Description
Criteria about designing and launching the entrepreneurship and innovation living.
volume 2, number 1, WlnLer 2011
*ulrecLor, LnLrepreneurshlp LducaLlon,
MLech, A. !ames Clark School of Lnglneerlng, unlverslLy of Maryland
mLech.umd.edu/educaLe
!"
DESIGNING AND LAUNCHING THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND
INNOVATION LIVING-LEARNING PROGRAM
FOR FRESHMEN AND SOPHOMORES
James V. Green
*
Abstract - Based on the surge in demand for undergraduate programs in
entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Maryland and throughout
the country, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program was launched in Fall
2010 for freshmen and sophomores. This living-learning Honors academic
Program combines small classes taught by exceptional faculty with the wide
range of additional education opportunities offered by a large research
institution. For the living component of the Program, all students will reside in
an exclusive Program residence hall for both years. Through company creation,
courses, seminars, workshops, competitions, and volunteerism, students are part
of a special experiential learning model. The academic component of the
Program includes four courses totaling nine credits, with all students enrolling in
one course per semester for each of their four semesters in the Program.
At Mtech, an A. James Clark School of Engineering institute for technology
entrepreneurship and innovation, there is the belief that a firm grasp of the
entrepreneurial process and mindset benefits every person engaged in
developing new ideas. A core goal of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Program is to infuse freshmen and sophomore students with that knowledge and
its accompanying skills. Armed with an entrepreneurial mindset,
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program students and alumni can drive
economic growth by launching successful ventures and/or joining innovative
companies to bring life-changing products and services to market. By filling a
critical gap in the University’s entrepreneurship and innovation offerings at the
freshmen and sophomore level, the new living-learning Program can improve
student¬¬ recruitment, enhance student enrichment, and contribute to the
overall quality and rankings of the University of Maryland.
This paper serves as the first of a series of papers addressing the design, launch,
and management of this new Program. Subsequent papers will include
observations, results, and new developments with the Program.
1. Introduction
The University of Maryland is a recognized leader in entrepreneurship and innovation education
through its award-winning Hinman CEOs living-learning program for upperclassmen, as well as
the dynamic entrepreneurship courses and offerings of the Maryland Technology Enterprise
Institute (Mtech), an A. James Clark School of Engineering institute. At Mtech, there is the belief
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that a firm grasp of the entrepreneurial process and mindset benefits every person engaged in
developing technology. A core goal is to infuse technology-creating students, faculty members,
and professionals with that knowledge and its accompanying skills. Armed with an
entrepreneurial mindset, technology creators drive economic growth by launching successful
ventures and bringing life-changing products and services to market. An overview of Mtech’s
entrepreneurship and innovation education offerings is presented in Figure 1, along with the fit of
the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (EIP).
High School
Students
• Young Scholars Summer Program
– ENES140: Discovering New Ventures
– ENES141: Introduction to High-Tech Product
Development and Marketing
– ENES142: Introduction to Innovative Thinking
and Creativity
• Young Scholars Spring Program
– Spring course offering to students of Whitman
and Walter Johnson high schools in Bethesda
Freshmen &
Sophomores
• Existing gap to be filled by the new Entrepreneurship
and Innovation Program (EIP).
• One freshmen-level entrepreneurship course offered each
fall
Juniors &
Seniors
• Hinman CEOs Program
• Hillman Entrepreneurs Program
• 400-level courses in entrepreneurship and innovation
Graduate
Students
• Graduate Certificate in Engineering in Technology
Ventures and Innovation
• Graduate-level courses in entrepreneurship and
innovation
Professionals • Certificate in Innovation Management Program
General Activities
• UM Technology
Start-Up Boot
Camp
• UM $75K
Business Plan
Competition
• Entrepreneur
Office Hours
Figure 1. Mtech’s entrepreneurship and innovation education offerings
At the foundation of Mtech’s undergraduate entrepreneurship and innovation activities is the
Hinman CEOs Program, started in 1999. The Program serves 90 juniors and seniors annually in a
two-year residential model inclusive of four 3-credit courses, on-site coaching and mentoring, and
experiential learning opportunities. The mission is to foster an entrepreneurial spirit, create a
sense of community and cooperation, and develop ethical leaders. As the nation’s first living-
learning entrepreneurship program, the Hinman CEOs model for undergraduate entrepreneurship
and innovation education has been replicated at 18 universities (Green, 2009).
While the Hinman CEOs Program serves juniors and seniors, there are no living-learning
opportunities for University freshmen and sophomores with interests in entrepreneurship and
innovation. Students desiring this experience either wait two years at the University or enroll in
other universities with underclassman opportunities to study entrepreneurship and innovation.
It is anticipated that the availability of this freshmen-sophomore living-learning experience will
drive the volume and quality of freshmen applicants. The success of Mtech’s high school
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offerings supports the idea that students from many majors share a common interest in one day
owning their own businesses and/or being an innovative leader within established organizations.
