Priorities:Xavier University of Louisiana Student Priorities
6 STRATEGIES for XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
Improving an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem on Campus
1.1 Strategy #1
2.1 Strategy #2
3. Collaborate with SGA and Other Clubs
4. Social Media
Innovation Club
The Innovation Club, also known as X.U.CREATE, is an interdisciplinary organization that intends to begin an initiative on campus that promotes creativity and design among students of all majors. The club plans to be launched in Fall 2014 and several students that are committed to being on the executive board have already started planning out the vision of this interest group. That vision is to truly bring about the imagination that all students embraced as children but has been lost through the journey of our young adulthood. There is great power in the potential of imagination and creativity that can change the world and every college student should be a part of that. The goal is to give students an environment where they are free to think big and outside of the classroom about societal/global problems they are passionate about.
From there students can make low prototypes and design ways to solve those problems and for those who are committed to furthering their idea, they will have access to resources from Enactus in the Entrepreneurship Institute to pitch their ideas to investors. Local guest speakers will be invited monthly to talk to students about their own venture journeys and passions. Innovation challenges will also take place once a month with main objects as simple as a spoon or shoe and students will be given crafty materials to design prototypes to get them thinking outside of the box with a reward of a cash prize. The club can meet once a week and discuss problems and work in teams to brainstorm ways to solve them. This club will be an avenue to give the students resources such as internships, venture firm capital information, StartUp Weekend info, etc.
Strategy #1:
1. Obtain the paperwork necessary to begin a student organization on campus (April 2014)
2. Find an advisor and committed executive board members to start this club. Submit copies of the Constitution and By Laws, Letter of Intent, and Student Roster to Campus Activities to gain an interest group charter (April 2014)
3. Meet with the faculty advisor, Professor Mark Quin; supportive faculty members interested in helping; Dr. Partha Bhattacharjee, Dr. Kristi Brumfield, and Dr. Tarun Mandal; and the committed students interesting in having a leadership role to discuss future plans and visions of the club. (April 2014)
4. Create an innovation challenge with executive board members and advisor to attract more students to sign up to join. A simple problem can be selected where students compete to design a low prototype in hopes of winning a prize from other student votes. (April 2014)
5. This challenge must be advertised in the newspaper, bulletin board, website, et al. The challenge occurs outdoors, satisfying its aim to gain more student members.(April 2014)
6. The executive board plans out the events for the 2014-2015 school year including guest speakers, fundraisers, community service, challenges/competitions. (Fall 2014)
7. This plan must be approved by the advisor and Campus Activities, dates will be tentative to change. (Fall 2014)
8. Look forward to a successful and developing innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem (Fall 2014 –Spring 2015)
9. Evaluation by student, faculty, and administration (Fall 2015)
10. Adjust any needed changes and continue (Fall 2015-Spring 2016)
Freshman Seminar
Freshman Seminar (FRSM 1000/FRSM 1100) is a yearlong mandatory course that all incoming freshman must take to satisfy graduation requirements. The goals of the Freshman Year Experience are to empower freshmen with the skills and support needed for college success (and Xavier success), enhance their professional development, and understand their role and mission as Xavier students. Every year, over 600 students fill the seats in these classrooms and this would be a perfect opportunity to introduce students to innovation and entrepreneurship. This course could give students the chance to start thinking about world problems and collaborating in teams to find solutions to those problems. My advisor plans to set up a meeting with the faculty that teach Freshman Seminar and discuss the goals of the NCIIA, along with the importance of promoting student creativity on our campuses. If all FRSM faculty members could donate at least 30% of each class time discussing these issues, Xavier is that much closer instilling innovation and entrepreneurship in the early curriculum for the college students. Team Leaders: Professor Mark Quin, Dr. Partha Bhattacharjee, Dr. Mandal, Chigozie Dike, etc.
Strategy #2:
1. Supporting Faculty members and president of the innovation club form a Xavier team that will contact all FRSM faculty members to set a date for a meeting. (May 2014)
2. A presentation and discussion between faculty members should occur where FRSM professors are informed about the mission of NCIIA and the positive consequences that will result from implementing innovation and entrepreneurship in their classrooms. (Fall 2014)
3. Feedback from FRSM faculty should be taken into consideration and used to establish a plan for Freshman Seminar curriculums. (Fall 2014)
4. The Xavier team establishes a curriculum for the course that FRSM faculty members are satisfied with. (Fall 2014)
5. This freshman curriculum must be approved by deans, provost, and president of the university. (Fall 2014- Spring 2015).
6. The new Freshman Seminar course with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship is ready to begin! (Spring 2015)
7. Evaluation of the curriculum by students, faculty, and administration (Spring 2015)
8. Adjust any needed changes and continue (Spring 2015-Spring 2016)
Collaborate with SGA and Other Clubs
The Student Government Association represents the student body in the university-policy making. They also are responsible for many campus activities that result in a large student turnout. Other organizations such as Xavier Activities Board, Biology Club, Chemistry Club, Public Policy Club, and Enactus are just a few popular organizations on campus that can work with X.U.CREATE to increase the visibility of this new organization to students. By doing fundraisers, community service events, or even sponsoring speakers or activities together, more advanced clubs can help spread awareness to the innovation club.
Social Media
The executive board of the innovation club needs to create social media networks after a charter has been awarded to the organization. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn accounts are very popular ways to convey the message of the group. This will increase the amount of students and professionals aware of the organization create a means of attracting more members who may not be on campus as much, and display the ideas/prototypes that members have created. Social media is changing how the world receives information and that is something that should be taken advantage of. The innovation club has a goal of promoting creativity and entrepreneurial mindsets among college students. This positive vision deserves to be shared via these sites and create an environment where students, innovators, and entrepreneurs can share ideas.
Create a Maker Space
An atmosphere conducive to innovation is important to maintain and not just begin an innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem. The Entrepreneurship Institute has designed an incubator with computers, tables, and chairs for members of Enactus to meet and work on business plans or gain business experience. A similar space is needed for innovation on Xavier’s campus. A space that is set up with white boards, dry erase markers, crafty materials, and tables that student can use to design prototypes and models of their ideas. Having a permanent space allows students to convene on their own time and work on group or independent projects that they might not have otherwise been able to accomplish. An under-utilized classroom or storage area can be transformed into an innovative maker space with the funds gained from fundraising. Approval of this space must also be gained by students, faculty, and administration through petitions or SGA. This will be the long term goal of the innovation club, hopefully to be implemented by 2016.
Invite Guest Speakers
The information obtained from the OPEN 2014 conference revealed so many resources that could be brought back to Xavier’s campus. The employees from LinkedIn, Google, and Stanford University were excited to speak with the university innovation fellows and give feedback to improve innovation and entrepreneurship on their campuses. The New Orleans Bio Innovation Center is a local company that is committed to biomedical research and technology. Xavier University places a strong emphasis on health and science and getting people from this organization to speak to Xavier students would encourage creativity. There are local entrepreneurs that currently speak weekly hosted by the Entrepreneurship Institute in the Business Department. However, there are only a small percentage of students that attend. By opening the current gap to include local innovators as well as entrepreneurs, more students might be interested in the NCIIA’s goal and see that this movement is relevant to them as well.
