School:University of Colorado Colorado Springs

Campus Overview

Promoting Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The University of Colorado Colorado Springs mission to promote student innovation and entrepreneurship is an effort that is constantly being pushed throughout our school’s ecosystem. UCCS has a unique innovation degree (aBachelor of InnovationTM) that directly translates into the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship. Students in this program are required to engage in various entrepreneurial related courses and innovation courses. With this in mind, there is also a unique problem posed forth, as the degree is forming its own silo within the university. Other degrees, such as a Bachelors of Arts or a Bachelors of Science, are not exposed to the innovative curriculum the Bachelor of Innovation™ contains. Overall, the efforts to promote innovation and entrepreneurship are expressed and are easily identifiable.

Encouraging Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Faculty innovation is one of the biggest advantages students at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs have at their disposal. The Bachelor of InnovationTM (BI) degree in itself is an innovation brought to us by the faculty. The BIis the only degree in innovation in the United States. Terrance Boult, the founder of the BI, specifically made the BIa degree and not a program in efforts to make the BIaccessible to everyone.  Opposed to a Bachelor of Science or Arts, the BIdegree has a unique 24 credit curriculum that centers around innovation and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, UCCS College of Business faculty just opened a community workspace/incubator designed for student start-ups. The UCCS faculty consistently innovate in the campus community.

Actively Supporting the University Technology Transfer Function

Within the Bachelors of Innovation™ we have two courses that teach our students about intellectual property and support our university technology transfer function. The first is Business and Intellectual Property Law. In this class, students dive into what intellectual property means and how they can protect their ideas. Students learn how to develop a patent and work together to understand how these skills fit into their futures. The second class, Technical Writing, teaches students how to research, find, and write grants, culminating in writing a real grant proposal for a real client. Both of these classes provide students with hands on experience and skills that they will be able to apply in their future careers. After taking these two classes students have a realistic grasp on what intellectual property is and how they can protect, and leverage it in their future.

Facilitating University-Industry Collaboration

The community of Colorado Spring is very entrepreneurially focused and our university is dedicated to teaching innovation and entrepreneurship to students in business, engineering and the arts and sciences. Colorado Springs has makerspaces, coworking spaces, incubators, accelerators and other resources to facilitate the development of startups. With all of these entrepreneurial resources, it is key that the university has substantial relationships with each outlet. Through various programs currently being implemented in conjunction with the university, students have access to internships such as Startup Summer or educational resources such as Startup Weekend.

Engaging with Regional and Local Economic Development Efforts

The university is not well connected with regional and economic development efforts. For instance, we have a facility in downtown Colorado Springs called Catalyst Campus. This campus provides coworking space for developers and small companies to innovate together and create a more colorful and developed economic ecosystem in downtown Colorado Springs. The potential to have a relationship with Catalyst Campus and send future programmers there for internship options and possible employment is an opportunity we must capitalize on. Colorado Springs is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation and it is crucial that our university is well connected with other organizations around the city.

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Contributors:  Abigail_Graese, Connor_McCormick, Courtnie_Kuecker, Javier_Rose, Kyle_Harmande, Preston_Hare, Ryan_Janke