2. Student Demand
The demand for a freshmen-sophomore living-learning experience in entrepreneurship and
innovation is well evidenced at the University of Maryland. With 69 freshmen applicants for the
Hinman CEOs Program in 2008 and an additional 115 freshmen registered for Mtech’s freshmen
entrepreneurship course, this collective 184 freshmen population already exceeds the anticipated
75 seats within EIP each year. It is believed that this level of interest is consistent with the
Honors category of students and is likely higher based on the parallels between high-achieving
students and the desire for entrepreneurial, innovative career paths. Student demand is evident
based on:
• 69 freshmen applicants for the Hinman CEOs Program. In 2008, 69 freshmen applied for
the Hinman CEOs Program. This exemplifies the level of demand for freshmen desiring
to enroll in a living-learning entrepreneurship and innovation program at the University
of Maryland. With an acceptance rate of 30% for 2009, the Hinman CEOs Program is
focused on rising juniors as its incoming cohort each year. Only the most exceptional
rising sophomores are accepted, typically at a rate of only 1 or 2 students per cohort of 45
each year. Despite these long odds for acceptance and no dedicated marketing efforts by
the Hinman CEOs Program towards freshmen students, many freshmen continue to apply
for Hinman CEOs admittance each year.
• 115 freshmen registered for Mtech’s Freshmen Connection entrepreneurship course.
“ENES 210: Entrepreneurial Opportunity Analysis.” Demand for this course has risen
rapidly each year, with 108 students enrolled in the Fall 2009 term.
• 77 high school students enrolled in the Young Scholars Program for Summer 2009.
Mtech’s summer high school entrepreneurship course, “ENES 140: Discovering New
Ventures,” hosted 58 students in 2009. In the first offering of Mtech’s “ENES 141:
Technology Marketing & Product Development” course in 2009, 19 students enrolled.
These collective 77 students represent the highest level of student enrollment across all
21 topics offered in the Young Scholars Program in 2009. While not all of these students
will attend the University of Maryland as undergraduates in the future, they place their
interest first in entrepreneurship and innovation first out of 21 topic areas representing the
unprecedented level of appeal to high school students (Green, 2007).
3. Opportunity
Based on the surge in demand for undergraduate programs and courses in entrepreneurship and
innovation, Mtech introduced EIP to serve freshmen and sophomores. This living-learning,
Honors-based program is a natural extension of Hinman CEOs and fills a gap in the current
entrepreneurship and innovation offerings.
A question may be, “Why not increase the size of the Hinman CEOs Program to accommodate
150 freshmen and sophomores each year instead of creating a new program?” Firstly, the
Hinman CEOs benefactor, Brian Hinman, has stated his interest in keeping the Hinman CEOs
program at less than 100 students in order to facilitate a strong sense of community and
interaction. Secondly, the needs and interests of underclassmen differ from those of
upperclassmen. Thirdly, while the Hinman CEOs Program encourages business plan development
and new venture creation, this new underclassmen program will focus on entrepreneurial
opportunity discovery, creativity and innovation, and related foundational skills. It is important to
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develop curriculum that is attuned to the psychological and sociological needs of these younger
students. Lastly, Hinman CEOs’ occupancy of 88 beds stretches the limits of available campus
housing for upperclassmen. For these reasons, a new entrepreneurship and innovation program
specifically created for the freshmen and sophomore audience makes sense.
With the support of the University, this new program will attract the increasing number of
students interested in extending their major studies to include dynamic entrepreneurial and
innovation-themed programming and coursework in a residential community.
A central commitment to engineering entrepreneurship was not limited to this particular debate
between Jefferson and Hamilton. Many of the Founding Fathers were inventors themselves. Their
interest was not out of mere curiosity or detached “pure scientific” interest; their inventions were
innovative, entrepreneurial and designed with concrete service to society in mind.
4. The EIP Experience
Students selected for EIP will receive encouragement and resources for pursuing entrepreneurial,
innovative ideas and careers. The living-learning nature of the program provides a wonderful
opportunity to engage students through a host of methods proven within Hinman CEOs.
These proven methods as listed in Figure 2 for juniors and seniors will be evolved to serve the
freshmen and sophomores of EIP by focusing on the opportunity discovery component of
entrepreneurship.
Figure 2. The EIP Experience
Research to date (Shane, 2000, 2003) attributes enhanced discovery and recognition of
entrepreneurial opportunity to two reasons. First, better “access to information” about the
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potential existence of a given opportunity improves discovery. Second, select individuals are
better at recognizing opportunity because of superior “cognitive capabilities” in opportunity
recognition. With opportunity recognition described as “the cognitive processes through which
individuals conclude that they have identified an opportunity” (Baron, 2006), the act of
opportunity discovery is the first stage of the opportunity recognition process. Therefore, based
on the role of opportunity discovery, the emphasis of the EIP experience is to help these young
students discover entrepreneurial opportunities and develop an understanding of the associated
challenges and rewards of acting on entrepreneurial opportunities.
While a host of resources will be provided to EIP students leveraging existing Mtech programs
and relationships, highlights of the new Program include the following:
• Living Community – For the living component of the program, all students will reside in
two exclusive program residence hall floors for both years. This residential experience
has proved invaluable to community building of young entrepreneurs in the Hinman
CEOs Program. EIP offices are located within the residences to encourage frequent
mentoring and interactions. A rich set of community building activities will be provided
for Program students.
• Experiential Learning – Through live companies, courses, seminars, workshops,
competitions, and volunteerism, EIP students will be part of a special experiential
learning model. While providing entrepreneurship and innovation education and helping
teams start and operate ventures are important, a continuum of hands-on mentoring will
be provided to help students not yet engaged in founding and managing start-ups to
develop their entrepreneurial skills (Kolb and Kolb, 2005). Over the course of the
student’s career in the program, all students will develop an innovative idea and write a
product plan. Students may also compete in the University’s $75K Business Plan
Competition, attend the Technology Start-up Boot Camp each fall, and volunteer through
program-managed activities.
