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=== '''DifferenceMakerDifferenceMaker™''' ===

'''About DifferenceMakerDifferenceMaker™:''' 

The DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program sponsors specific events and activities that support students in solving big problems through innovation and entrepreneurship. The Program is highly experiential by offering students a series of workshops that they can engage in to better understand innovation, entrepreneurship and launching a start-up of their interest.

Students of all majors and disciplines are welcome to join this Program and make a difference at UMass Lowell, in the community or in the world through innovative and entrepreneurial action. These DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ projects include interdisciplinary student teams from all majors and skill sets. 

'''Goals of DifferenceMakersDifferenceMaker™s:''' 

'''DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Available Activities Include:'''

·       '''DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Central-'''DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Central was opened in May 2013.  This space is a dedicated entrepreneurial area with a vibrant start-up community atmosphere.  The space was made for all entrepreneurial teams to come together to work, brainstorm, and network. Student teams have access to flexible workstations, televisions, computers, mentors, and a dynamic meeting space to develop their ideas and collaborate amongst their teammates and fellow students.

·       '''DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Enterprise Co-op''''''in the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship''''''-'''Throughout each year, DifferenceMakers DifferenceMaker™s will hire several students from various majors to participate in paid co-op experiences. Student co-ops assist in conducting and summarizing entrepreneurial research, developing and distributing marketing materials for various center initiatives, and provide center support for faculty and innovation fellows affiliate with the center.  

·       '''Freshman Make A Difference Orientation – '''During the summer sessions, DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ has a large presence in the Freshman Orientation days. Through the Office of Orientation, Student Activities and Leadership, and ResLife, DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ was able to present to every attending freshman and gain exposure to all of the new students at UMass Lowell. 

·       '''Freshman DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Convocation-''' At the beginning of each academic year, we present DifferenceMakers DifferenceMaker™ to every incoming freshman at Convocation. Each year we perform a fun activity to engage students in our program.

·       '''Introduction to DifferenceMakerDifferenceMaker™-Freshman Seminars-'''A series of in-class discussions in collaboration with the Manning School of Business, The Francis College of Engineering, The College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and The College of Health Sciences in order to introduce the DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program to students of all disciplines and to inspire them to explore their passions through creative problem solving.

·       '''Introduction to the DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program-'''A series of events were held on both the north and south campuses to introduce students to DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program concepts, allow them to share their ideas and interests, explore possible projects and solution, and to connected with each other to form teams. These events included the DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Convocation Pitch, the Climate Change Teach-in, a DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Team Building Dinner, and others.

·       '''DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ LLC – '''Having a presence in the student residence halls as well as the classroom is important to motivate students and discover new ideas waiting to happen. The DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Living/Learning Community brings new students together in the ResLife environment for innovation and brainstorming outside of the classroom. 

·       '''Honors DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program –''' In collaboration with UMass Lowell Honors Program, this concerted effort to embed elements of social entrepreneurship in our Honors Program includes coursework and community-based student efforts that have specific focus on innovation and entrepreneurial practices.

·       '''Introduction to Engineering-'''Extra Credit Project-This activity was a collaboration effort between the DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program and The Francis College of Engineering to introduce freshman engineering majors to the DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program, innovation, and entrepreneurship. In this introductory activity, the students’ innovative ideas were explored and presented in a format which would enable their projects to be candidates for both the DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program Idea Challenge and Campus Catalyst program.

·       '''Creative Venture Competition - '''This contest held in October of 2013 hosted by DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ focused on innovation from Arts, Humanities, and Social Science students. $2500 was awarded to the best entrepreneurial business a proposal, and $250 to each finalist team was also awarded. 

·       '''Digital Federal Credit Union Innovation Contest – '''In November of 2013, DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ along with DCU hosted an Innovation Contest focusing on banking and financial innovation in the industry. With a grand prize of $500 per team member and peripheral prizes of $100 per team member, the contest gave thousands to innovative teams and cutting edge ideas. 

·       '''DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Reverse Pitch – '''This pitch event was debuted on November 19, 2013. This event was a spin off of “normal” idea challenges and hackathons. Instead of students pitching their ideas to funding sources or judges, businesses and community partners actually pitched their existing problems to a student audience in the hopes that they can develop a solution. The pitches included Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership, Lowell Telecommunications Corporation, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell, Catie’s Closet and the Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center. Students will be able to solve these problems and present them at the Annual IdeaChallenge for funding opportunities. 

·       '''Freshman Business Class-Lego Problem Solving-'''This Lego activity was a collaboration effort between the DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program and the Manning School of Business to introduce students to the ideation development process and problem solving method, as well as helping them strengthen their ability to work in a team. Sessions were conducted in 9 classes with over 400 students participating. Prof. Deborah Finch of the Manning School of Business led this effort. 

