, the school plans its first Sellinger Mission Driven Business Academy, July 6-10, for an inaugural class of just 15 rising high school juniors and seniors.

The faculty will adjust the curriculum for subsequent academies, also for groups of just 15, but for more groups each summer.

It’s an intensive full-immersion week, staying in a dormitory, learning from four faculties and additional activities led by Loyola undergraduates.

“We’re trying to take some of the aspects one would get in a business summer camp and what one would get in a retreat,” said Dave Luvison, chairman of the management and organizations department.

The university has hosted summer camps for other organizations in the past, but this time, the business school faculty wanted to organize its own venture. It’s also a way to keep campus buildings in use in the summer.

“The hope is it goes well,” says Mary Ann Scully, dean of the business school. “Having small numbers – I like to call them cohorts – is very important for what we hope to accomplish.”

“We’re going to keep them busy from breakfast into the evening,” Luvison said.

Students will be instructed in strategy, finance and marketing, financial literacy and leadership, and developing “businesses that prioritize social impact” as they work toward case studies they’ll present at the end of the week.

The unique features are learning “purpose and integrity” in evening reflection sessions and a visit to Innovation Works Baltimore, which has, as its goals, closing the racial wealth divide and teaching empathy.

“I like to say discernment,” Scully said. “A lot of discernment we’re trying to encourage.”

Luvison said the aim is to give the students “a mission-driven philosophy” to learn how business decisions are not just plans to make money, but that business acumen affects real communities.

He called it “typical of Loyola” and its goal of teaching “the whole person.”

Scully described the venture as “unusual for Baltimore,” where summer activities for teens ages 16 and 17 are usually centered on sports.

Early-bird tuition is $2,500 until Feb. 15, after which it’s $3,000.

Applicants should have a minimum 3.0 grade point average, preferably in a college preparatory curriculum and with a mix of honors and/or Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate courses. They also should demonstrate involvement outside the classroom through extracurricular activities, athletics, or community services.

To apply:  loyola.edu/sellinger-business/academics/high-school-program/

Link for Innovation Works Baltimore: iwbmore.org/

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