• On-demand Coaching and Mentoring – The valuable residential experience is
complemented with the central offices of EIP staff. In this way, students can easily visit
staff offices to discuss their latest new venture idea or to tackle a tough legal, financial, or
ethical question. The director is a seasoned entrepreneur pairing practical experience with
a top-tier education to coach teams and individually mentor students.
• Challenging Academics – The academic component includes four courses totaling nine
credits, with students enrolling in one course per semester for each of their four semesters
in the Program. This provides continuity between the students and the Program
throughout the two-year experience. Each course will be originally developed for an
Honors audience in collaboration with EIP faculty advisory council led by Dr. David F.
Barbe, Executive Director of Mtech and Professor of Electric and Computer Engineering.
The capstone course is a social entrepreneurship practicum (Boni et al., 2009). The EIP
course sequence is outlined in Figure 3.
• Impact Seed Fund – A $50,000 seed fund now available for students of the Hinman
CEOs Program and Hillman Entrepreneurs Program will be extended to include students
in the EIP. These funds are exclusively dedicated to new ventures making a positive
social impact, typically in education, healthcare, the environment, and related areas.
Funds are provided as grants to students with no payback or equity requirement. Funds
are to be used for R&D or working capital for student ventures. Approximately $50,000
in total awards is made per year with future donations planned for replenishing the fund.
• Entrepreneurial Internships – Internships play an important role in the entrepreneurship
and innovation experience. Students can learn hands-on with area start-ups, in the offices
of venture capitalists, and in faculty laboratories. Applying their experience in these
environments amplifies their learning, and in turn, brings energy and expertise back to
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their fellow EIP students. On a competitive application basis, select students in EIP will
be placed in these entrepreneurial internships each summer.
• Freshmen/Sophomore Emphasis – In contrast to many entrepreneurship programs aimed
at graduate students or upperclassmen, the EIP is exclusively designed for freshmen and
sophomores. When entrepreneurship and innovation are introduced early, the knowledge
gained significantly impacts direction towards more entrepreneurial and innovative
careers. This knowledge combines with the community to create a dynamic hub for
entrepreneurial skills building and innovative venturing.
Course Focus
1
st
Semester:
Foundations of Entrepreneurship
& Innovation (1 cr.)
Building the entrepreneurial mindset and introducing
basic entrepreneurship principles and terminology.
2
nd
Semester:
Contemporary Issues in
Entrepreneurship & Innovation
(3 cr.)
Inspiring innovation and creativity through interactive
lectures, workshops, and case studies in contemporary
issues to include energy, life sciences, healthcare, etc.
3
rd
Semester:
International Entrepreneurship
& Innovation (3 cr.)
Introducing the opportunities and challenges of
entrepreneurship and innovation from an international
perspective through lectures and speakers.
4
th
Semester:
Capstone - Social
Entrepreneurship Practicum
(2 cr.)
Enhancing strategic capabilities and leadership skills
through the development of an innovative for-profit
product or service concept with social benefits. Top
ventures compete for the $50,000 Impact Seed Fund.
Figure 3. Course sequence
5. Program Size
Understanding the importance of developing a sense of community among Program students, and
using the Hinman CEOs successful track record as a model, the number of students enrolled in
EIP is up to 75 per year. As a two-year Program, the steady state number of students will be up to
150 students. Students interested in continuing on the entrepreneurship track may apply for the
Hinman CEOs Program for the junior and senior years. Required staff size includes a full-time
program director with substantial entrepreneurial experiences, an administrative assistant, and
lecturers for select courses.
6. Leadership Team
The management team will consist of a new full-time director for EIP and a full-time
administrative assistant. The director will have entrepreneurial experience and a track record of
mentoring youth. Key responsibilities will include marketing the Program, student selection,
business coaching and personal mentoring, teaching select courses, and staying connected with
alumni of the Program. The administrative assistant will support these activities, as well as play a
pivotal role in community building, student interface, and program assistance.
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A faculty advisory council will provide academic oversight and expertise, particularly in the
design, development, and management of the courses for EIP. The faculty advisory committee
will consist of tenured and tenure-track faculty led by an Mtech faculty member. Faculty
members from business, life sciences, and engineering will be encouraged to join the faculty
advisory committee for EIP.
The team will be supported by the entrepreneurship and innovation education expertise and
resources of Mtech.
7. Alignment with the University’s Strategic Plan
EIP is well aligned with four key goals of the University of Maryland’s strategic plan.
GOAL 1: THE UNIVERSITY WILL IMPLEMENT A NUMBER OF INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE
THE QUALITY OF UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION. OUR PROGRAMS WILL BE
COMPREHENSIVE AND CHALLENGING, WILL MATCH OR EXCEED STUDENTS’
LEARNING GOALS, AND WILL SERVE THEM WELL AS A FOUNDATION FOR THE
WORKPLACE OR ADVANCED STUDY AND FOR A MORE FULFILLING LIFE.
EIP contributes to Goal 1 by serving diverse students across all academic disciplines that share a
passion for becoming entrepreneurs. This will be accomplished within the incubator-style
residence hall where highly motivated undergraduate students live and work together. Student
teams may develop product plans and create and launch innovate products and services during
and beyond their tenure in the Program. They also cultivate lifelong friendships with fellow
students, faculty, and staff that engage them with the University community.
