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School:University of Richmond

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The University of Richmond can be characterized as a place where faculty are more recently being supported and urged to be entrepreneurial. While this is true, there seems to be more short-term institutional support compared to long-term. Just last year, the Robins School of Business opened the EY Innovation Lab which is intended for student and faculty use. The purpose is for faculty and students alike to have a creative space in which to brainstorm and prototype their ideas, with unique features such as all whiteboard walls and plenty of screen space. Because of this, faculty in the business school have often opted to hold classes in the room and urge students to take advantage of it. Additionally, while there is a Spatial Analysis lab and various departmental research labs, there are no related graduate or certificate programs. Furthermore, there is a Creativity-Innovation-Entrepreneurship Faculty Committee which is led by the Office of the President. While faculty are more recently being pushed towards entrepreneurship and innovation, students at the University of Richmond seem to have more support and encouragement in this realm. It is also of note that the Robins School of Business may be pushed more heavily in this direction.

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facilitating university-industry collaboration:The University of Richmond provides opportunities for students to engage innovation and entrepreneurship in a number of different ways. The most significant is through the various departmental lab spaces that are available for student use on campus. Frequently, students in Arts and Sciences courses utilize these research spaces to develop something new. The Digital Research and Spatial Analysis labs also provide opportunities for students to engage in cutting edge-research. These are great resources for current students; however, these resources are not extended to alumni use. Post-graduation, the University does not provide much opportunity for students to engage innovation. There are currently no resources related to raising capitalat the university, although it is surrounded both regionally and locally by a number of venture capital firms. In general, most students do not utilize the limited networks that are availablefor their development, if they are aware that those networks exist. ~~However~~For example, if.a student wishes, they may reach out to members of the Alumni Network for support, advice, and potential job or internship opportunities. However, it is suspected that not many students take advantage of these opportunities.

Engaging with regional and local economic development efforts:

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The University of Richmond approaches regional and local innovation and entrepreneurship in very limited ways. Upon review, the University of Richmond offers connections with a variety of regional innovation opportunities and networks such as the Greater Richmond Chamber, The Venture Forum, and Feast RVA. These networks and organizations provide some resources to University of Richmond students, but looking at current student outcomes, it seems that these services and networks are not highly utilized or even highlighted or pointed out to students who might possesses an interest in exploring or developing a startup culture after the completion of the undergraduate studies.

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2020 Cohort

22

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