Future shaky for entrepreneur program

Lone faculty member, director resigns, citing time conflicts resulting
from schedule change 

By Perry Swanson
The Metropolitan

Metroās Institute for Entrepreneurship and Creativity is in limbo after its only faculty member resigned Aug. 24, a day before the fall semester started.

Courtney Price, who was director and sole professor for the institute, said she couldnāt reconcile her schedule of three fall classes with other time commitments.

ćWhen the class schedule assigned to me changed because of enrollments, we could not find a workable solution to fit with previous commitments I had made,ä Price said in her letter of resignation.

One of Priceās three fall classes has since been canceled because of low enrollment, and the others were reassigned to part-time faculty, said Charles Vitaska, acting dean of the School of Business.

Vitaska said he would know the future of the institute within four to five months. The instituteās objective is to help students and business professionals start and run a profitable business.

Price is a syndicated business columnist whose column appears regularly in the Rocky Mountain News. Her unusual contract caused controversy last year among state lawmakers and the collegeās trustees.

Priceās contract stipulated that she  give her entire salary, which was paid with state money, into a private Metro fund. The funds were then allocated to the entrepreneurship program.

Members of the legislature ordered Metro to end the arrangement last spring. No such arrangement was noted in her contract this year. The Metropolitan could not reach Price for comment.