GOAL 2: THE UNIVERSITY WILL ATTRACT A LARGER POOL OF APPLICATIONS FROM
ACADEMICALLY TALENTED STUDENTS, ENROLL MORE STUDENTS FROM
UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS, ENROLL AN INCREASINGLY STRONGER GROUP OF
FRESHMAN AND TRANSFER STUDENTS, AND BECOME THE SCHOOL OF CHOICE FOR
MORE OF THE HIGHEST ACHIEVING STUDENTS GRADUATING FROM MARYLAND HIGH
SCHOOLS.
While Hinman CEOs is a junior and senior undergraduate program that does not actively recruit
students from high school, applicants often cite Hinman CEOs as a key motivator for the
enrollment in the University of Maryland. Mtech is confident that the EIP will contribute to a
well-developed undergraduate opportunity for students to discover and experience
entrepreneurship and innovation.
Through EIP’s collaboration with the Young Scholars Program, Mtech can extend its reach into
high school students through Mtech’s annual summer courses: “ENES 140: Discovering New
Ventures: Foundations in Entrepreneurship” and “ENES 141: Technology Marketing & Product
Development.” Along with the Spring Young Scholars Program offerings at Whitman and
Walter Johnson high schools in Bethesda, Mtech can actively recruit from the over 100 high
school students annually that are already enrolling in Mtech taught courses in entrepreneurship
and innovation.
From a diversity perspective, Mtech anticipates EIP to represent the well-balanced nature of
Hinman CEOs students with a gender composition of approximately 60% male and 40% female,
with 50% of all students representing ethnically diverse backgrounds.
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As illustrated in Figure 4, diversity in majors is also a hallmark of the Hinman CEOs Program
that Mtech expects to see in EIP with approximately 1/3 business, 1/3 engineering, and 1/3 liberal
arts and sciences majors.
Figure 4. Hinman CEOs student majors
GOAL 3: THE UNIVERSITY WILL SET HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
AND WILL ACT TO ENSURE THAT UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS MEET THEIR
EDUCATIONAL GOALS IN TIMELY FASHION.
As an Honors program, EIP will represent the most accomplished collection of students on
campus. Mtech is experienced in mentoring this caliber of students as represented by Hinman
CEOs. With an average GPA of 3.6 and a long list of accolades including Banneker/Key full
scholarships, President’s scholarships, Dean’s scholarships, Gemstone members, Honors
students, Scholars students, etc., Hinman CEOs deliver excellence in and out of the classroom.
While a number of students elect to launch new ventures prior to, or upon, graduation, Hinman
CEOs are also thriving in corporations, typically in entrepreneurial roles including product
management, new venture financing, and intellectual property law. Goldman Sachs, Google, and
Microsoft are well served by Hinman CEOs alumni. Students are also pursuing graduate work at
prestigious universities including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, and Stanford. With EIP
students, Mtech is excited to mentor them towards these high levels of achievement.
GOAL 4: PRIMARILY THROUGH THE LEADERSHIP OF THE STUDENT AFFAIRS DIVISION
THE UNIVERSITY WILL CREATE A NOURISHING CLIMATE THAT PROMOTES THE
PERSONAL GROWTH OF STUDENTS AND ENCOURAGES THEM TO PARTICIPATE IN THE
WEALTH OF SHARED SOCIAL, ATHLETIC, CULTURAL, AND TRADITIONAL ACTIVITIES
THAT PROMOTE A SENSE OF COMMUNITY AMONG THE STUDENT BODY.
EIP will provide an enriching community for its students as they participate in a myriad of events
and activities during their time in the Program. Each fall will begin with an orientation event that
may include a ropes course and dynamic team building activities. Cookouts, socials, and the
annual Technology Start-Up Boot Camp will be hallmarks of the fall. Spring will bring seasonal
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Business Engineering Liberal Arts Sciences
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social activities including flag football games, team bowling, and the annual University of
Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition. With friends and teammates living together, cross-
disciplinary teams develop naturally as students’ skill sets mix and match to develop the next
great idea. Lectures and weekly speaker series provide wonderful networking opportunities.
Students gain confidence in their abilities to take the leap to launch innovations, and they benefit
from each other’s successes and challenges.
8. Performance Measurement
A performance measurement system will be developed and implemented for EIP, its students, and
its alumni. Beyond the normal course evaluations, a program level evaluation will be conducted
to measure the performance of students in the Program, the performance of staff and faculty
involved with the Program, and the performance of Program alumni. The methodology will
involve a longitudinal analysis where students are surveyed at program entry, at the completion of
the first year (as a midpoint measure), and upon graduation from EIP (in addition to alumni
surveys). Mtech is experienced in the development and management of such surveys based on the
Hinman CEOs Program’s similar method. Details of the performance measurement system will
be shared in a subsequent paper as the system is currently under development.
9. Resource Requirements
The required resources to support the launch and operations of EIP include one-time, startup costs
and recurring annual costs. The net annual cost to the Provost of the Program is $175,000 for
FY2011 once the Program is launched, and Mtech’s and the School of Engineering’s financial
contributions are deducted from the $235,000 total annual cost. Allocation among the items may
vary within the fixed total costs as indicated in Figure 5.
Item Total Cost
Department
Contribution
School
Contribution
Provost
Contribution
Director $100,000 - - $100,000
Admin. Asst. $35,000 - - $35,000
Faculty $40,000 $10,000 - $30,000
Workshop &
activities
$10,000 - - $10,000
IT, marketing,
finance, HR, &
mgt. support
$50,000 $25,000 $25,000 -
TOTAL $235,000 $35,000 $25,000 $175,000
Figure 5. EIP budget
• Annual costs
o Director: $100,000. With a director profile similar to that of the Hinman CEOs
Program and Hillman Entrepreneurs Program in Mtech, this salary is in line with
current salaries for program directors of peer entrepreneurship programs.
