Priorities:Sierra College Student Priorities

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OVERVIEW

Sierra College is a campus that is continuously growing, having almost 18,000 students taking classes at the Rocklin Campus alone. Sierra College is driven by makerspaces and change, leading the state to consider it the leading campus for innovation. With new grants coming in every year, Sierra College is continually striving to improve innovation. Although great advances in innovation have been achieved on campus, there is a serious lack of entrepreneurial opportunities. It is imperative to increase business building strategies in order to keep up with the modern workplace .

Change Story Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR0KTOOvD5s&feature=youtu.be

Strategy #1: Bring more entrepreneurship onto Sierra College’s campus

1.1 Create an entrepreneurship club:

  • Create a club that is based around the basic fundamentals of building a business.
  • The club would meet once a week, have team building exercises, group projects, guest speakers, and weekly activities.
  • Start with the basics of product design and marketing, eventually leading to the club creating a project and attempting to bring it to market.

1.2 Create a company faire:

  • Have 15 to 20 companies attend the faire to connect with students and hand out information about internships, job possibilities, and apprenticeships.
  • Hold the faire every semester, constantly trying to add companies in order to increase the number of opportunities given to students who are interested in entrepreneurship and innovation.
  • Have a guest speaker from a prominent innovator or inventor. They would share their story of how they became an entrepreneur.

1.3 Hackathon:

  • Competition in which students will be given two days to come up with a solution to a designated problem, another two days to create their first prototype, and another three more days to come up with their final prototype
  • Each group will present in front of a panel to select the most promising project, which could be continuously worked on, with an end goal of being funded.
  • Hosted 2 to 3 times a year

Strategy #2: Raise interest in entrepreneurship

2.1 Tedx:

  • Ted events offered through the school, which is open to both students and members of the community.
  • Speakers will be innovative students or community members who excel in their fields.
  • Hosted once or twice a year, with its main focus on entrepreneurship and innovation.

2.2 Guest Speakers:

  • Guest speakers would come to the classroom to show off their inventions and incubator programs.
  • Guests would speak once a month in classroom settings.
  • Speakers would be members of the community in smaller startups, talking about their journey, struggles, and successes in their attempt to start up their own companies.

2.3 Makerspace for entrepreneurs and innovators:

  • Same idea as makerspaces, however the location would have more information and resources on how to start up your own company
  • Would be open to both the community and the students at Sierra College for a small fee, however this would pay for tools, employees, and materials.
  • Host regular group meetings where people can come and share their ideas, get feedback, and network.

Related Links

Sierra College Overview

Sierra College Student Priorities

University Innovation Fellow: Savanna Turner

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