READY FOR BUSINESS

Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship Dr. Janet Ratliff (Class of 1991, 1992) has a passion for teaching college students about the world of business and does so by giving them lessons rooted in the real world.

“I believe that by actively engaging students in their major and allowing them to experience their skills in action, students will develop confidence in their abilities going forward,” Ratliff said.

Ratliff has been a lifelong Eagle, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration from Morehead State in 1991. Her family has deep roots at MSU as well. She met her husband, Dr. Garrick Ratliff (Class of 1991, 2013), at MSU. Garrick is the assistant director for guidance counseling at MSU’s Craft Academy for Excellence in Science & Mathematics, a dual-credit academy for exceptional Kentucky high school students. He works with Craft Academy students to help them adjust to college classes and living on campus, and plan for their futures. Their son, Garrison, is a junior double-majoring in business management and finance.

After earning a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 1992, Janet became an instructor of marketing at MSU and later became the director of the Center for Economic Education. In 2008, she earned a Doctor of Leadership in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Kentucky. In 2018, she was named the Elmer & Donna Smith Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship and director of the Booth Entrepreneurship Center.

Janet earned MSU’s Distinguished Faculty Service Award in 2022, and last year, she was selected for the Leadership Kentucky program. She is also the only representative from higher education to serve on the Kentucky Standards Business and Education Advisory Panel for Financial Literacy.

She has received several grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to support her work, including an $8,000 grant last year for her work with the Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative (ACRI), which aims to provide applied research training to students to support economic development.

To give students an opportunity to apply what they’ve learned, her Business Plan Development class collaborated with Downtown Morehead Inc. to conduct research and develop business plans for retail space that is part of a project to grow Morehead’s downtown. They also created a public relations campaign to raise awareness about the economic impact of shopping locally.

“Instead of just creating business plans, students are creating business plans for their college community. Thus, they have a vested interest,” Ratliff explained. “We are also helping provide Downtown Morehead Inc. with real viable business plans that someone may choose to use to help create a real business.”

This spirit of collaboration carries over to another activity Janet engages her students in, the Kentucky Business

Pitch Competition. Students pitch their business ideas to an audience of investors, community leaders, and the public. Prize money and business support are given to those students whose businesses demonstrate innovation and the potential to create future jobs for Kentuckians.

Janet’s students have also participated in the IDEA STATE U Competition, the Alltech Innovation Competition, and several other business concept competitions. Students have also worked at area middle and high schools to help students develop business plans for pitch competitions.

Ratliff said teamwork is an integral part of the business world, and teaching her students the value of collaboration is at the heart of her classes.

“Learning to work together with others is what it takes in today’s world to succeed,” Ratliff said. “No one person has all the answers; therefore, through collaboration and cooperation, much more can be accomplished. If students gain this valuable skill in college, they will use it the rest of their lives in everything they do.”