Priorities:University de Montevideo Student Priorities

UNIVERSIDAD DE MONTEVIDEO

Overview

The University of Montevideo (UM) started off in 1986 as the Institute of Business Studies of Montevideo (IEEM). Some months later the IEEM started a postgraduate in business law. From there and on the IEEM continued incorporating new courses mixing law and business, such as seminar in management, business administration, master's degree in business law and much more.

It wasn't until April 29 of 1997 that the IEEM was approved to function as a university and from there it's known as the Universidad de Montevideo. ​

Now the UM has 7 different faculties :
- Law School
- Faculty of Business Science  and Economics
- Faculty of Engineering
- Faculty of Communication
- Faculty of Biomedical Sciences
- Business School (IEEM)
- Center of leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators

Actually the UM offers 20 different major for undergraduate students and 28 majors for graduate students, through the colleges listed above, also it has been ranked the best university in Uruguay by the QS ranking.

The number of professors and faculty members fostering innovation and entrepreneurship has been growing in the last couple of years. This whole new spirit lead to the creation of Initium. This center has created different courses and workshops stimulating students and professors to develop new skills and attitudes with an innovation and entrepreneurship mindset. It is also a place for connection between students, alumni entrepreneurs, accelerators and other extracurricular entities.There are also other courses that stimulate innovation in their areas, such as Engineering Labs or Investment Projects for example.

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP CULTURE AMONG UM STUDENTS

Strategy One: Create an entrepreneurial club of UM students

Despite there is a center of leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators at the University, we find a weak innovation and entrepreneurship culture among students, especially because the same students go to the workshops and talks, and there are few. Many students don’t know about the existence of Initium or they don’t take advantage of it privileges. So we think that if create an independent entrepreneurial club with UM students, this could change.

But not any student can get in. It must be something that make this club special. So it would be a pre-selection. The judges (at the beginning would be us: Cecilia, Romina, Matías and Luis) must see an entrepreneurial spirit, and show that they could be an agent of change. Being a member of this club would be also a privilege for the CVs of the members. In the club, the members can work for projects or areas (logistics, communication, fundraising, etc). Then, the same members can reclute students for specific projects. It would count with Initium’s support, but it would be independent, so it must have a director that at the beginning would be probably one of us, or a graduate student. The director can also make recommendation letters for the members which would help in finding a job.

The meetings would take place in ZROOMs (classrooms that already exist in the UM, that is similar to Stanford classrooms) or even better, the Design Thinking Room that we’re also planning to do (see Strategy Six), once a week, the day that all the members agree about.

- Step #1:Talk to UM authorities and see what type of benefits the group members can have. Romina will handle this task by the end of March.

- Step #2: Create a selection commitment who will pick the members of the club by interviews. Romina will handle this task at the beginning of April.

- Step #3: Make a communication campaign to invite members to the club. Cecilia will handle this task at the middle of April.

Strategy Two: Students lead social events

Because this is a good way to engage students to this sort of activities. It’s not the same that Initium or UM’s authorities make innovation and entrepreneurship events because it’s less personal and more academic. If UM students made this events, everything would be more fun and informal, and it would attract much more their attention. We see that many students doesn’t even give the opportunity to this new world, because they have a wrong concept about it. This would be a great way to open their minds.

The social events would be organized by the entrepreneurial club that we mentioned at strategy one. We need to be different from the other networking events that already exist in Uruguay, where the entrepreneurs talk between them or with the same people. For that reason we thought about tables, where in each one there is a recognized entrepreneur who is available to answer any question and give advice, and then the guests can rotate to other tables to talk to other entrepreneurs and other guests.

- Step #1: Once the club is created, we will assign mentors to the groups - that the members formed - to guide them with the organization of the events. Romina will handle this task at the beginning of May.

- Step #2: Find sponsors to afford this events. Romina will handle this task at the end of May.

Strategy Three: Create a new course that boost motivation by taking students to a real startup launch in 16 weeks

Strong academic pressure and curricula makes it difficult to have time to explore other projects. This has been a problem that the four of us have experienced but we agree on the fact that time is always a limited resource but motivation is the key to success. We believe this problem has strong connections with the weak student entrepreneurship and innovation culture we have at our campus.