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o Administrative assistant: $35,000. The Hinman CEOs administrative assistant
supporting 90 juniors and seniors each year is a full-time requirement. To support
a larger program of 150 students, with the younger status of these students
expected to require more attention and support, a full-time administrative
assistant is critical to the day-to-day operations of the Program.
o Faculty: $40,000. The EIP director will instruct select courses as part of their
normal compensation. This course instruction cost is for additional instructional
support.
o Workshop & activities: $10,000. Based on 150 students per year in the Program,
a $66 annual budget per student is the minimum to support teambuilding and
community activities. As a measure of comparison, the Hinman CEOs Program
spends approximately $250 annually per student in these areas.
o IT, marketing, finance, HR, & management support: $50,000. As a non-academic
unit, Mtech will not receive any tuition contributions from EIP students. This
line item is the only source of contributions given to Mtech in support of these
initiatives. The total labor costs for Mtech to sustain IT, marketing, finance, HR,
and management support is anticipated at $50,000 annually.
• Nonrecurring start-up costs
o Offices for director and administrative assistant in the residence hall
o Conference room in residence hall for student and staff use
The total cost of EIP is $235,000 for FY2011 once the Program is launched. At $1,567 per
student annually, this is approximately 56% of the per student cost of the Hinman CEOs Program.
The lower cost of operations is attributable to two main factors: serving a larger group of students
(with 150 per year versus 90 for Hinman CEOs); and maintaining full-time staff at only one
director and one administrative assistant.
10. Next Steps
Mtech is committed to undergraduate entrepreneurship education as part of its venture creation
and education mission, is experienced in developing similar programs including Hinman CEOs
and Hillman Entrepreneurs, and has introduced a host of successful, innovative undergraduate
entrepreneurship courses, competitions, and activities. The new EIP living-learning
entrepreneurship experience for freshmen and sophomores will improve student recruitment,
enhance student enrichment, and contribute to the overall quality and rankings of the University
of Maryland.
References
Baron, R.A. 2006. Opportunity recognition as pattern recognition: How entrepreneurs
connect the dots to identify new business opportunities. The Academy of Management
Perspectives. 20(1): 104 –119.
Boni, A.A., Weingart, L.R., & Evenson, S. (2009, September). Innovation in an
academic setting: Designing and leading a business through market-focused,
interdisciplinary teams. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 8(3): 407-
417.Green, J.V. & Johnson, G.A. (2008, June). A holistic performance measurement
system for entrepreneurship education. American Society for Engineering Education
Annual Conference and Exposition, Pittsburgh, PA.
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Green, J.V. 2007. Discovering new ventures: An innovative high school
entrepreneurship education experience. In Proceedings of the 2007 American Society for
Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition. Honolulu, HI.
Green, J.V. 2009. An overview of the Hinman CEOs Program. In U.S. Association for
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA.
Kolb, A.Y, and Kolb, D.A. 2005. Learning styles and learning spaces: Enhancing
Experiential Learning in Higher Education. Academy of Management Learning &
Education. 4(2): 193-212.
Shane, S.A. 2000. Prior knowledge and the discovery of entrepreneurial
opportunities. Organization Science. 11: 448–469.
Shane, S.A. 2003. A general theory of entrepreneurship: The individual-opportunity
nexus. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.
doc_621188965.pdf
Criteria about designing and launching the entrepreneurship and innovation living.
volume 2, number 1, WlnLer 2011
*ulrecLor, LnLrepreneurshlp LducaLlon,
MLech, A. !ames Clark School of Lnglneerlng, unlverslLy of Maryland
mLech.umd.edu/educaLe
!"
DESIGNING AND LAUNCHING THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND
INNOVATION LIVING-LEARNING PROGRAM
FOR FRESHMEN AND SOPHOMORES
James V. Green
*
Abstract - Based on the surge in demand for undergraduate programs in
entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Maryland and throughout
the country, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program was launched in Fall
2010 for freshmen and sophomores. This living-learning Honors academic
Program combines small classes taught by exceptional faculty with the wide
range of additional education opportunities offered by a large research
institution. For the living component of the Program, all students will reside in
an exclusive Program residence hall for both years. Through company creation,
courses, seminars, workshops, competitions, and volunteerism, students are part
of a special experiential learning model. The academic component of the
Program includes four courses totaling nine credits, with all students enrolling in
one course per semester for each of their four semesters in the Program.
At Mtech, an A. James Clark School of Engineering institute for technology
entrepreneurship and innovation, there is the belief that a firm grasp of the
entrepreneurial process and mindset benefits every person engaged in
developing new ideas. A core goal of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Program is to infuse freshmen and sophomore students with that knowledge and
its accompanying skills. Armed with an entrepreneurial mindset,
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program students and alumni can drive
economic growth by launching successful ventures and/or joining innovative
companies to bring life-changing products and services to market. By filling a
critical gap in the University’s entrepreneurship and innovation offerings at the
freshmen and sophomore level, the new living-learning Program can improve
student¬¬ recruitment, enhance student enrichment, and contribute to the
overall quality and rankings of the University of Maryland.
This paper serves as the first of a series of papers addressing the design, launch,
and management of this new Program. Subsequent papers will include
observations, results, and new developments with the Program.
