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Priorities:Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Student Priorities

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== Spring 2017 ==

As of spring 2017, a new makerspace for ALL students is currently up and running. "The Forge" is located in the basement of the DCC, and is equipped with five 3D printers, a 3D scanner, laser cutter, smartboard, and a touchscreen presentation monitor. [https://www.facebook.com/RPIMakerSpace/ [1]] The space is ~~ ~~quite impressive yet cozy. Effectiveness is yet to be gagued as the UIF team and other students are still working on promoting the club and student awareness of the space. There is also a new workshop currently in the process of being finished, which is open to all Humanities/STS students who are usually restriced from acessing the engineering workspaces.

=== School Curriculum and Culture ===

==== Misinterpretation of entrepreneurship ====

Students don't really know what a career as an entrepreneur looks like, or working on a startup. The status quo is to get an internship or a coop, go through the general courses, and then apply for jobs as a senior. Because of this, four years of education is not looked at as "how can I build the skills required to do what I want to do", but how can I get the best grades and resume to get a job when I graduate.

==== Fear of the Unknown ====

*Starting a Business

**When interviewed, many younger students exclaimed that they were very interested in E&I, but since they were freshmen said things like: "I don't want to jump into a startup right away", or "I need an idea first". These statements would leave you assuming that upperclassmen would be more interested in starting businesses after gaining more experience, skills, and ideas, however, as students approach graduation, the fear of failure increase along with urgency of entering the real world and being forced to find a job. At the same time, the general excuse of upperclassmen switches to, "I'm just trying to secure a job right now so I can pay off my student loans".

*Confidence in ~~skills~~Skills

**Professors and upper-class students must step up as mentors who tell students that they can achieve anything and inspire them to pursue their ideas and passions. Without that energy, students are not confident enough in the skills they already have to take a leap and learn new ones. Many of the students who didn't laugh at the question of "have you considered being an entrepreneur?" have said "I've never taken a business or entrepreneurship class" or "there's so much work in getting ownership of ideas and the patent process". We must change the general fear of failure by introducing clubs, and classes which show students that college is a safe space to be able to fail, and learn quickly from your mistakes.

*Lack of ~~a entrepreneurship community~~an Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship Community

**There tends to be a "lonely entrepreneur syndrome" where many students who have tried starting companies but were unable to create great teams necessary to fuel their motivation. There is a huge amount of talent at RPI but no infrastructure or culture in place for students to fill spots on a startup team. Even in one of the most interdisciplinary programs, PDI, almost every semester a project encounters an issue where the project is cut short or severly limited in scope because they "don't have anyone who can code".

Freshman, and sophomores, are left with little to motivate them towards a more entrepreneurial career.

The few entrepreneurship events on campus are geared towards students with mature start-ups, very few are for students ~~interesed~~ interested in I&E.

=== Student Leadership ===

Like schools of similar size RPI boasts a repetoire of 200 clubs.Many interests are captured and cultivated, there are a number of clubs geared towards I&E. These clubs keep student interest highso there is a large amount of dedication. A leader's energy must be able to keep that interest high and keep clubs running and growing ~~Faculty~~ faculty advisement.In many of the clubs geared toward entrepreneurial endeavors a culture of “doing” is not being cultivated.  Currently, a lack of focus on transitioning leadership in many clubs and innovative organizations has led to a either stagnation or a reverse in progress. RPITalks, a club that hosted events similar to TEDx talks, is a recent example of a lack of student leadership. RPITalks disbanded after its founding member, Jay, graduated from RPI.  Jay, spearheaded the program and the formation of events, but a successor did not emerge organically from the club members. Jay lacked the skills needed to train someone to lead after him and many of the underclassmen members felt they lacked the entrepreneurial skills to continue the club.

Currently, a lack of focus on transitioning leadership in many clubs and innovative organizations has led to a either stagnation or a reverse in progress. RPITalks, a club that hosted events similar to TEDx talks, is a recent example of a lack of student leadership. RPITalks disbanded after its founding member, Jay, graduated from RPI.  Jay, spearheaded the program and the formation of events, but a successor did not emerge organically from the club members. Jay lacked the skills needed to train someone to lead after him and many of the underclassmen members felt they lacked the entrepreneurial skills to continue the club.

For these clubs to thrive, ideally, there would be a ripple effect of excitement coming from the leaders flowing to the newest members.

VincentArena

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