The faculty of a university are very good in the determination of short term goals for a university, and can help your UIF organization connect with students who are interested in innovation. At a small unviersity in particular, the faculty have a more personal relation with their students, which can lead to the faculty being a good way to spread the message of what it is you do.
==STUDENTS==
Of course, when trying to engage students on a small campus, the most important group to interact with are the students themselves. In a smaller school, there i a very real familial aspect to student life, and face-to-face meetings are a good way to get engaged with some students. You can use these preliminary face-to-face meeting to determine what students see as issues, and what misconceptions you may need to help fix.
=OBSTACLES/BARRIERS=
In any There are a lot of barriers that can be faced when dealing with a small campus. The campus may be made up of different types of students- traditional, non-traditional, international. With each type of student there becomes a different set of challenges. As a whole the overall the largest challenges that are faced are getting students to understand that I&E is interdisciplinary, changing the mindset of student bodyto allow them to realize the importance, and getting students to prioritize I&E into their daily routine. There are a handful of students that have a misconception about I&E that it is only for business students. They are unaware of how important it is in their daily life and particular in their field of study. Students say there is inevitable push back against any organizationa lack of time on their part so I&E must be worked into their schedule so they are still able to take part in it. When asking students why they are not involved they do not think I&E is “fun” so it must be engaging and exciting for them. This can happen =ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES= We know actions speak louder than words. So in particular when order to get students on a small campus involved, it is important to engage them into impact oriented activities best fitted to their interests. Here are some of the ways to engage interdisciplinary students and instill the words "idea and importance of innovation and entrepreneurship" : ===Ideation Workshop=== In an Ideation Workshop, you brainstorm and generate lots and lots of ideas (and eventually find the ideal solution to problems, of course) on a certain topic. On a small campus, the workshop will work best if it addresses a common issue shared by interdisciplinary students. It can have a general theme like problems on campus or higher education, and "innovation" are used address questions like how to improve the classroom experience on your campus, or how to design your undergraduate degree to describe help you achieve your programideal career. It can be based on product creation as well, such as redesigning your backpack or wallet. This workshop not only helps students acknowledge the potential within themselves to generate with brilliant ideas, but also helps them realize the importance of coming up with innovative solutions to the most pressing problems in today’s world. ===Design Thinking Workshop=== In a Design Thinking Workshop, you address a problem, generate possible solutions to it, as well as prototype and test your solution. As difficult as it may seem, it is due possible to accomplish this within your small campus, and that is exactly the misconception mindset that these words denote the students should be empowered with at the end of the workshop. Once again, the workshop will work best if it addresses acommon problem faced by interdisciplinary students. Here are some resources to make the workshop successful: http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/How_to_organize_and_facilitate_an_interdisciplinary_design_thinking_workshophttp://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Design_Thinking_Activities