1. Introduction
The University of Maryland is a recognized leader in entrepreneurship and innovation education
through its award-winning Hinman CEOs living-learning program for upperclassmen, as well as
the dynamic entrepreneurship courses and offerings of the Maryland Technology Enterprise
Institute (Mtech), an A. James Clark School of Engineering institute. At Mtech, there is the belief
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that a firm grasp of the entrepreneurial process and mindset benefits every person engaged in
developing technology. A core goal is to infuse technology-creating students, faculty members,
and professionals with that knowledge and its accompanying skills. Armed with an
entrepreneurial mindset, technology creators drive economic growth by launching successful
ventures and bringing life-changing products and services to market. An overview of Mtech’s
entrepreneurship and innovation education offerings is presented in Figure 1, along with the fit of
the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (EIP).
High School
Students
• Young Scholars Summer Program
– ENES140: Discovering New Ventures
– ENES141: Introduction to High-Tech Product
Development and Marketing
– ENES142: Introduction to Innovative Thinking
and Creativity
• Young Scholars Spring Program
– Spring course offering to students of Whitman
and Walter Johnson high schools in Bethesda
Freshmen &
Sophomores
• Existing gap to be filled by the new Entrepreneurship
and Innovation Program (EIP).
• One freshmen-level entrepreneurship course offered each
fall
Juniors &
Seniors
• Hinman CEOs Program
• Hillman Entrepreneurs Program
• 400-level courses in entrepreneurship and innovation
Graduate
Students
• Graduate Certificate in Engineering in Technology
Ventures and Innovation
• Graduate-level courses in entrepreneurship and
innovation
Professionals • Certificate in Innovation Management Program
General Activities
• UM Technology
Start-Up Boot
Camp
• UM $75K
Business Plan
Competition
• Entrepreneur
Office Hours
Figure 1. Mtech’s entrepreneurship and innovation education offerings
At the foundation of Mtech’s undergraduate entrepreneurship and innovation activities is the
Hinman CEOs Program, started in 1999. The Program serves 90 juniors and seniors annually in a
two-year residential model inclusive of four 3-credit courses, on-site coaching and mentoring, and
experiential learning opportunities. The mission is to foster an entrepreneurial spirit, create a
sense of community and cooperation, and develop ethical leaders. As the nation’s first living-
learning entrepreneurship program, the Hinman CEOs model for undergraduate entrepreneurship
and innovation education has been replicated at 18 universities (Green, 2009).
While the Hinman CEOs Program serves juniors and seniors, there are no living-learning
opportunities for University freshmen and sophomores with interests in entrepreneurship and
innovation. Students desiring this experience either wait two years at the University or enroll in
other universities with underclassman opportunities to study entrepreneurship and innovation.
It is anticipated that the availability of this freshmen-sophomore living-learning experience will
drive the volume and quality of freshmen applicants. The success of Mtech’s high school
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offerings supports the idea that students from many majors share a common interest in one day
owning their own businesses and/or being an innovative leader within established organizations.
2. Student Demand
The demand for a freshmen-sophomore living-learning experience in entrepreneurship and
innovation is well evidenced at the University of Maryland. With 69 freshmen applicants for the
Hinman CEOs Program in 2008 and an additional 115 freshmen registered for Mtech’s freshmen
entrepreneurship course, this collective 184 freshmen population already exceeds the anticipated
75 seats within EIP each year. It is believed that this level of interest is consistent with the
Honors category of students and is likely higher based on the parallels between high-achieving
students and the desire for entrepreneurial, innovative career paths. Student demand is evident
based on:
• 69 freshmen applicants for the Hinman CEOs Program. In 2008, 69 freshmen applied for
the Hinman CEOs Program. This exemplifies the level of demand for freshmen desiring
to enroll in a living-learning entrepreneurship and innovation program at the University
of Maryland. With an acceptance rate of 30% for 2009, the Hinman CEOs Program is
focused on rising juniors as its incoming cohort each year. Only the most exceptional
rising sophomores are accepted, typically at a rate of only 1 or 2 students per cohort of 45
each year. Despite these long odds for acceptance and no dedicated marketing efforts by
the Hinman CEOs Program towards freshmen students, many freshmen continue to apply
for Hinman CEOs admittance each year.
• 115 freshmen registered for Mtech’s Freshmen Connection entrepreneurship course.
“ENES 210: Entrepreneurial Opportunity Analysis.” Demand for this course has risen
rapidly each year, with 108 students enrolled in the Fall 2009 term.
• 77 high school students enrolled in the Young Scholars Program for Summer 2009.
Mtech’s summer high school entrepreneurship course, “ENES 140: Discovering New
Ventures,” hosted 58 students in 2009. In the first offering of Mtech’s “ENES 141:
Technology Marketing & Product Development” course in 2009, 19 students enrolled.
These collective 77 students represent the highest level of student enrollment across all
21 topics offered in the Young Scholars Program in 2009. While not all of these students
will attend the University of Maryland as undergraduates in the future, they place their
interest first in entrepreneurship and innovation first out of 21 topic areas representing the
unprecedented level of appeal to high school students (Green, 2007).
3. Opportunity
Based on the surge in demand for undergraduate programs and courses in entrepreneurship and
innovation, Mtech introduced EIP to serve freshmen and sophomores. This living-learning,
Honors-based program is a natural extension of Hinman CEOs and fills a gap in the current
entrepreneurship and innovation offerings.
