Priorities:James Madison University Student Priorities

Strategy #1

Create Collisions amongst entrepreneurially minded studnets and the general population amongst all disciplines, in order to organically spread innovation, collaboration, creativity, and entrepreneurship.

Tactic #1: Theme Based Think-A-Thons

• Description: Cultivate talent in theme based hack-a-thon style events that correlate to the various colleges of academics, but appeal to the general population. We would want to create a brand that does not alienate or intimidate students that don’t necessarily think of this as “their” thing.
  • 1-2 times per month
  • 24hr Think-A-Thons
  • Various themes/prompts that represent the interests of all the colleges of academics
    • College of Education:
      • Reinvent the classroom
    • College of Health and Behavioral Studies:
      • Create low-cost products that meet basic needs of the world's poorest people
    • Integrated Science and Technology / School of Art, Design, and Art History:
      • Designing for a sustainable campus
      • Fashion Think-A-Thon
  • The theme of these thinker-mixers/hack-a-thons would vary each time and would touch on topics that are up-to-date with current events to help attract students from all colleges within JMU. This in turn, would help continuity of participation and the dismantlement of silos.
  • Gathering participant information gives us a more defined target audience to project some marketing efforts towards.
  • Approaching these events with hopes of there being multi-disciplinary teams does not expedite the view that these are hack-a-thons or "techie" events.  This merely generates exploratory and problem-solving experiences to any given area of study.
  • Agenda for planning:
    • February 2015 - Planning/ Scheduling/ Marketing
    • March 2015 - First Event
    • April 2015 - Second Event
    • May 2015 - Third Event

Tactic #2: Make the I&E Network Accessible to Students

• Description: Launch a heavily marketed website that establishes a network for students looking to collaborate and pursue a business or product idea. This JMU affiliated website would help spread awareness of funding opportunities, resources available on campus, upcoming I&E events, and clubs/groups.

Strategy #2:

Establish an entity on campus where any student with a creative idea can get all the resources needed to become the entrepreneur they want to be, and test, launch, and grow their business.

Tactic #1: MadX Labs

• Description: Test, iterate, and scale MadX Labs, JMU’s first seed stage startup accelerator.   
  • MadX Labs aims to serve JMU’s most talented student founders, giving them the best of both worlds by leveraging the resources of an entire University and its network. We give young entrepreneurs at JMU the opportunity to experience a traditional accelerator program; with the mentorship, training, office space, and funding they need in order to test, launch, and grow their business – while maintaining a status as a student.
  • University-wide, students are encourage to apply to MadX Labs startup accelerator two times a year in the beginning of each semester during “The Madison Challenge”, and if selected as winners they enter into the 12-week program and receive the mentorship, office space, and funding. After the 12 weeks, the program culminates in a Demo Day, where they will have the opportunity to pitch an invite only audience of JMU investors
  • Agenda for planning:
    • January 2015 - Launch of Beta(Completed)
    • April 2015 - Close of Program - Demo Day
    • September 2015 - University Wide Launch
    • December 2015 - Close of First Official Program

Strategy #3

Provide opportunities for students to become introduced to entrepreneurship and recognize their potential to become entrepreneurs at an early point in their collegiate careers.

Tactic #1: Test Courses

• Description: Establish several “test courses” that can provide administration with an example of how a pattern of entrepreneurial and innovative courses in the General Education Program can lead to escalating forms of venture creation.
  • February 2015
    • Initial interviews with students regarding their thoughts on I&E at JMU
    • Identify faculty members interested in participating in a course like this
  • April 2015
    • Discovery and ideation; explore what other schools are doing to introduce I&E earlier in their curriculum.  Develop a series of courses in several clusters that could be implemented
    • Have courses officially created as "test courses" available for enrollment next semester
    • Have courses registered across several disciplines, as to attract a variety of students
  • May 2015
    • Begin designing actual ideas for course lessons, assuming students sign up for courses

Tactic #2: Summer Program

• Description: Start a four to five week ideation and entrepreneurship summer program for incoming freshmen and rising sophomores. This apply-for and optional course would not only fuel the entrepreneur mindset for these underclassmen early in their college career but it would also help mix students and provide infrastructure for a network of collaborators. The program would be open to all majors.
• Timeline: TBD

Tactic #3: Spread the Word

• Description: Create pamphlets and a brief informational speech about I&E opportunities/resources at freshmen year orientation.

Tactic #4: Residential Learning Community

• Description: Establish a Residential Learning Community for Entrepreneurship.  Students who participate in a Residential Learning Community get the unique opportunity to live and take classes with a small group of students who share similar interests. This helps students to be fully immersed in the topic of the RLC.  9 of these already exist on campus, and the Entrepreneurship RLC is already in the works through some members of Society of Entrepreneurs.
• Timeline: TBD

Strategy #4: Change Curriculum 

Tactic #1: First Year Classes

= •   Description: Students at each of the schools at University of Pittsburgh are required to take an introductory class their freshman year. We could incorporate design thinking or innovation and entrepreneurship into the curriculum.

=

Tactic #2: Provide an Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship Class

= •   Description: Currently, Pitt has entrepreneurship and design thinking classes in all three schools. However, each class is only allowed to be taken by students from their respective schools. Pitt should add a course that allows students to take a class about innovation, design thinking and entrepreneurship that is open to all disciplines. That would allow students to see how to approach these problems from various viewpoints and will lead them to more creative thinking due to the interdisciplinary collaboration.

