For this issue of the Entrepreneurship Education Update we asked members of the Affinity Group to share their best practices related to promoting cross-campus entrepreneurship. These are the ideas colleagues wanted to share with you.

Oregon State University
The Weatherford Residential College is a university wide facility. Students living in Weatherford represent over 60 different academic departments ranging from art to zoology. The programs discussed below include students from a wide range of majors and are truly cross campus in their impact. We call it the BA 160 experience and Weatherford Leadership Team

This three course sequence is designed as an experiential introduction to opportunity recognition and realization for freshmen in the Weatherford Residential College. The first course (BA 160) uses a series of structured exercises and competitions to give students hands on experience working with a range of situations.  Some of the contests have the parameters defined, for example the cook off competition where student teams select and prepare a soup or dessert.  Judging and sampling are open then to the whole residential college.  Other exercises are student defined such as the e-challenge where student teams are given $20 and three weeks to generate as large a financial return as they can. Any money generated through the contest is then donated to charity. Through the course exercises and competitions, students learn basic business and entrepreneurial skills including: project management and event planning, prioritization, team skills, budgeting, leadership, delegation, marketing, selling, and dealing with the unexpected.
 
The second course (BA 161) addresses social entrepreneurship. Building upon the idea of donating the proceeds of the e-challenge to charity in BA 160, the course explores the logic and implementation of social entrepreneurship. Students select a project to gain hands on experience within the framework of the ‘heat is on’ contest to identify ways for Oregon State University to reduce its carbon footprint. Through the course exercises and materials students expand their understanding of and explore their ability to include a social perspective in their entrepreneurial thinking.  Topics addressed include: corporate social responsibility, business ethics, triple bottom line, and the relationship between business, government, and economic vitality.
 
The third course (BA 162) gives students the opportunity to take an opportunity they have identified and write a business plan to turn that opportunity into an economically sustainable venture. In addition to the course topics, including: market need assessment, marketing, competitive analysis, financial projections, sources and uses of capital, intellectual property, corporate structure, students have the opportunity to practice investor pitches. Projects in the course have ranged from a camp for teenage girls whose parents are incarcerated to a biodiesel refinery using used cooking oil from OSU Housing and Dining as feedstock.
 
The BA 160 experience and the wide range of programs presented in the Weatherford Residential College would not be possible without the Weatherford Leadership Team. The Team members are upper class Weatherford residents who are competitively selected to plan and present the programs in Weatherford and mentor the younger students.

Saint Louis University
The Entrepreneurship Program and Center at the John Cook School of Business, Saint Louis University operates a variety of activities designed to promote cross-campus entrepreneurship. These include:
• Idea To Product™ : Developed at UT-Austin, this global competition looks at new ideas. SLU runs a campus-wide competition in the Fall and the MO-IL Regional Competition in the Spring. Seven of the colleges of the University have contributed funds and faculty in support.

• Coleman Fellows Program: This 3-year program provides expertise, network and financial supports to faculty from across the campus who are developing modules, courses or majors related to entrepreneurship. This program has led to the creation of a new engineering entrepreneurship major and a new certificate in Arts Entrepreneurship.

• Billiken Angel Network: This new university-affiliated angel group will provide financial and expert support to business ideas from the SLU community, including alums and retired faculty and staff.

• Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization: The campus wide student entrepreneur club.

• BIGideas Grant Program: A year-old campus-wide entrepreneurship social competition.

• Feasibility & Business Plan Development: Student teams have developed feasibility studies and business plans for faculty, students, student organizations, and University units (tech transfer, recreation center, bioterrorism center, etc.).

• Speaker series: Topics include an annual “Business & Love” session on Valentine’s Day (makes a cheap Valentine’s date), and other topics decided by faculty from across the campus involved in entrepreneurship activities.

• SLU Entrepreneurial Alumni Hall of Fame: This program lets all schools on campus (deans and development officers are individually invited to submit) to nominate alumni who have distinguished themselves for their entrepreneurial spirit and accomplishments in a variety of settings (corporate, high-tech, social, emerging firms, etc.).

• Home for “Orphans”: As Universities get rid of programs, their alumni often do not feel they have a home on campus. Where those program involve entrepreneurship (e.g. Construction Engineering) we have adopted the alumni to reconnect them to the University.
For more details on any of these programs you can refer to our website, http://eweb.slu.edu, or contact our Program Chair, Prof. Jerome Katz at katzja@slu.edu.
 

Temple University
The Fox School of Business’s Entrepreneurship program has been ranked repeatedly as one of the best in the nation by various publications. Part of the success of the program is based on the successful introduction through the efforts of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute of the TU cross-campus entrepreneurship initiative which currently is managed and monitored by the Temple University Council on Entrepreneurship http://www.fox.temple.edu/tuce/ .

TUCE meets every two months and is composed of senior administrators or professors, one from each school or college of TU, plus senior officers of the university tech transfer office and other university-wide relevant programs. TUCE is chaired by the Executive Director of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute, who also sets the agenda. The program is supported by the University President and all deans.

The tangible results of such close cooperation among schools are many and include:
1. Approval and offering of a cross-university Certificate in Entrepreneurship at both graduate and undergraduate levels for students of any TU school or college;

2. Introduction of specialized entrepreneurship courses in most colleges such as Entrepreneurship in the Health Professions, Entrepreneurship for Engineers, Entrepreneurship in Science & Technology, Entrepreneurship for Educators, etc. These courses are all tied to the Certificate of Entrepreneurship;

3. Joint conferences or seminars with various schools throughout the year, such as Biotechnology Conference (Business/Medical/Science schools), Women’s Entrepreneurship Conference (Business/Tourism/ Communications/Liberal Arts schools), Boot camp for Music Industry Entrepreneurs (Business/Music/Communications schools), Boot Camp for Sports industry Entrepreneurs (Business/Tourism/Sports Management schools), Legal Boot Camp for Entrepreneurs (Business/Law schools), etc;

4. Business plan competitions are open to all students from all schools;

5.  Collaboration of students from various disciplines in business plans and class projects;

6. Access to successful alumni entrepreneurs from all schools as mentors to student start-ups in any discipline.

Finally, we would be happy to share our experience with any school that would like to contact us at the information below.

