Program bridges gap between business, arts

Uniting the Kelley School of Business and the College of Arts and Sciences in ways that are not only unique to IU but also to universities across the nation, the Liberal Arts and Management Program continues to expand its role at IU.\nCreated only 12 years ago, LAMP is a program that brings students into the world of liberal arts and business, creating a bridge between the two and expanding students' possibilities upon graduation.\n"LAMP helps make a large university small while offering the best of both worlds: a liberal arts degree with business training," said Tim Tilton, LAMP's director and professor of political science and western European studies.\nLAMP began small -- approximately 25 students a year -- with the concept that students should be able to have a liberal arts background and get business training that extends beyond that of a business minor.\nNow LAMP has 273 students and aims to have around 100 per class within the next couple of years.\nWhile the LAMP requirements may look like a business minor with their economics and accounting prerequisites, the program extends beyond basic business courses, building a bridge between the business and liberal arts with the additional seminars and intensive help from professors and advisors, Tilton said.\n"In addition to our business and COAS requirements, we offer yearly required seminars, advisors within the LAMP program and various extracurricular opportunities for our students," he said.\nAccording to LAMP's advisory board and faculty chairs, LAMP's involvement in students' lives extends far beyond the classroom.\n"One of the really neat things about the LAMP program is it doesn't matter what you want to do --- LAMP is going to help you," Jane Rogan, assistant director of LAMP, said.\nLAMP student Libby Lewis said the program is a valuable part of her career at IU.\n"LAMP is great because you get to take fun classes that allow for academic creativity and discovery of new interests as well as providing a strong business foundation which puts it all into perspective," Lewis said. \nStudents in the LAMP program are involved in campus activities that range from riding in Little 500 teams to playing in the local band "Three Minute Mile" to creating the stock market club -- all while maintaining the program's required 3.3 GPA.\nCandidates for the LAMP program are evaluated on academics, an essay and also what they have done and continue to do on campus.\n"While we obviously want good students, we also want people who do things on campus," Rogan said. "We want students who are able to maintain the 3.3 GPA while also being involved in activities on and off-campus."\nOnce accepted to the program, students take their regular classes with an additional seminar each year. These seminars range from covering environmental law to examining the relationship between arts and business to putting students out in the Bloomington community and working with real businesses.\n"My favorite part about LAMP is the LAMP-specific seminars," Lewis said. "This fall I took a course on servant leadership in business; we learned about what it means to be a good leader in business and our communities. It was great." \nWhile LAMP might not be a program for everyone, Tilton admits, it is certainly a good way to link business to arts and sciences.\n"Students have much more contact with fellow students than professors at any university," Tilton said. "And with this program students are having contact with other motivated students who come from all different types of majors. This breaks the tradition of Fine Arts majors being surrounding only by Fine Arts majors (for example)."\nApplications for the program are due April 1 and can be found on the program's Web site: http://www.iub.edu/~lamp. If freshman are unable to apply this spring, they can wait until the fall when there will be another period of selection.