School:Norwich University

Norwich University 

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Norwich University was founded in 1819 and is the oldest private military university in America. Today, the university offers both a Corps of Cadets and civilian lifestyle; the population of civilian students is growing. The university offers thirty diverse bachelor degrees from criminal justice to engineering to business management. Built on strong military traditions, the university offers great leadership development opportunities. The university has a small ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship. A growing student population is showing great interest in pursuing more innovation and entrepreneurship education opportunities. The university is supporting the efforts of those entrepreneurial minded students working to grow the suppoprt ecosystem and opportunities.

Perceived E&I

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Norwich appears relatively strong from the standpoint of entrepreneurship and innovation (E&I). Most majors stress the importance of E&I and there are great events to inspire E&I. Lecture series that are both major specific and open to all are often motivating and inspiring. There are also great opportunities to practice and further develop one's leadership skills. There are formal courses that provide opportuntities to engage in entrepreneurial thinking. A growing E&I club is hoping to increase the E&I environment around campus. Opening up new communication networks within the university and also with the area outside of campus is a major goal of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Club.

Potential E&I

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The business school offers many business management and leadership courses that convey E&I risks and benefits. There are also many professors who own their own businesses or have great research projects going on. Clubs on campus that hold events relating to E&I are relatively limited. The growing Entrepreneurship and Innovation Club is hoping to hold more events and levy the school for funding to create some sort of open lab. Only one competition has been held solely for E&I recently, and that was a speech competitions on why E&I is important to America.

Applied E&I

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There is little applied E&I around campus. There is normal course work and lab work but nothing devoted to E&I. The lab work helps gain lots of hands on experience, but it would be great to have more opportunities for students to work on their own projects. Our only machine lab is no longer open to students to work on outside projects, so the need for some sort of design and innovation space is growing. No set partnerships for internship or co-op opportunities are available, but our Career Development Center is very helpful in finding outside internships and is always willing to help out whoever they can.

Realized E&I

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The only resource we have for committing to an idea is a grant system. Research grants for the summer are obtainable if you write a great proposal and find a faculty member who is interested in the topic. Professors and the undergraduate research office often offer help when writing grants and trying to find funding for a students work.

Reframing E&I

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From a reframing standpoint many students have no idea that we are located in a top ten state for entrepreneurship. There are many resources outside of the university like Start-Up Vermont or VCET which are great services for regional entrepreneurs. Most professors are interested in there students work and often lend out information on networking and opportunities for the students idea to grow.

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