A question may be, “Why not increase the size of the Hinman CEOs Program to accommodate
150 freshmen and sophomores each year instead of creating a new program?” Firstly, the
Hinman CEOs benefactor, Brian Hinman, has stated his interest in keeping the Hinman CEOs
program at less than 100 students in order to facilitate a strong sense of community and
interaction. Secondly, the needs and interests of underclassmen differ from those of
upperclassmen. Thirdly, while the Hinman CEOs Program encourages business plan development
and new venture creation, this new underclassmen program will focus on entrepreneurial
opportunity discovery, creativity and innovation, and related foundational skills. It is important to
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develop curriculum that is attuned to the psychological and sociological needs of these younger
students. Lastly, Hinman CEOs’ occupancy of 88 beds stretches the limits of available campus
housing for upperclassmen. For these reasons, a new entrepreneurship and innovation program
specifically created for the freshmen and sophomore audience makes sense.
With the support of the University, this new program will attract the increasing number of
students interested in extending their major studies to include dynamic entrepreneurial and
innovation-themed programming and coursework in a residential community.
A central commitment to engineering entrepreneurship was not limited to this particular debate
between Jefferson and Hamilton. Many of the Founding Fathers were inventors themselves. Their
interest was not out of mere curiosity or detached “pure scientific” interest; their inventions were
innovative, entrepreneurial and designed with concrete service to society in mind.
4. The EIP Experience
Students selected for EIP will receive encouragement and resources for pursuing entrepreneurial,
innovative ideas and careers. The living-learning nature of the program provides a wonderful
opportunity to engage students through a host of methods proven within Hinman CEOs.
These proven methods as listed in Figure 2 for juniors and seniors will be evolved to serve the
freshmen and sophomores of EIP by focusing on the opportunity discovery component of
entrepreneurship.
Figure 2. The EIP Experience
Research to date (Shane, 2000, 2003) attributes enhanced discovery and recognition of
entrepreneurial opportunity to two reasons. First, better “access to information” about the
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potential existence of a given opportunity improves discovery. Second, select individuals are
better at recognizing opportunity because of superior “cognitive capabilities” in opportunity
recognition. With opportunity recognition described as “the cognitive processes through which
individuals conclude that they have identified an opportunity” (Baron, 2006), the act of
opportunity discovery is the first stage of the opportunity recognition process. Therefore, based
on the role of opportunity discovery, the emphasis of the EIP experience is to help these young
students discover entrepreneurial opportunities and develop an understanding of the associated
challenges and rewards of acting on entrepreneurial opportunities.
While a host of resources will be provided to EIP students leveraging existing Mtech programs
and relationships, highlights of the new Program include the following:
• Living Community – For the living component of the program, all students will reside in
two exclusive program residence hall floors for both years. This residential experience
has proved invaluable to community building of young entrepreneurs in the Hinman
CEOs Program. EIP offices are located within the residences to encourage frequent
mentoring and interactions. A rich set of community building activities will be provided
for Program students.
• Experiential Learning – Through live companies, courses, seminars, workshops,
competitions, and volunteerism, EIP students will be part of a special experiential
learning model. While providing entrepreneurship and innovation education and helping
teams start and operate ventures are important, a continuum of hands-on mentoring will
be provided to help students not yet engaged in founding and managing start-ups to
develop their entrepreneurial skills (Kolb and Kolb, 2005). Over the course of the
student’s career in the program, all students will develop an innovative idea and write a
product plan. Students may also compete in the University’s $75K Business Plan
Competition, attend the Technology Start-up Boot Camp each fall, and volunteer through
program-managed activities.
• On-demand Coaching and Mentoring – The valuable residential experience is
complemented with the central offices of EIP staff. In this way, students can easily visit
staff offices to discuss their latest new venture idea or to tackle a tough legal, financial, or
ethical question. The director is a seasoned entrepreneur pairing practical experience with
a top-tier education to coach teams and individually mentor students.
• Challenging Academics – The academic component includes four courses totaling nine
credits, with students enrolling in one course per semester for each of their four semesters
in the Program. This provides continuity between the students and the Program
throughout the two-year experience. Each course will be originally developed for an
Honors audience in collaboration with EIP faculty advisory council led by Dr. David F.
Barbe, Executive Director of Mtech and Professor of Electric and Computer Engineering.
The capstone course is a social entrepreneurship practicum (Boni et al., 2009). The EIP
course sequence is outlined in Figure 3.
• Impact Seed Fund – A $50,000 seed fund now available for students of the Hinman
CEOs Program and Hillman Entrepreneurs Program will be extended to include students
in the EIP. These funds are exclusively dedicated to new ventures making a positive
social impact, typically in education, healthcare, the environment, and related areas.
Funds are provided as grants to students with no payback or equity requirement. Funds
are to be used for R&D or working capital for student ventures. Approximately $50,000
in total awards is made per year with future donations planned for replenishing the fund.
• Entrepreneurial Internships – Internships play an important role in the entrepreneurship
and innovation experience. Students can learn hands-on with area start-ups, in the offices
of venture capitalists, and in faculty laboratories. Applying their experience in these
environments amplifies their learning, and in turn, brings energy and expertise back to
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their fellow EIP students. On a competitive application basis, select students in EIP will
be placed in these entrepreneurial internships each summer.
• Freshmen/Sophomore Emphasis – In contrast to many entrepreneurship programs aimed
at graduate students or upperclassmen, the EIP is exclusively designed for freshmen and
sophomores. When entrepreneurship and innovation are introduced early, the knowledge
gained significantly impacts direction towards more entrepreneurial and innovative
careers. This knowledge combines with the community to create a dynamic hub for
entrepreneurial skills building and innovative venturing.
