School:Universidad de los Andes

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Overview

Universidad de los Andes is an autonomous, independent, and innovative institution that fosters pluralism, tolerance, and respect for ideas. It aims for academic excellence while providing rigorous critical and ethical character development, in order to enhance in all students an awareness of their social and citizenship responsibilities, as well as a firm commitment to the society. The university’s student body, in an environment of interdisciplinary and flexible integral character development, becomes the chief agent of the educational process. A highly skilled, knowledgeable, and prestigious faculty facilitates the development of an outstanding academic and professional life project that supports research, contributes to the development of the country, and transcends its geographical boundaries.

Promoting student innovation and entrepreneurship

Innovation has always been deeply embedded at the heart of the Universidad delosAndes. From the very core of the institution –it’s mission statement– can be seen to play a key role: “the University of the Andes is an autonomous, independent and innovative institution that fosters pluralism, tolerance, andrespect for ideas [...]”

Student innovation and entrepreneurshipare highly endorsed in certain faculties, both inside and outside of the classroom. The Business and Design Schools are the leaders in the creation and implementation of I&E opportunities in the classroom, with the Industrial Engineering department trailing not far behind. More and more, courses and study programs have been modified in order to further interest and expose students to I&E. These courses teach students the importance of keeping their minds open to everything I&E has to offerand help them harvest finer entrepreneurial skills. Some of these courses have students dedicate the whole semester’s work to developing a project of their choosing, while others expose them to real-life cases and make them think outside the box.

Even though most projects deviate and stay in just dreams, there are participation circles that step in to help student entrepreneurs. These include Empreandes, which helps them ideate a stronger and more innovative core at the beginning of theirentrepreneurship,and Centro de emprendimiento, where certified mentors asses them with interactive workshops and business-oriented maker space. Also, when students need guidance through their entrepreneurial process, big-scale entrepreneurship accelerators like Despega Colombiacan help propel a student’s own particular idea.

In order to explore new strategies that promote student innovation andentrepreneurship,we decided to expand the accompaniment course that tight now is only offered in industrial engineering. This department made this change a couple of years agotrying to make the classrooms for freshmen a more approachablespace. Statisticsand surveys have provided sufficient data to conclude that this project is viable for the current resources available. In the future we wouldlove to say that all majors count with a class like this, where not only are a student and senior students relationship closer but since their first months in school they are fascinated and willing to pursue any type of innovation/entrepreneurship the rest of their universityyears.

Universidad de Los Andes has a variety of tools and groups that promote students throughout the entire process of innovation andentrepreneurshipand continue to support projects when these entrepreneurs become alumni.