1. A statement of the educational objectives of the program.

Transcription

1 UPDATED 4/14/14 College of Business Proposal to Create a Certificate in Entrepreneurship 1. A statement of the educational objectives of the program. The multidisciplinary entrepreneurship certificate prepares students to be highly functional in innovative and creative environments. Entrepreneurial thinking plays an important role in all aspects of society and is critical in the practical side of career planning. Specific educational objectives include, but are not limited to: Recognize the profound force of entrepreneurship in our local, national, and global economy Utilize credible secondary sources to identify and evaluate market opportunities, based on: o Analysis of the industry o Analysis of current and potential customer segments o Identification and analysis of competitors o Analysis of market potential and sales forecasting Apply basic financial principles of operating a new or growth firm such as cash flow, development of relevant financial rations, cost/benefit of financial statements, and accountant relationships. Identify the many forms of entrepreneurship-start-ups, growth firms, real estate, corporate entrepreneurship, and social entrepreneurship. Demonstrate competence in the utilization of analytical tools, methodologies, and frameworks useful in creating or analyzing a business plan. 2. A statement of the admission standards for the certificate program and a statement of the academic retention standards for the successful completion of the program. Any non-business student enrolled at East Carolina University is eligible to complete the certificate program. A student must pass each of the four classes in the certificate to successfully complete the certificate. 3. A statement of the proposed course sequence associated with the certificate, including titles and course descriptions for both existing courses and any new courses that may be developed.

2 MGMT 3500 Entrepreneurship Essentials Exposure to entrepreneurship as a viable career opportunity, examination of entrepreneurial potential, examination of the role of entrepreneurship in society, consideration of the process of identifying, assessing, and exploiting business opportunities. This course is a pre-requisite for all of the courses in the certificate. MKTG 3500 Entrepreneurial Opportunities and Marketing Identification and assessment of business opportunities, pre-business, startup, and early stage development, including detection of market niche, competitive analysis, and the development of marketing techniques. FINA 3500 Money Management for Entrepreneurs Financial aspects of running a business including assessing financial need, creating budgets, managing cash flow, handling taxes, insurance, payroll and developing profitability. MGMT 4500 Entrepreneurial Business Planning Apply knowledge from previous courses to determine market feasibility, develop a business operations plan, craft a marketing strategy, establish realistic financial projections, and identify appropriate sources of potential funding. Formal presentation of business plans at the end of the semester. All 3500 courses (MGMT, MKTG AND FINA) are pre-requisites for this course. 4. A statement explaining the relationship of the certificate program with other programs offered at East Carolina University (ECU). If applicable, the statement should also describe how the certificate may affect other departments or units. Supporting documentation of consultations with affected units is required and should be attached to the proposal. No certificates or minors are currently offered in the College of Business with a focus on entrepreneurship. This certificate will focus on entrepreneurship in small and medium sized firms as well as environments of rapid change requiring innovative and creative solutions. The problems and issues in entrepreneurial environments are significantly different from those typically found in large corporate organizations that are the focus of the existing minor. The proposed entrepreneurship certificate does not duplicate the focus of any minor on campus, but is complementary to majors within every college. Since innovation and entrepreneurship are not exclusive to the business area, other colleges will have the opportunity for their students to attain the primary knowledge and skills necessary to start a business.

3 The proposed entrepreneurial program is consistent with the university s ECU Tomorrow vision to create a strong, sustainable future for the East through education, innovation, investment, and outreach. The interface between the University and the business community (particularly the entrepreneurial business community) will be enhanced by having entrepreneurs participating in the entrepreneurship certificate courses. The entrepreneurship certificate will help to develop a way of thinking among ECU students that can contribute to increased spin-offs, new business startups, and business acquisition and growth throughout the region. An entrepreneurship certificate is also consistent with the University s need to develop interdisciplinary programs that provide students with exposure to multiple colleges. Finally, an entrepreneurship certificate is consistent with international initiatives since entrepreneurship is a driving economic force worldwide and is vital to ongoing global development and stabilization. 5. The catalog copy for the certificate program The multidisciplinary entrepreneurship certificate is designed as a complement for most majors. The certificate in entrepreneurship is appealing to those who may either operate their own for-profit or nonprofit business now or in the future. It is also appealing to those who will have careers either working in small/medium sized firms or in related fields. The flexibility of the certificate allows non-business majors to design programs that include these courses. Entrepreneurial thinking plays an important role in all aspects of society and is critical in the practical side of career planning. The certificate prepares students to be highly functional in innovative and creative environments. This certificate is ideal whether you are starting a business to offer your professional services, joining an existing small or medium-sized business, or planning to work in an innovative capacity within a large organization (intrapreneurship). Minimum requirement for the certificate is 12 s.h. as follows: MGMT Entrepreneurship Essentials MKTG Entrepreneurial Opportunities and Marketing FINA Money Management for Entrepreneurs MGMT Entrepreneurial Business Planning

