Priorities:Western Michigan University Student Priorities

Overview of Strategies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha_nt0WUTYg

Strategy 1

First Year Experience (FYE) Class

Western Michigan University, like many other colleges, offers a list of courses designed specifically for first year students. These First Year Experience (FYE) classes are designed to connect new students to faculty, staff, student leaders and peers to facilitate their success. Additionally, this two credit course provides great opportunities for students to explore their personal interests and discover the available student organizations that are pursuing these innitiatives at a professional level. A full description of these courses and curriculum can be found here http://wmich.edu/fye/firstyear-seminar.html. As an already existing course that accesses the majority of freshman, this is a very attractive opportunity to instill and promote the values of innovation and entrepreneurship at WMU.

To gain access through these courses, the following tactics should be implemented:

Tactic #1- Begin by meeting with the leaders who design the FYE program and see what is involved in editing curriculum or creating a new section to include entrepreneurship in each FYE section for a few week period.  

Tactic #2- Workclosely with entrepreneurship professors across campus find out what they would want to include in the FYE class schedule. Educate students and help them learn more about what innovation and entrepreneuship are and how their benefits can apply to every professional enterprise.

Successful incorporation of I&E ideals into this program could begin a long lasting tradition of first year student participation in UIF's goals.

Strategy 2

Innovation Space

Being a division one university, Western Michigan has a large campus full of often underutilized classroom and community spaces. This availability of space, and input from current students highlights the desire and plausibility for a successfully developed innovation space. Existing labs and spaces are available for student use, but access and availability are limited. Additionally, these spaces only have potential to serve as innovation spaces; they are not labeled or considered as such by current students.

To accomplish this project, the following tactics should be considered:

Tactic #1:  Allocate space.  Identify which spaces could be available for innovation and have an in depth understanding for what will need to be done to each for it to be functional.

Tactic #2:Develope an accountability system to make sure that the spaces are being used and reserved in an orderly way.  A system easily available for students to reserve the spaces for limited time and have a system to ensure that the spaces are well kept is a neccesity to encourage participation.

Tactic #3:Student  leaders available to work the rooms and keep things organized.

One of the main functions of innovation spaces are bringing students together to collaborate and improve on each other's ideas. College specific spaces do not encourage this communication across majors. Therefore, the end location would have to satisy the criteria of accessibility, low cost, and continued student support.

Strategy 3

Interdisciplinary Senior Design

Senior engineering students at WMU must complete a senior design project as a requirement for graduation from their program. Currently, students only work with other students within their respective major or department. Project presentations occur twice a year in April and October. Completion of a senior design project indicates successful acquisition of major specific knowledge as well as real world application skills. However, the structure of post-graduate corporate America isn’t organized into teams by college major. It is full of interdisciplinary creative groups expressing entrepreneurial and innovative tendencies towards specific challenges. Multiple discipline collaboration within the College of Engineering & Applied Sciences and beyond during senior projects encourages the continued development of innovation and entrepreneurial skills as students enter the workforce.

To accomplish this, the following tactics should be considered:

Tactic #1:Encourage the acceptance of interdisciplinary projects as viable and long lasting topics for senior design presentations rather than the result of a last minute group and idea formation.

Tactic #2: Meet with and discuss the process involved in approving senior design projects with faculty in charge. Getting an understanding of the requirements allows parameters to be set so that the proper balance of innovation and knowledge recitation can occur.

Tactic #3: Gain student interest. Spread the word about possible senior design collaborations between majors to future seniors to prove the existing interest to faculty and decision makers in charge of approval.

Strategy 4

Focus on Intrapreneurship

Overview: Due to the campus culture at WMU, “entrepreneurship” seems to only be a buzzword. To many students, entrepreneurship only means starting a business from scratch. While this is true, it is not fully representative of the entire scope of entrepreneurship and innovation. The other portion is often called intrapreneurship, or innovation that occurs within existing industries.

Tactic #1: While students within the College of Engineering & Applied Sciences are constantly building, creating, and designing solutions, few realize how much innovation is actually occurring, and how the lessons they are learning can be applied to their future career. One option is to bring in industry leaders to speak about how they use design thinking and innovation in their workplace. This could stress the importance of entrepreneurial thinking as a whole, independent of whether the student wanted to open a business or enter the workplace.

Tactic #2: WMU could also offer intrapreneurship workshops to highlight the skills necessary to be successful in particular industries. Focus would be on the approach and application of the design cycle within the restraints of a company.

Related Links:

Current Fellows: Persefoni_Lauhon, Zach_Crawford

University: Western_Michigan_University