·       '''DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Idea Challenge– '''DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ is hosting its second annual Idea Challenge; this challenge is for student entrepreneurial teams to come up with sustainable ideas that will make some sort of impact on the world or their community. Help in the form of various workshops in the months leading up to the Idea Challenge is available, teaching students how to properly pitch their ideas and how to flesh out their business plans. There are various subcategories for each team to have a chance at winning spread out across over many different disciplines, encouraging all students to participate and welcoming all ideas. 

·       '''DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Workshops-'''In preparation for the annual DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ IdeaChallenge, we offer our students a series of educational entrepreneurial workshops throughout the spring semester.

·       '''Promoting the Campus Catalyst Program'''-The DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program works closely with the Merrimack Valley Sandbox, a community business accelerator funded by the Deshpande Foundation, in order to encourage students to generate and develop their entrepreneurial ideas. The Sandbox Campus Catalyst program provided seed funding for student social and business solutions with potential. Catalyst information was provided to students at all DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ events. Students also received consultation when applying to the Campus Catalyst Program.  The DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ application and Campus Catalyst application were similar in content so that unity between these programs would be maximized.  

·       '''DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program Promotion-'''In order to promote awareness of, and participation in, DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ activities among faculty, staff, and students, a variety of outreach materials were developed and distributed across the University. These activities included program launch events, a DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ website, a Facebook site, a Twitter feed (UML_Difference), various posters, postcards, presentations to classrooms, workshops, office hours, email blasts, and information tables. 

'''DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program Available Resources Include:'''

•       DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Central

•       Faculty Fellows and DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Staff

'''DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Inaugural Year Statistics'''

·       72 DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ events held in inaugural year

·       3,500  students who participates in a DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ event this past year

'''First Annual DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ IdeaChallenge Finalists'''

'''Campus-Wide DifferenceMakerDifferenceMaker™'''

<br/>'''Honorable Mention DifferenceMakerDifferenceMaker™'''

'''DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Future Efforts:'''

The DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program plans to continue many of the activities and events initiated in the first year of the program.&nbsp; Some of these programs will be revised and they intend to launch several new initiatives, including a DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Passport Program, a DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Mentor Program and a seed grant program to encourage faculty participation in the DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ program. They also plan to expand our collaboration with several University colleges.&nbsp;

This year they plan to increase the role of DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Living Learning Community students in the DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ program by training the members to become DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ ambassadors once they transition into their sophomore year &nbsp;through weekly meetings and monthly events. The training will allow LLC members to learn more about entrepreneurship and the DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program so they can promote it to student clubs and campus classes.&nbsp; Once the LLC students become sophomores they will transition into a DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Ambassador role, and hopefully will form the nucleus of a yet-to-be-formed DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ student club. &nbsp;

In order to assist students to both record and encourage their participation in DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ events, they are planning the development and implementation of a DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Passport Program. Consistent with the goals of the UMass Lowell DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program, the Passport Program will assist students to identify, record and collect experiences meant to:&nbsp;

They anticipate that the number of students engaged in the DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program and related activities will increase each year. As they encourage and reward the formation of various types of student ventures and projects, the need for mentors who can consult with student teams will increase. They plan to guide these students and track their progress through a professional Mentor Program. The UMass Lowell Mentor Program will provide a committed network of mentors with a broad set of skills and professional experiences, who can assist UMass Lowell entrepreneurs in developing the knowledge and skills, needed to grow an idea into a successful, new venture.

The DM UMass Lowell Mentor Program will seek to connect DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ students with successful experienced entrepreneurs and alumnus, as well as faculty and staff.&nbsp; The Mentor Program will focus on assisting students to further develop solutions as part of the DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Program. Mentors will provide guidance in further refining student team objectives and help them in building their entrepreneurial skillsets.

They are planning to offer DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Faculty Workshops to help faculty consider how they might engage their own students in DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ activities through course related activities and through co-curricular activities. Our hope is that by engaging more faculty, they in turn will serve as both mentors and catalysts for students, encouraging and guiding student project selection and development. They have also observed that student teams often need support and guidance from faculty from different disciplines, these workshops and an accompanying seed grant program are meant as catalysts to encourage interdisciplinary engagement among faculty,

While the overarching goal of the DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ program is to encourage UMass Lowell students to develop sustainable and entrepreneurial solutions to the challenges and opportunities they will confront in this world, they anticipate another, potentially significant impact on the University community itself. Our students will only be successful if they have the support of faculty, alumni, business and community members. During our first year of program activities, they have found these constituents to be most supportive and willing to mentor and work with our students.&nbsp; Alumni are mentoring and investing in student ventures.&nbsp; Faculty are working across disciplines to ensure their student teams make progress. Local profit and non-profit businesses are eager to work with student teams, providing real-world problems and opportunities for student projects. In one short year, the DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ program has been embraced by the greater University community. Our hope and plan is to anchor this program in the curriculum and culture of the University, so all UMass Lowell students have an opportunity to make a difference in this world.

'''DifferenceMaker DifferenceMaker™ Contact:'''