2023 uiguides
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= '''<span style="font-size: x-large;">STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP CULTURE AMONG UM STUDENTS (2020)</span>''' =
== <span style="font-size: large;">'''<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Strategy One: </span>'''</span> '''<span style="font-size:large;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">SocialUM: Becoming more socially aware and learning with hands on experience by introducing humanitarian work in every practical course</span></span>''' == <div><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">It has come to our knowledge that practical courses in our University are lacking real life experience, thus causing desmotivation and an enormous waste of resources and opportunities to really learn. Also, even though volunteering is highly important for the University and many people attend the events, the numbers are not constant.</span></span><br/></div><div><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Along this journey we have learnt that watching our ideas in action is essential. Students should be able to try a “prototype” of their life as proffesionals at early stages of their careers, in order to make informed choices along the way.</span></span><br/></div><div><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">To accomplish this we propose a new way of doing things, SocialUM: practical jobs implying social work. We would be working on real life projects with real life clients, addressing real world issues. But most importantly, our clients would be NGOs, a different one would be selected based on the type of help we can provide them for each course. Every project would be specific for each career, it would take place in curricular subjects, specially the practical ones, and work would be carried out in teams. </span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Students would not only gain work experience from real situations, but also would be faced with different realities which would help them develop empathy and soft skills. Furthermore, the NGO would end this process with a free and functional service provided by the students and plenty of public exposure. And last but not least, the University would have much better trained students to face the world and accomplish their goals, a respected social committed status and a lot of exposure.</span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">We realize how ambitious this plan is, that is why we decided to start with changing one course: Civil Engineering Lab.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">'''Step #1:''' Empathize with students and the lab professor. The interviews will be taken care of by all of us. </span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">'''Step #2:''' Meet with Techo, an NGO that builds houses and roads in poor neighbourhoods in order to work with them. Serrana and Magda would handle this task. </span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">'''Step #3:''' Make a syllabus of the course. We would handle this task together. </span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">'''Step #4:''' Talk to our Dean in order to have the idea approved. This task would be handled by all of us.</span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">'''Step #5:''' Start the marketing and communication strategy to attract people. Rodrigo and Josefina would handle this task.</span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">'''Step #6:''' Launch the renewed Civil Engineering LAB.</span></span></div>
== <span style="font-size: large;">'''<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Strategy Two:</span>'''</span> ==
== <span style="font-size: large;">'''<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Strategy Three: Providing support to students from incubators by advertising them in a casual environment</span>'''</span> ==
<span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"The students do not have the knowledge about institutions that support startups, no matter if they wanted to setup a startup or not. Currently students at our University are not aware of every opportunity there exists or what organizations could help them to develop or fund their projects.</span></span>
<span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">We believe it is crucial to get I&E culture exposure from both ends, so we consider our third strategy should tackle this specific issue. In order to boost students’ confidence at their early stages of developing an idea or project, we aim at the possibility of hosting an instance where such institutions could interact face-to-face with students in a calm, informal ambience. This would be approached from the unconference format, in which conversations are fluid, and topics are specifically proposed by participants.</span></span>