School:Susquehanna University

Overview

Founded in 1858, Susquehanna University is a private liberal arts college located in the town of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. Susquehanna University is dedicated to helping students become proactive leaders through academics, service, and personal assets, which is represented through the University motto “Achieve, Lead, Serve”. Susquehanna is centrally located within a three-hour drive of four major cities – Philadelphia, New York City, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. and is four hours from Pittsburgh and one-and-a-half hours from the Pocono Mountains.

Susquehanna University believes cross-cultural experiences are essential to a liberal arts education – the University has made it part of the central curriculum. Susquehanna University’s distinctive award-winning cross-cultural program, Global Opportunities (GO), offers students a wide range of off-campus educational programs in both domestic and international locations.

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Innovation and Entrepreneurship

At Susquehanna University, entrepreneurship and innovation opportunities exist for students and experienced professors on and off campus. Students can learn from professors through class lessons and succeed outside of the classroom with personal ventures and research. In addition, the Sigmund Weis School of Business implemented entrepreneurship and innovation as an undergraduate minor. In recent years, Susquehanna has partnered with Columbia University to create a dual degree program in Liberal Arts and Science Education and Engineering. Interested students will be able to obtain two bachelor’s degrees in a short span of five years.

Student

At Susquehanna, opportunities for student engagement in entrepreneurship and innovation continue to grow each year. The University established an Entrepreneurship and Innovation minor to replace the Business Administration Entrepreneurship emphasis. Faculty and staff members teaching entrepreneurship courses are encouraging students to participate in the program regardless of academic discipline. Hopeful students who wish to create their own organizations or campus publications will quickly learn about the willingness and guidance from the faculty and staff to help students turn their ideas into reality. The University hosted a Pitch Contest in the Spring of 2014 and allowed students from various backgrounds and disciplines to share their ideas for innovation and creativity. The Pitch Contest has not been held since, but the University Innovation Fellows team wishes to collaborate with the Business School, Susquehanna alumni, and the career development center to reinstate the Pitch Contest in future years.

Pitch Contest: What is the Pitch Contest? - The Pitch Contest was organized to “help students gain experience in developing and presenting ideas for innovation”. Susquehanna Alumni served as the judges during the event and shared their own experiences while building connections with current students to establish a basis for a greater network. The event helped inspire ideas and provide valuable feedback on how students can improve their ideas and pitching skills in the future. Students were given two minutes to describe their ideas and convince the judges of their merit, learning how to effectively communicate to sell their products and ideas.

Faculty and Staff

Faculty at Susquehanna University have recently engaged in innovative and entrepreneurial opportunities with many companies and organizations such as the Keystone Innovation Zone and the American Physiological Society. These opportunities open the gateway for faculty members to receive funding for projects and research and provide interested students with opportunities, building their confidence and strengthening their innovative and entrepreneurial skill sets.

Recently, Keystone Innovation Zone provided funding to a professor in the Sigmund Weis Business School to assist in developing a website for the local Selinsgrove company, Fresh Roasted Coffee. The funding provided allowed the faculty member to involve two Susquehanna University students. Keystone Innovation Zone has also provided faculty and students the privilege of assisting another local company in developing a device to scale trees in order to assist the hunters in the area. Currently, faculty in the Biology department at Susquehanna University are working to gain funding from the American Physiological Society and the National Science Foundation to conduct innovative research. The funding not only assists the faculty members in their research, but grants students the opportunity to take part in the research as well.

Additionally, the Center for Teaching and Learning provides grants for faculty that foster curricular or pedagogical innovations in order to enhance learning. It also hosts lunches and workshops where faculty members can learn about teaching strategies and share innovative ideas, facilitates a "talk-while-you-walk" initiative for faculty to walk while they talk about teaching, and partners faculty members with two or three peers to discuss teaching strategies more intimately.

Innovation Allies:

Dr. Samya Bano Zain, Associate Professor of Physics, Physics Department Chair

Dr. Scott Manning, Dean of Global Programs

Robert Sieczkiewicz, Assistant Professor, Research Librarian: Instruction and Digital Scholarship

Katie Burr, Director of the First Year Experience

Dr. Emma Fleck, Associate Professor of Management (Entrepreneurship)

Dr. Betsy Verhoeven, Associate Professor of English, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning

Dr. Amir Bahman Radnejad, Assistant Professor of Management (Entrepreneurship)

Ron Cohen, Vice President for University Relations

Becky Deitrick, Assistant VP of Alumni, Parent and Donor Engagement

Scott Cox, Adjunct Professor

Dr. Linda McMillan Provost and Dean of the Faculty

Technology Transfer Function

The science department at Susquehanna keeps students highly involved in the forefront of the research process from the beginning of their undergraduate studies. Students are regularly invited to partner with faculty for the summer to conduct research in the various areas of the professors’ areas of expertise.

University Industry Collaboration

Susquehanna University is centrally located in a small, but bustling economic center within central Pennsylvania. Academically, the Sigmund Weis School of Business leads the campus in industry collaboration. A variety of business classes push their students beyond the classroom to collaborate with local small businesses and entrepreneurs. Extracurricular organizations such as Enactus and, in the past, the Entrepreneurship Club have also acted as bridges connecting SU students with industries both local and abroad. Geisinger Hospital is also an industry collaborator. Students have the opportunity to complete internships with Geisinger and the campus also hosts a Geisinger Health Center.

This factor coupled with the college’s strong alumni network present students with opportunities to interact and work with professionals regularly throughout their academic career. Formal events, such as “Breakthrough: To Life After Graduation” allow students to discuss topics such as entrepreneurship and research with experienced professional alumni. Moreover, the Career Development Center, Alumni Office, and individual departments actively try to build informal networks between students and alumni for mentoring, internship, and employment opportunities.

Collaborators:

• Agricultural Region
• Weis Markets
• Hershey Medical
• Harley Davidson Headquarters
• Empire Kosher

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Regional and Local Economic Development

SEDA-Council of Governments is a regional public organization that serves 11 counties in Central Pennsylvania. The organization is overseen by a Board which consists of elected officials and local people. SEDA-Council of Governments focuses on transportation, international sales, information technology and financial packaging. This organization works on marketing local products for international export.

Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) leads a major effort to aid in the development of small businesses. They offer information and resources to start businesses and help with growth, continuity and survival once the business has been started. SBDC has many branches including one at nearby Bucknell University. SBDC offers a variety of services aimed to topics such as Government Marketing, International Business, Technology assistance and Environmental Management.

Landscape Canvas

Spring 2015

Fall 2016

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Related links

Cohort Change Story Platform, Fall 2017

https://www.facebook.com/SusquehannaUIF/

Pitch Video, Fall 2016

Pitch Video, Spring 2015

Susquehanna University Student Priorities

Students:

Ethan Eastwood  (Spring 2015)

Alexis Gargin  (Spring 2015)

Pierce Logan Perkins  (Spring 2015)

Tiffany Richards  (Spring 2015)

Hana Feiner (Fall 2016)

Aviel Stein (Fall 2016)

Rachel Tate (Fall 2016)

Tonia Hall (Fall 2017)

Alexandra Haller (Fall 2017)

Damian Munoz (Fall 2017)

Daniel Yim (Fall 2017)  <script></script>