The center also serves as a resource for the community at large, assisting local businesses and non-profit entities through consulting projects. The Shipley Center provides many opportunities for students to experience leadership and entrepreneurship first hand. A highlight of the undergraduate freshman curriculum is an entrepreneurship course that includes the actual start up of a student-designed business. This course requires assessing the potential for a product or service, preparing a business plan, presenting the concept to investors, and then actually running the business. Proceeds are then devoted to a community project, emphasizing the importance of service in students' minds.
Students also interact with the community through numerous consulting projects.
Students also have opportunities to work as consultants on real world business issues. Through the Entrepreneurial Consulting group, students assist local business and entrepreneurs by undertaking consulting projects on issues such as patent searches, marketing studies, strategic planning, reorganization, and demographic research. The Shipley Center also offers faculty expertise in leadership and change management in conjunction with the Organizational Studies faculty. The center has developed a leadership assessment center that incorporates the latest thinking on leadership competencies. All School of Business graduate students participate in the assessment center activities during their two-week orientation and receive individualized feedback reports on ten leadership competencies together with a suggested plan of action for enhancing particular competencies.