MEEN Curriculum Workgroup Meeting Notes                          

 

Phone conference on January 24, 2008.  

 

Notes prepared by Barb Fails, workgroup chair.

 

Participants:  Karen Bantel, Chris Beacco, Andy Borchers, Kurt Riegger, Bill Riffe, Zsuzsanna Fluck

 

 The meeting started with Karen’s overview of the workgroup charge and the MEEN meeting in Grand Blanc on November 13.  From that meeting, four separate workgroups emerged:  Access (nontraditional students), Youth (K-12), Experiential (internships, incubators, business plan competitions), and Curriculum (courses at post secondary institutions).  The plan is for each workgroup to meet at least twice before the next full group meeting in Grand Blanc on March 14 from 9:00-11:30am.  MITT is interested in supporting an integrated educational programs strategy for the region, taking a learning community approach, as an enhancement of the WIRED project.  This follow up is funded separately by the Mott Foundation.  Consider this activity as an opportunity to explore funding for program development, solving common problems, and as an opportunity for collaboration in the region.

 

Participants briefly introduced themselves and their interest in serving on this workgroup:

 

Chris Beacco:  Dean for Occupational Education at JCC.  They’ve got 6 courses on the books that haven’t been taught yet.  Looking for a faculty champion to teach program.  Serving on workgroup to learn more about the “right” kind of courses.  Interested in certificate programs, specializations within majors.  Wants to offer program fall 2008.

 

Andy Borchers:  Prof. in Business Dept. at Kettering. Taught entrepreneurship the past 2 yr. for the engineering program.  Started with a course, now a minor in program. Had Kern Foundation grant.  Includes co-curricular activities like business plan competition. Developed an incubator on campus that serves off campus business community. Local SBTDC counselor has moved Flint office to campus.

 

 

Barb Fails:  Director for rural entrepreneurship in the College of Ag.  Developing new course for technical program students this fall.  Leads the Creating Entrepreneurial Communities program in Extension, and has been the educational programs director for the Product Center for past 2 years – taught workshops around the state for start ups in food, ag, and natural resources.  Faculty member with background teaching small business management and marketing.

 

Zsuzsanna Fluck: Prof. in Broad Business College in finance.  Develops and teaches courses in venture capital, through Center for Venture Capital, Private Equity and Entrepreneurial Finance.

 

Kurt Riegger:  Teaches at Cantillon in Ann Arbor for non-degree students who are entrepreneurially-ready.  Practical program, deliverables driven. Program has 10 units, 4 offered so far, 4 more developed this spring.  Not a degree granting program. Students are early stage entrepreneurs, learning product development, finance, planning. Piloted 187 companies to date, about 200 students involved in the commercialization process.  Paired with business mentors in off hours, through Roth School for Commercialization, and Smart Zone.

 

Bill Riffe: Prof. of manufacturing engineering, teaches a course on innovation and new ventures 4 hr/wk.  Students find a topic, refine it, develop a technical plan to bring it to market, write a business plan. Wants to include “intropreneurship” because the co-op program is organizing a 10 wk course.  Has had 53 students in 2 years. Believes you can’t teach entrepreneurship in one course. What should be included to make a decent package?  Program is primarily for seniors, to have a better understanding of finance, legal, IP issues in business.  What else would go into a program?

 

Discussion:

 

Can you teach entrepreneurship?  If so, what’s the best way to do it?  What are the important components of a program? 

 

Maybe you don’t, but you can teach aspects of entrepreneurship, help students be aware of it.

 

The best way to teach is just get started.  Go by the seat of the pants, then weave in practices that can be helpful.  Let them sink or swim.

 

Start with the product concept and go to market, build a business plan around it.

 

Students form teams.  Coach (professor) meets team weekly to check progress.

 

Bring in alumni in business and ask what they wish they knew when they started.

 

Peerspectives program of the Edward Lowe Foundation believes entrepreneurs learn best from each other. .

 

Sirolli Institute believes entrepreneurs can’t be good at all 3 areas: marketing, finance, production.  Need to work in teams with others who have expertise.

 

Boot camp lessons.  2 day sessions where outsiders come in at the end of the program and review business plans.

 

How would you grade students in an entrepreneurship class?

 

Teach by looking at case studies.

 

Students aren’t concerned about grades (as seniors).

 

Grade by tier, 1-3; grade is relative but not completely subjective.  Require a weekly journal worth points.

 

Require reading books like Art of the Start and require students to write summaries of what they learned.

 

Next steps:

 

• Post syllabi and program guidelines on the MITT website.  Include co-curricular activities and business plan competitions.

   

• Recommend electronic and books resources that exist so we might develop a library of resources.   There is an E clip collection at Cornell U., also Stanford Technology venture, and Kauffman PEV for community colleges, Fast Trac by SBTDC, short video clips elsewhere.

   

• Develop a list of websites and programs that are teaching entrepreneurship.  Who’s doing it well?  Kern Foundation has a list of 15 schools with links (Milwaukee, Lawrence Tech.)

   

• Identify possible conferences or workshops for educators to learn more, professional development opportunities.  NCIIA (national collegiate innovation and inventors alliance) has a conference, through Boston College.  National association of community colleges in entrepreneurship has a conference in January in Texas.  Babson College has a specialization in entrepreneurship.

   

• Consider opportunity for collaboration within the region, like a regional business plan competition across the colleges and universities.  Bring in external reviewers. The winner could go on to the national contest.

   

Topics for next meeting:

 

• Review materials submitted on website.

   

• Determine age/ demographics of the student groups we’re talking about.  18-22?

   

• Confirm the geographic scope of the project.

   

• Discuss the regional competition idea and bring in Chuck Fitzpatrick at CMU.  National contest at U. of Texas with $50,000 prize level.