Chris Pavlides, Executive Director
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute & Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures
Fox School of Business

Temple University
201 Speakman Hall, 1810 N. 13th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122
215-204-1035
www.fox.temple.edu/iei

University of Florida
The mantra of the University of Florida’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) is to teach, coach and inspire students to be entrepreneurial. Recognizing that many of the world’s successful entrepreneurs continue to come from fields other than business, CEI pushed to overcome the existing educational barriers and three years ago launched the online Entrepreneurial Learning Network (ELN). This offering, a 7-week introductory course titled The Entrepreneurial Opportunity, is delivered utilizing our electronic platform and provides much more flexibility for non-business graduate students as they often have timing conflicts with courses in their own respective programs, are located in disparate parts of campus, or, in some cases, are located at satellite campuses (e.g. Orlando, St. Petersburg, and Jacksonville). The program has been very successful to-date, averaging almost 100 students per year (primarily from the Colleges of Pharmacy and Law) and it is our belief that this is a valuable learning opportunity providing many of the students with a complementary set of skills that will allow them to be more innovative in their future careers. For more info on the UF Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, please visit: http://www.cba.ufl.edu/fire/entrepreneurship/

University of New Hampshire
The Whittemore School Holloway Prize Innovation-to-Market Competition is designed to stimulate entrepreneurship throughout the campus. Open to all graduate and undergraduate students at the University of New Hampshire who have a plan for bringing an innovative product or service to market, the competition helps students to gain first-hand experience in commercializing new products and services, provides access to faculty advisors and industry experts, and gives students the chance to win up to $10,000 in seed money.

The competition consists of four rounds: A poster session at the Undergraduate Research Conference, an opening round, a challenge round, and the championship round. Teams have ten minutes to present before a panel of judges comprised of local business leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs. The presentations are followed by fifteen minutes of questioning by the judges, designed to create opportunities for the students to network and get involved with the judges beyond the competition. This year's finalists included both undergraduate and graduate students from the Whittemore School of Business and Economics and the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences.

Established to honor New Hampshire entrepreneur Paul J. Holloway's achievements and contributions to the University and to the regional economy, the competition stimulates, recognizes, and rewards the entrepreneurial spirit manifested in Mr. Holloway's career. Now in its 20th year, the competition has become an integral part of the student experience at UNH. The rigor of the competition maximizes educational value, prepares students for the realities of the business world, and helps to generate new business opportunities.

Wayne State University
We’ve begun a student advertising agency to work with new business start ups in TechTown (our University’s business incubator). Advertising students enroll in a Directed Study class and receive credit, and thanks to several grants, they receive a modest ‘salary’ for a small portion of their hours worked. The student advertising agency has an office set up at TechTown, and my students are working to develop integrated marketing communications programs for several new business clients. We have begun with a modest staff of four students, but plan to add a PR student specialist from the Communications School and a technical student specialist from the Engineering School this coming year. The ultimate goal of course is to help make new businesses successful and to remain in the state.

Richard F. Beltramini
Professor of Marketing and Interim Academic Associate Dean
School of Business Administration

Wayne State University
206 Prentis Building; 5201 Cass Avenue
Detroit, MI 48202-3930
phone: (313)577-6275
fax: (313)577-4557
busassocdean@wayne.edu

Washington University in St. Louis
The Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies is structured as a wholly independent, cross-discipline Center at Washington University in St. Louis. The Center reports directly to the Chancellor to remain pure to its cross-campus mission and maintain transparency with preference given to no one school. Students may take courses in any school, promoting peer learning and collaboration among all students and increasing creativity and innovation.

The cross-campus nature of the entrepreneurship program and the experiential components, both in and outside of class, make Washington University a place where students don't just learn about entrepreneurship, they "do" entrepreneurship. The Center’s flagship program - IdeaBounce® - allows anyone to post and pitch an idea for a new business, social venture, or invention. IdeaBounce® events connect students, creators, inventors, implementers, investors, business people, artists, service providers, customers, mentors, and others - the web of innovators who transform ideas into reality, create value, and bring ideas to market. The event concludes with a reception for all and a private dinner for the top five idea bouncers and judges. Bouncers receive feedback, counsel, and support for moving their ideas forward.

Our newest innovation is the Skandalaris Internship Program, which pairs undergraduate students with startup/entrepreneurial commercial and social ventures. Since these organizations often have limited funding, the Center subsidizes more than 80% of the total Program cost. The program is made possible through the generous support of Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Skandalaris. Beyond their work experience, the Program provides two additional learning opportunities for the students: a collaborative living environment on campus and a weekly series of collaborative discussions and opportunities to connect. This and all Center programs support the regional entrepreneurial environment.

Please visit www.ideabounce.com or www.sc.wustl.edu for more information.

  © Copyright 2008 AACSB, All Rights Reserved.
  The AACSB Entrepreneurship Education Update is the official newsletter of AACSB's Entrepreneurship Affinity Group. The EEU is published by the Entrepreneurship Program at Saint Louis University's John Cook School of Business, and its editor is Jerome Katz. The EEU is made possible through a grant from the Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship at Saint Louis University. The next issue of the Update is due to come out toward the end of the Fall 2008 semester. Affinity Group members are encouraged to submit materials to katzja@slu.edu by September 15th.