MEEN Curriculum Workgroup Meeting Notes

Phone conference on February 20, 2008.  

 Participants:  Karen Bantel, Cassie Alley, Bill Riffe, Charlie Burke, Barb Fails

 Announcements: 

Save the date for April 21, "Moving Ideas to Market, Engaging Education in the Global Marketplace" Conference

To view the Learning Communities website go to: midmichiganlearningcommunites.pbwiki.com

Then see the sidebar on the upper right side of the page and click our workgroup resources.

March 14 MEEN at Genesys, the meeting is from 9:00-11:30am.  Please rsvp to Karen Bantel.

 1. Review curriculum materials submitted on MMIT website.  Comments:

• Amazed at how much is going on

   

• What constitutes a minor?

   

• This gives us more direction for how we might develop our own programs

   

• There’s not enough money to develop new programs.  Legislators think entrepreneurship is about high tech, sexy, big companies coming out of SE Michigan.  But, next layer down ultimately has a bigger impact on Michigan.

   

• Need to quit thinking of each University as a competitor.  Look at each of our unique strengths and share programs/courses/instructors.

   

• Look at Foundations for a New Economy

   

• Move from entrepreneurship to intrapreneurship. Students are going to work for existing companies.  How can they expand businesses?  Develop patents? This is Kettering’s niche.

   

• Institute for Management Consulting – how to go into a company, build teams. Designed for a consultant coming in to help a company open program  up to other, non-MBA students. 12 credit sequence.

   

• Should be able to share faculty.  Entrepreneurship programs do not belong in the business schools.

   

• Look at Michgan’s economy. We’ve been through a lot. We’re getting more comfortable with change, so we’re in a unique position to lead the way to a new economy.  We have an opportunity to influence what the curriculum should be

   

• We’ve got accredited professors teaching without any commercial experience. This just layers on top of what is a traditional academic paradigm.  Must be interdisciplinary, and inter-institutional for our approach.  Blend technology with business expertise.

   

• MEEN supported Ann Arbor’s SPARK at Cantilon. Coaching relationship with students. Fundamental concepts about starting a company.  It borrows from Stanford’s work.  How to get this into the hands of those teaching entrepreneurship?

   

• Should NOT be about a set of courses that needs credits, a degree, formal teaching program. Let the academics figure out how to put a credit structure on a program.

   

• What if we got 10-12 of the most creative people and locked away for a weekend (with beer), with the intention of starting a new, non-accredited institution, staffed by university people, to teach entrepreneurship?

   

• Add social entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship to the program.  Each should be supported differently.  We need more students who say, “yes we can”.

   

• Michigan has one of the lowest populations of college graduates.  Our youth have a very high drop out rate from high school. Education has to start younger than college level.

   

•  How do we support academics who are rewarded for research publications?  Shouldn’t commercializing a patent be valued?  Peer reviewed?

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

• Stick with traditional age range, include community colleges and universities

   

• Non credit and non degree vs. university

   

3.  Confirm the geographic scope of the project.

• Keep our focus on the MMIT region, initially.  See what we can do here first, in the 13 county region.

   

• Include institutions, 2 and 4 year, within that area

   

4.  Discuss the regional business plan competition idea.

• Northern Initiatives was able to come up with $50,000 for their area business plan competition with Northern Michigan U.

   

• The experiential workgroup is working on internships

5.  Consider areas for collaboration on educational programs within the region.  Any proposals? 

• Let’s get together face to face and talk.  See what we can throw against the wall, and what sticks.

   

• What’s ideal/ optimal for an undergraduate education at a university. Boot camp? Minor? BS vs. graduate level?

   

• Develop the theme of entrepreneurship as cross cutting with all majors, not as a separate major

   

• Include intrapreneurship and social entrepreneurship

   

• Meet in Lansing on Feb. 29 at 11:00 and bring a colleague.

   

• Karen recommended we look at U.M. Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies (Tim Faley).

   

6.  Plans to report at the March 14 meeting.

• See what comes from our Feb. 29 lunch meeting in Lansing and go from there.