4 6. A statement of how the proposed course sequences associated with the certificate will meet the stated educational objectives In MGMT 3500, Entrepreneurship Essentials, students will be exposed to the many opportunities for entrepreneurship and small business ownership. Students will discover their entrepreneurial potential through innovative, application-based learning activities. MKTG 3500, Entrepreneurial Opportunities & Marketing will focus on developing the skills necessary to assess advertising, consumer satisfaction, product pricing, and profitability. Students will create and learn to interpret the necessary financial documents associated with small business ownership in FINA 3500 Money Management for Entrepreneurs. In MGMT 4500, students create an entrepreneurial business plan. Students will apply knowledge from previous courses to determine market feasibility, develop a business operations plan, craft a marketing strategy, establish realistic financial projections, and identify appropriate sources of potential funding. 7. A statement explaining how the certificate program will be delivered on campus (face-to-face), distance course (face-to-face off campus), and/or online (50% or more of the instruction is offered online). The certificate program will be delivered through face-to-face courses. 8. A statement of need for the proposed program and the basis for such a need supported by either externally or internally derived data. North Carolina s economic initiatives strongly support entrepreneurial development. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (the national accrediting body of colleges of business administration) supports interdisciplinary studies and has recently required evidence of infusion of entrepreneurship into the curriculum. This concept has been discussed with numerous members of the Business Advisory Council, executives from the business community, and the Deans of other ECU Colleges and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive; everyone sees the need for students (from all disciplines) to have basic business acumen that can support their starting their own businesses or effectively working within other businesses to bring innovation and new business concepts to fruition. This certificate will make it easier for employers of small and medium-sized enterprises to find graduates who can make a significant difference by hitting the ground running. By providing information regarding starting a business and developing a business, more of our graduates will start companies and acquire companies that will lead to economic development in communities throughout North Carolina. This certificate will provide a means for students with majors in disciplines such as engineering, health services, biology, computer science, physical education, art, education, theatre and dance,

5 and others to understand enough about business to start a business or run a small company successfully. Numerous universities (approaching 300) now have majors in entrepreneurship developed primarily over the past ten years. Our certificate would position us to satisfy the demand for entrepreneurship training among non-business students. The entrepreneurship certificate addresses a specific niche not presently addressed anywhere within the University outside of the College of Business. 9. Statement explaining 1. How the effectiveness of the certificate program will be evaluated and 2. A quality enhancement program for future evaluation. Effectiveness for a certificate program such as this is multi-faceted and not easily measured. First, the degree to which non-business students actually perceive value in the courses, enroll, and complete the entire certificate is an indicator of strategic success. This would substantiate that a need for business acumen existed but was going unmet in the current undergraduate curriculum across campus. After graduation and into the future, the effectiveness of the program is indirectly associated with the number of nascent entrepreneurs who actually utilize the knowledge gained to successfully launch new initiatives. For those that do not actually become entrepreneurs, increased success within existing organizations resulting from the business knowledge acquired would be an indicator of effectiveness. The primary indicator of effectiveness for this certificate is inherent in an actual course deliverable; specifically the development of a viable business plan. Development of a strong business plan would be indicative of the ability to identify and investigate market opportunities, craft a workable budget, and create a practicable operational plan that would have potential appeal to investors, each which is assessed via a course embedded assignment. It is the hope of the College of Business to develop a campus wide business planning competition whereby students from all disciplines can compete in a shark tank like atmosphere for the attention of potential investors and mentors from the business community. A competition such as this would serve as an ongoing indicator of both program effectiveness and provide direct feedback toward ongoing quality improvement. 10. The names of the faculty associated with or contributing to the certificate program, either by teaching one or more of the course associated with the program or participating in the design of the course sequence. Adjunct faculty associated with the program should also include up-to-date curriculum vitae. Faculty associated with the creation and design of this certificate includes Dr. Christy Ashley, Dr. Shanan Gibson, Dr. Michael Harris, and Dr. William McDowell. Teaching faculty will

6 include Dr. Christy Ashley, Mr. Brian Cooke, Dr. Charmaine Glegg, Mr. Frank Lee, Dr. Tracy Tuten, and Mr. Mark Weitzel. 11. Name and curriculum vita of the faculty member who will be designated as the director of the program Dr. Michael Harris will be director of the Certificate in Entrepreneurship. 12. Impact on campus resources. The Entrepreneurial Certificate will be supported by Academic Affairs as a one-teim commitment for AY 14-15; with the hiring of part-time, fixed-term faculty equivalent to 1.0 FTE. The College of Business will secure funding for AY and beyond. 13. A statement specifying the professional license, if any, for which the certificate qualifies. The Certificate in Entrepreneurship does not qualify for any professional license at this time. 14. The Classification of Instructional Program (CP) title and six-digit code Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies A statement specifying the minimum number of weeks required for a student to complete the certificate. The minimum number of weeks to complete this certificate is 60 weeks.