The Undergraduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship is available to students outside of the School of Business who wish to acquire entrepreneurship and business skills that will make them more marketable to employers or help them launch companies of their own.
Our 15-credit program aligns nicely with students majoring in music, the arts, computer science, pharmacy and health sciences who may want to start their own businesses someday and/or develop new lines of business within existing firms.
The Startup Track gives students the opportunity to develop new business ideas and actually launch them in teams, with the School providing each team up to $5,000 in support.
The Corporate Venturing Track teaches students how to create new products or services within an existing small or large company through engaging consulting projects.
This is the first of a full-year sequence of 2 semester-long 3-credit courses. The
course is available only to entrepreneurship majors and is typically taken in the
fall of sophomore year but can be taken at other times by arrangement. In the course,
students will pitch ideas and select concepts for new real “micro-ventures,” with
faculty guidance at the beginning of the first semester, form teams, receive an “investment”
of $5,000, start the business via an introductory sequence of new venture learning
modules and deliverables, operate the businesses through the year, periodically report
progress, and then liquidate the businesses at the end of second semester. The instructor(s)
will provide lectures (in class and recorded) and seminars in specific management
discipline knowledge and models. Mentors from the business community Small Business
Development Center staff will be assigned to coach teams. Lecture. Offered fall only.
Startup Track Required Courses
Business Law is an introductory course exploring the nature of laws, its sources,
and its relation to society, government and business. The course focuses on the traditional
business law topics - property, contracts, torts, agency, business organizations and
government regulation. Lecture, Online. Offered every semester.
This is the continuation of ENTR201. The course is available only to entrepreneurship
majors and is typically taken in the spring of sophomore year but can be taken at
other times by arrangement. Teams will continue to operate the businesses and report
progress to an advisory board. Course experiential and knowledge content will focus
on management topics and issues associated with continuing operation, harvesting,
exiting, improving, and liquidating businesses. Lecture. Offered spring only.
An introductory course that provides an understanding of terminology and key concepts
and requires students to create a business plan. The course utilizes entrepreneurs
who have started businesses. This course is required for students prior to enrolling
in other Entrepreneurship courses. Lecture. Offered fall and spring.
Students will learn techniques for valuing firms, estimating required financing, obtaining
financing and designing and evaluating exit strategies. Emphasis is placed on both
analysis and the communication of the results of this analysis to both technical and
non-technical audiences. Lecture. Offered spring only.
The primary purpose of this course is to address the marketing challenges that small
and medium-sized enterprises face with commercializing a product or service. It focuses
on marketing fundamentals, market research, product development, market planning and
sales execution. This course is intended for students who expect to utilize marketing
techniques in an entrepreneurial environment. Lecture. Writing Enrichment. Offered fall only.
Corporate Venturing Track
Business Law is an introductory course exploring the nature of laws, its sources,
and its relation to society, government and business. The course focuses on the traditional
business law topics - property, contracts, torts, agency, business organizations and
government regulation. Lecture, Online. Offered every semester.
This course takes a three-pronged approach for instilling in students actionable knowledge
critical for navigating the opportunities and challenges inherent in managing themselves
and others in organizations. First, students review contemporary management research,
focusing, for example, on micro-level theories of motivation and decision-making,
meso-level theories of teamwork and leadership, and macro-level theories of organizational
culture and structure. Second, students apply these theories to analyze real-world
situations, to generate and evaluate alternative courses of action, and to recommend
and defend best courses of action. Third, students are provided opportunities to enhance
their interpersonal and teamwork skills as well as their communication skills, which
are essential in the workplace. Lecture, Online. Offered every semester.
An introductory course that provides an understanding of terminology and key concepts
and requires students to create a business plan. The course utilizes entrepreneurs
who have started businesses. This course is required for students prior to enrolling
in other Entrepreneurship courses. Lecture. Offered fall and spring.
The primary purpose of this course is to address the marketing challenges that small
and medium-sized enterprises face with commercializing a product or service. It focuses
on marketing fundamentals, market research, product development, market planning and
sales execution. This course is intended for students who expect to utilize marketing
techniques in an entrepreneurial environment. Lecture. Writing Enrichment. Offered fall only.
Small Business Management