=

Tactic #3: Give credit to entrepreneurs

= •   Description: Pitt offers credit to students with internships and research on campus. Pitt could apply the same thing to entrepreneurial ventures which would allow students to manage their time more effectively because their projects would go back to school credit.

=

Innovation cannot thrive in a bubble. Entrepreneurship is up-and-coming in Pittsburgh, and it’s important that undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Pittsburgh are exposed to this awesome movement. Ian is experiencing the entrepreneurial drive first-hand. Regardless of the value of his bioengineering degree, Ian pondered dropping out of school after his startup was admitted into the Alphalab Gear Accelerator program. Ian has feet in both realms: one in the University, one in the community. At the University, Ian is watching groups of students practicing design thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurship, all which are valuable skills for those involved in startups. These students are driven and searching to use what they learn in the classroom on real-world projects. On the other side, Ian is (somewhat firsthand) witnessing the need for startups to hire interns with engineering, design, and business experience.  In fact, Ian worked as an intern with his project to further the technological and business development before the thought of commercialization occurred. Why can’t other interns help young startups succeed?

Startup Pitt is a smaller-scale model of Venture for America, a program that places recent college graduates in startups throughout the country. VFA Fellows have been instrumental in building businesses and helping startups succeed. Likewise, Startup Pitt interns will help Pittsburgh startups become successful while earning salary and a valuable internship experience. Of course, Startup Pitt keeps to it’s title: starting-up Pittsburgh as a center of entrepreneurship.

The Startup Pitt process may be compared to an engineering cooperative-education (co-op) program, an educational program that places engineering students in an established company or engineering firm. A co-op student works for three semesters -- one full year -- with a schedule negotiated between the employer and student. A student may alternate between work and school semesters; work in the fall, assume classes in the spring, work in the summer, assume classes in the fall, etc. On the other hand, a company may want a student to work for a year through, during which time the student would not return to classes. There are subjective benefits and disadvantages to each schedule setup that vary with students and courses of studies. However, a  co-op trumps a traditional internship in that a student maintains full-time student status during the co-op semesters. Full-time student status permits a student to reside in on-campus dormitories and receive all the stipulations of being a student. A co-op student does not pay tuition unless she enrolls in night classes.

Startup Pitt provides a flexible hiring duration for startups and for students who are looking for an internship.  While a co-op is expected to work for three semesters, the Startup Pitt program adapts to the needs of the intern and the startup to satisfy both parties. For example, if a startup can only hire a student for one semester, Startup Pitt may provide an intern who appreciates the short-term work experience that will not delay graduation. Furthermore, Startup Pitt provides internships to not only engineering students, but also business students, students of design, and students who possess skillsets desired by a Pittsburgh startup. Startup Pitt allows a more flexible internship duration.

Finances hinder a startup’s ability to hire appropriate help. The Startup Pitt program acknowledges that startups may want to hire an intern but may not be able to afford an intern. Startup Pitt works with departments and organizations at the University of Pittsburgh as well as the supporters of Pittsburgh incubators to subsidize the pay for an intern. In this manner, a startup receives extra help to grow a business without the concern of paying an intern, and an intern receives pay while gaining valuable work experience.

Timeline

= All objectives and tasks in the timeline are subject to change.

=

Customer discovery (March 2015)

=

Identify the needs of students at the University of Pittsburgh. Student groups include engineering students, business students, and those involved in I&E activities. Channels to reach students include department and program coordinators, seminars, and student / faculty organizations. Survey questions include

• Would you (students) be interested in working for a startup?
• How important is maintaining your full-time student status?
• For how many academic semesters could you see yourself working an internship at a startup?
• Why does working at a startup interest you?
• What kinds of skills do you believe are needed to be successful with growing a startup?
• Would you be willing to potentially delay your graduation?
• How much pay (hourly rate) would you see yourself making while interning at a startup?

Identify the needs of startups in Pittsburgh incubators and accelerators, such as startups involved in Alphalab, Alphalab Gear, Thrill Mill, Idea Foundry, and Revv Oakland.  Survey questions include

• Do you believe a college student pursuing an engineering / business / etc. major could make a contribution to your startup as an intern?
• What skills would you look for in a student intern for your startup?
• How long would you hire a Startup Pitt intern?
• If at all, how much could you afford to pay a Startup Pitt intern?
• If the Startup Pitt inter’s pay was subsidized through the University of Pittsburgh and/or your accelerator/incubator, would you be more likely to hire a Startup Pitt intern?

=

Coordinate with the University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute, the Swanson School of Engineering, the College of Business Administration, and the investor networks who support Pittsburgh incubators/accelerators to assess the potential of subsidizing a Startup Pitt’s hourly pay. Establish the value of Startup Pitt with each supporter, and evaluate how much each supporter is willing to contribute to a Startup Pitt intern. 

Future tasks

=

• Discuss program with University of Pittsburgh administration. Investigate potential of maintaining full-time student status during employment (May 2015)
• Formulate a faculty and student committee to evaluate student applications (June 2015)

=

Impact

=

=

Related Links

= University of Pittsburgh

Nathan Smialek

Brian Rhindress

Karuna Relwani

Jennifer Sommer

Ian McIntyre

=