For this reason, our solution to this problem involves a new course that boost motivation by getting the students 100% involved in doing and not just planning. Class projects that end with a powerpoint presentation to the rest of the class have became a classic but no one really cares about the project and hardly ever people get motivated and really involved.

Start Up 01 is a 4,5 credit course, as any other elective, that takes the students to a real startup launch in 16 weeks. Its an applied course that lets the student learn by designing, testing, and develop his team venture.

- Step #1: Talk to María Martha, Business Administration’s coordinator and Josefina Maisonnave, Initium’s director, to find the correct professors to lead this class and make a good programmation. Matias will handle this task at the end of March. 

- Step #2: Talk to the coordinators of all the careers and authorities to add this course in students curricula. It’s important that subjects like “Creativity & Innovation” and “Entrepreneurial initiative” go first. Matias will handle this task at the end of April.

- Step #3: Make a communication campaign to invite students who have the old programme, to take it as an elective course. Matias will handle this task at the end of June.

Strategy Four: Create a mentor’s network that guide entrepreneurs in each step of their projects

Having a mentor that guides entrepreneurs in each step is a great advantage, and a key to successful venture. For the Initium Center to organize this may be difficult, below are the milestones and steps to make this happen.

- Step #1:Finding the mentors.

In April there must be at least 5 mentors.
The idea is to find mentors that have some of the following: knowledge in some area, connections, experience, time, and willingness. One of the ways to do so is by giving incentives to professors. Also in the Initium web site, there can be a volunteer mentoring subscription, open for everybody.

- Step #2:Adding the mentoring feature

The mentoring form in the Initium web site must be developed, by April.
The way students have to find their mentos is through Initium, this is, having to add to the Initium web site a form for students. This can be done by any Computer Science Engineer in the university. It shouldn’t take more that 1 month.

- Step #3: Advertising

From now until it is known
Many students tell us that they didn’t know that the Initium web site existed. So we think that hanging posters in the university it’s a good way to make students informed.

Strategy Five: Improve Initium center’s communication so more students can know it and take advantage of it benefits

A known problem is that not many students know all the things that Initium provides, and just some know that Initium had a web site, and if they know they never use it. In Initium’s website there is all kind of information about everything they make. Improving Initium’s center’s communication may go together with making students visit it’s website more often. This is a complex situation, because it involved advertising something that students not usually like.

- Step #1: Hire a publicity agent and receive advices from them. This would be temporary. Matias will handle this task at the end of March.

- Step #2: Have a innovative and fun event that raise the public image of Initium and where the students can understand what Initium can offer but in a creative way with Snapchat for example. Cecilia and Romina will handle this task at the end of May.

Strategy Six: Create a Design Thinking Space where UM students can go at any time to work in their projects

Initium center only help students in their first steps of their projects: to make their business plan and find financial support, but it’s difficult to support them after that because of it’s capacity, space and lack of time for the people who work there. If they create a project in the courses that Initium offers, then they don’t have the space and materials to continue it. A Design Thinking Space without fixed classes where any student can work in their projects, at any hour, would be a great solution.

This would take place in Engineering Faculty because we can also solve the problem of Engineering students who feel disconnected from the other faculties, so any student who wants to use it must come to this Faculty. Also we find an interesting space where now are the labs, but if we construct a 2 floors building, we can put all there.
Finally be thought that if Civil Engineering students can help with the construction, it’ll help them to improve their practical work, it’s more personal and it reduces the cost.

- Step #1:Talk to Civil Engineering professors, so we can plan a project with their students to construct the building. Romina will handle this task, between 13th and 17th of March.

- Step #2:Make events to raise money or find sponsors. Cecilia will handle this task, and she’ll organise them in April.

- Step #3:Buy all the materials. Cecilia will handle this task. We hope to do this in July-August.

- Step #4:Make a communication campaign to invite UM students to try it. Cecilia will handle this task. We hope to do this in August-September.

RELATED LINKS

Universidad de Montevideo
Cecilia Tejera
Romina Dominzain
Matias Menendez
Luis Gurmendez