Priorities:Fayetteville State University Student Priorities
Contents
Overview
Fayetteville State University has many tools for students to use, but many are hidden and/or under-developed. Students have the opportunity to focus on entrepreneurship, join the Entrepreneurship Club, or participate in challenges presented by the school (i.e. Bronco Idea Challenge).
Fayetteville State’s strength lies in its ability to produce professors that constantly support the students, which is also a result of the school being so small. The city of Fayetteville has minds that produce brilliant ideas, but it lacks a connection between the University’s colleges. This gap keeps students from interaction with people outside of their fields, which limits the creativity and innovation of their own ideas. Fayetteville State will now begin produce not only awareness, but teams dedicated to leadership in their fields.
YouTube Pitch
Strategy #1 – The Leadership Institute
– A program that is dedicated to leadership in innovation and entrepreneurship. Not just running a company, but changing a community.
Tactic A: Spread the word, search for talent, and form a viral team.
Fayetteville State University needs a bridge between the colleges within Fayetteville State University. This can be done through the further development of the Center for Defense and Homeland Security expansion program. Currently, our team is working on creating a National Entrepreneurship and Cyber Security Conjunction certification program focused on veterans. It will provide the resources and space for those pursing either certificate program. In addition, it will assist with job placement, and starting individual businesses. Though this program is focused on veterans using their GI bill, the Leadership Institute will need its team in order to break down those boundaries.
• Will be open to any student interested, so the word will arrive through student government and email (Spring 2014)
• Once interested students are found, I will work with the Center for Defense team on the entrepreneurship certification program (Fall 2014)
• While plans are being drawn up for the certification program, the interested students and I will work as catalysts for innovation on campus through communication, incentives, and support with entrepreneurial ideas (Fall 2014)
• Once the certificate program is established at Fayetteville State University, there will already have been a bridge formed between the Center for Defense and the student population (Spring/Fall 2015)
• The will be a constant exchange of ideas and resources, so that the Center for Defense will no longer be open to just veterans of the U.S. military (Fall 2015)
• Once word of this program spreads across campus, more faculty support will be requested and obtained, so that a Leadership Institute may be formed (Spring 2016/2017)
Tactic B: Present and choose the best of the best
Recruit specific students, with specific talents and an outstanding record, before reaching out to the entire school. This team will be gathered via competition and presentation. When this selection process is done, we will come together to expand the institute and to design a dedicated program for students around campus. The program would consist of:
• An interdisciplinary workshop for students to form smaller teams within the institute. Assign each team a project and allow these teams collaborate on their ideas and form a solution. Projects will be focused on homeland security. (Summer 2014 – Fall 2014)
• Projects presented to the Center for Defense, so that teams may obtain more funding and support. (Fayetteville State University’s Center for Defense is the school hub for innovation, research, and technology.) (Fall 2014-Spring 2015)
• Ideas presented to the Center for Defense, then a proposition will be made to form a partnership. (Spring 2015)
• Potential partnership formation; formal paperwork will be created to form a small institute, then will be put up for review. (Spring 2015 – Spring 2016)
• Students continuing to provide ideas for the Center for Defese, while at the same time pursuing their own. (Spring 2016)
Tactic C: A network of universities and entrepreneurs
While Fayetteville State University has ample support from faculty and staff, student motivation is low. There are many at the school with connections that reach deep inside industry and academia. These connections will be used to form networks between entrepreneurs through shadowing and assistantships. In doing this, the institute would become more of an organization in which members train other members. This means:
• Developing a plan and seeing what we have on the table (networks, resources, etc.) (Fall 2014)
• Getting in contact with industrial workers, managers, innovators, and entrepreneurs that are a part of companies within our network (Fall 2014)
• Gaining a few solid supports, then taking a test run. A few students and mentors will volunteer and at the end of the session; they will be evaluated on what they learn (Fall 2014/Spring 2015)
• Beginning to develop stronger relationships with current networks, then expanding networks and mentorship programs (Spring 2015)
• Starting to develop an organization for leadership in innovation and entrepreneurship, in conjunction with Fayetteville State's entrepreneurship certificate program (Spring 2015 – Fall 2015)
• Reaching out to other HBCUs, and schools with large military veteran populations, to expand the organization (Spring 2016)
Strategy #2 - Making a change inside and outside the community
Fayetteville State's first maker space and innovation lab – Fayetteville State University labs lack software, there are empty rooms that can be transformed, and there are many students that would be willing to participate. If we can "upgrade" the campus, students will have the resources to make their ideas a reality.
Tactic A: The traditional fundraiser, with a new pool dedicated to the collaboration.
Fayetteville State University has a community that wants to be actively engaged. Using this knowledge, one can always catch the eye of the outdoors if it improves the area. With a series of fundraises and competitions, students would have something to present to higher investors, in order to make a dedicated space for innovators and entrepreneurs a reality.
Fall 2014:
- Hack-a-thon
- Basketball tournament
- Community entrepreneurship/innovation get-together
- Broncos Idea Challenge
- Inventor’s summit (At least once a semester)
Whether you work in a garage, in school, or at home, everyone is welcome. From carpenters, to engineers, businessmen, and students.
Spring 2015:
- Inventors summit
- Inform community about space on campus
- Entrepreneurship symposium and competitions
- Begin to develop plans for community maker space and meet-ups
Fall 2015:
- Begin to develop space on campus dedicated to people interested in getting their ideas and inventions out there, or improving them.
Spring 2016:
- Expand! Make it a community place; not just a place for students.
Tactic B: The Center for Defense Lab. Fayetteville State University’s Center for Defense and Homeland Security has the most technologically advanced room on campus from a communication, hardware, and overall-academic-environment standpoint. Recently, white boards were installed around the entire room. The problem is that the Center for Defense is open only to its affiliates.
- As a researcher for the school's Center for Defense and Homeland Security, and a member of the team developing the entrepreneurship certificate, I plan to start building the bridge between the Center and students outside of the military (Spring/Fall 2014)
- Once the initial bridge is built, find students interested in commercializing or innovating research with DoD application to get more students in the door (Fall 2014)
- Host the first student innovator and entrepreneur meeting in Center for Defense (Fall 2014)
- Build a relationship between students interested in innovation and the Center, so that the Center will dedicate time strictly for students outside of military (Spring 2015)
- Continue to build relations with the community, the Center, and other students in order to transform the Center into a space for collaboration, and idea-nurturing (Fall 2015/Spring 2016)
Tactic C: Reach out to the community outside the school. Fayetteville is a growing community, but with its growing crime rate, the wrong things distract many people. The purpose of this tactic would be outreach through innovation, showing the community that there is a place where people will always have time to share ideas, find help with projects, or start a business. Here is what we would do:
- Start by developing two teams: A team of innovators and entrepreneurs, and a team that is actively engaged throughout the community (Fall/Summer 2014)
- Start by reaching out to the community centers. Fayetteville's main source for communicating extracurricular community activites is through bulletins (Fall 2014)
- Use the above-mentioned teams to find people that are interested in learning or inventing, on and off campus. Target local businesses, engineering firms, and other universities in the area (Fall 2014)
- Have our first meeting at Central Community Center or North Carolina’s Library Headquarters to allow adults and youth throughout the community build, hack, and exchange ideas (Fall 214/Spring 2015)
- Continue to transform the entrepreneurial community, so that relationships can be formed between program attendees and local entrepreneurs/businesses (Spring 2015)
- EXPAND! Build a stronger community. This will not be an organization for anyone in particular (It still has the focus on innovation and entrepreneurship, though). The more people spread the word, the more the community changes overall (Spring/Fall 2015)
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