School:Grand Valley State University

Introduction

Grand Valley State University (also known as GVSU), is a public, liberal arts university in Allendale, Michigan, United States. The university is located west of Grand Rapids, Michigan. and offers classes at a second campus in downtown Grand Rapids--GVSU's Pew Campus. The Pew Campus houses programs in Engineering, Education, Nursing, Health Professions, and Business. A third campus in Holland, Michigan houses many of the online hybrid degree programs and two graduate programs--the Master’s of Business Administration and the Masters of Education. Three satellite centers are located in Traverse City, Detroit, and Muskegon.

Currently, in 2018, there are 24,677 students, with 21,680 of them being undergraduate and the other 2,997 students being graduate students. There are 121 undergraduate programs and 53 graduate programs. Grand Valley also offers over 400 student-led clubs and organizations.

Thomas J. Haas, affectionately known as T. Hass, has been serving as president of the university since 2006, and is retiring at the end of 2018.

Within GVSU, the Frederik Meijer Honors College is housed. The Honors College has 8% of all undergraduate enrollment. In Fall 2018, there was an all-time high total enrollment of 1,700 students, and enrollment has been capped. A multitude of majors are represented within the Honors College, but as of 2018 60% of the students are in STEM majors. The focus on the Honors College curriculum is an alternate education that focuses on integration of topics and perspectives, utilizing the resources surrounding the GVSU community.

There has been a movement through the past several years to improve the innovation and entrepreneurship landscape on GVSU main campuses. This recent push has gained the momentum of numerous courses, clubs, workshops, competitions and other programs involving innovation and entrepreneurship. The infrastructure is slowly growing to empower a greater number of students with the skills and mindset of an entrepreneur and innovator. With a continued focus on liberal arts, Grand Valley has been working on integrating subjects to allow for students to receive a more well-rounded education.

Campus Overview

Promoting Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship

GVSU has eight non-innovation/entrepreneurship departments utilizing innovation and entrepreneurship in their courses: Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Business, Engineering, Marketing, Cell and Molecular Biology, Biology, Art, and the Honors College.

 

Encouraging Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship

At Grand Valley, faculty in the Seidman College of Business and the School of Engineering are more encouraged to be innovative than faculty in other areas. However, many faculty members do some type of research or project. However, faculty with research/projects are limited to a course load of three total courses a semester.

 

Facilitating University-Industry Collaboration

Within GVSU and the surrounding community, many programs and partnerships have become available to promote a continued use of innovation and entrepreneurship outside of the classroom. These programs include:

• Grand Angels
• Start Garden
• FlexLab
• 5x5
• Grand Ventures

 

Engaging with Regional and Local Economic Development Efforts

Grand Valley works with the Muskegon Innovation Hub, Lend GR, and many small companies supplying funds or student interns to promote local economic development.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Not only does Grand Valley State University support its students in innovation and entrepreneurship, both in and outside the classroom, but the Grand Rapids community also supports it. There are many organizations that offer funding, advising, space, and much more for small start up companies and businesses. Below is a list of some community organizations and GVSU programs and courses that support innovation and entrepreneurship. 

Community: 

• StartGarden Speakers/Workshops (http://startgarden.com/about/)
• GRIN - Grand Rapids Inventors Network (https://www.meetup.com/Grand-Rapids-Inventors-Network/?_cookie-check=clEs_1c4xRh8GhS0)
• GR Current (https://www.linkedin.com/company/gr-current/)
• Emerge Xcelerate (https://grileadership.org/2017/10/meet-the-emerge-class-of-2018/) (https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/emerge-xcelerate)
• Seamless (http://seamlessiot.com/)

Campus: 

• Idea Pitch
• Collegiate Entreprenuers Organization (CEO)
• MWest 
• Hack Your Campus
• 5x5 Night GVSU Editionte
• aMDI (Applied Medical Device Institue)
• Design Thinking Academy
• Start Up Weekend GR

Resources: 

• Engineering Prototyping Lab
• Makerspace (Grand Rapids and GVSU)
• Machine Shop and Wood Shop
• Atomic Object Technology Showcase
• Calder Art Center
• DTE Innovation Space

 

Courses: 

• The Faculty at GVSU integrates innovation and entrepreneurship in their courses through hands on projects and assignments. The classes below offer an emphasis on I&E. 

• EGR 301 - Product  Design
• EGR 401 - Advanced Product Design
• EGR 614 - Opportunity Identification for Medical Devices
• MKT 450 - Marketing Capstone
• MGT 672 - Creativity and Social Entrepreneurship
• ENT 150/151 - Entrepreneurial Quest/New Venture Feasibility
• ENT 250/251 - Entrepreneurial Finance, Accounting, Marketing and Management
• ENT 350/351 - Entrepreneurial Business Plan and Project
• HNR 480 - Designing Social Ventures 
• LIB 323 - Design Thinking to Meet Real World Needs
• ART 153 - Making and Meaning

Co-op Program 

For GVSU’s Engineering program, students must participate in a 3 semester co-op program. The last two years of an Engineer’s education, a student will alternate between co-op (usually at a company) and school every other semester. This allows students to apply what they have learned in real live situations and gain valuable industrial work experience. Typically students will get job offers after graduation with the company they co-oped with. The program also has a two semester long undergraduate senior project.  

Not only does all this hands-on experience cause students to develop work ethic/economics and project management skills, it offers a more active participation in innovation and entrepreneurship.

Landscape Canvas/Student Projects

2018-2019 Pitch Pamplet:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15KIPGtVn7IySpo_vHYf3OGqCJBHJHCNgzpmn7NG3sV0/edit?usp=sharing

2018-2019 Landscape Canvas:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1M_QhCuMNBH7qA0GmT8L3TvJ8zOp3ZWmIdC1NIrhLTrA/edit#gid=0

2017-2018 Landscape Canvas:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1M_QhCuMNBH7qA0GmT8L3TvJ8zOp3ZWmIdC1NIrhLTrA/edit?usp=sharing 

2016-2017 Landscape Canvas:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1sQ4wD4ghzsnsTyyW9_o8f_k0xipbBCe3U8L3b6-cglc/edit?usp=sharing

2016-2017 Pitch Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGmKFqY06is[Pitch Video] 2015-2016 Landscape Canvas:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fj98yWd--ZhvGRkGzg82-qwvVym08NI4qFcGUy8iPIk/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SG3a5OGLv0bJR5sxy3yft3LZ0xHrqXLbgInGc5rC6Ss/edit?usp=sharing

2014-2015 Pitch Video

http://youtu.be/RH7qA0P-_JI

Related Links

GVSU_Student_Priorities

Fellows:

2018-2019

Madalyn Slubowski

Meredith Filter

Haley Jennings 

Dean_Geschiere

2017-2018

Jonathan_Cook

Allison Rogutich

Ben Parsell

Joe VanderBroek

Nikhil Watsa

2014-2015

Kathryn Christopher

Leah Bauer