Course Focus
1
st
Semester:
Foundations of Entrepreneurship
& Innovation (1 cr.)
Building the entrepreneurial mindset and introducing
basic entrepreneurship principles and terminology.
2
nd
Semester:
Contemporary Issues in
Entrepreneurship & Innovation
(3 cr.)
Inspiring innovation and creativity through interactive
lectures, workshops, and case studies in contemporary
issues to include energy, life sciences, healthcare, etc.
3
rd
Semester:
International Entrepreneurship
& Innovation (3 cr.)
Introducing the opportunities and challenges of
entrepreneurship and innovation from an international
perspective through lectures and speakers.
4
th
Semester:
Capstone - Social
Entrepreneurship Practicum
(2 cr.)
Enhancing strategic capabilities and leadership skills
through the development of an innovative for-profit
product or service concept with social benefits. Top
ventures compete for the $50,000 Impact Seed Fund.
Figure 3. Course sequence
5. Program Size
Understanding the importance of developing a sense of community among Program students, and
using the Hinman CEOs successful track record as a model, the number of students enrolled in
EIP is up to 75 per year. As a two-year Program, the steady state number of students will be up to
150 students. Students interested in continuing on the entrepreneurship track may apply for the
Hinman CEOs Program for the junior and senior years. Required staff size includes a full-time
program director with substantial entrepreneurial experiences, an administrative assistant, and
lecturers for select courses.
6. Leadership Team
The management team will consist of a new full-time director for EIP and a full-time
administrative assistant. The director will have entrepreneurial experience and a track record of
mentoring youth. Key responsibilities will include marketing the Program, student selection,
business coaching and personal mentoring, teaching select courses, and staying connected with
alumni of the Program. The administrative assistant will support these activities, as well as play a
pivotal role in community building, student interface, and program assistance.
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A faculty advisory council will provide academic oversight and expertise, particularly in the
design, development, and management of the courses for EIP. The faculty advisory committee
will consist of tenured and tenure-track faculty led by an Mtech faculty member. Faculty
members from business, life sciences, and engineering will be encouraged to join the faculty
advisory committee for EIP.
The team will be supported by the entrepreneurship and innovation education expertise and
resources of Mtech.
7. Alignment with the University’s Strategic Plan
EIP is well aligned with four key goals of the University of Maryland’s strategic plan.
GOAL 1: THE UNIVERSITY WILL IMPLEMENT A NUMBER OF INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE
THE QUALITY OF UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION. OUR PROGRAMS WILL BE
COMPREHENSIVE AND CHALLENGING, WILL MATCH OR EXCEED STUDENTS’
LEARNING GOALS, AND WILL SERVE THEM WELL AS A FOUNDATION FOR THE
WORKPLACE OR ADVANCED STUDY AND FOR A MORE FULFILLING LIFE.
EIP contributes to Goal 1 by serving diverse students across all academic disciplines that share a
passion for becoming entrepreneurs. This will be accomplished within the incubator-style
residence hall where highly motivated undergraduate students live and work together. Student
teams may develop product plans and create and launch innovate products and services during
and beyond their tenure in the Program. They also cultivate lifelong friendships with fellow
students, faculty, and staff that engage them with the University community.
GOAL 2: THE UNIVERSITY WILL ATTRACT A LARGER POOL OF APPLICATIONS FROM
ACADEMICALLY TALENTED STUDENTS, ENROLL MORE STUDENTS FROM
UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS, ENROLL AN INCREASINGLY STRONGER GROUP OF
FRESHMAN AND TRANSFER STUDENTS, AND BECOME THE SCHOOL OF CHOICE FOR
MORE OF THE HIGHEST ACHIEVING STUDENTS GRADUATING FROM MARYLAND HIGH
SCHOOLS.
While Hinman CEOs is a junior and senior undergraduate program that does not actively recruit
students from high school, applicants often cite Hinman CEOs as a key motivator for the
enrollment in the University of Maryland. Mtech is confident that the EIP will contribute to a
well-developed undergraduate opportunity for students to discover and experience
entrepreneurship and innovation.
Through EIP’s collaboration with the Young Scholars Program, Mtech can extend its reach into
high school students through Mtech’s annual summer courses: “ENES 140: Discovering New
Ventures: Foundations in Entrepreneurship” and “ENES 141: Technology Marketing & Product
Development.” Along with the Spring Young Scholars Program offerings at Whitman and
Walter Johnson high schools in Bethesda, Mtech can actively recruit from the over 100 high
school students annually that are already enrolling in Mtech taught courses in entrepreneurship
and innovation.
From a diversity perspective, Mtech anticipates EIP to represent the well-balanced nature of
Hinman CEOs students with a gender composition of approximately 60% male and 40% female,
with 50% of all students representing ethnically diverse backgrounds.
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As illustrated in Figure 4, diversity in majors is also a hallmark of the Hinman CEOs Program
that Mtech expects to see in EIP with approximately 1/3 business, 1/3 engineering, and 1/3 liberal
arts and sciences majors.
Figure 4. Hinman CEOs student majors
GOAL 3: THE UNIVERSITY WILL SET HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
AND WILL ACT TO ENSURE THAT UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS MEET THEIR
EDUCATIONAL GOALS IN TIMELY FASHION.
As an Honors program, EIP will represent the most accomplished collection of students on
campus. Mtech is experienced in mentoring this caliber of students as represented by Hinman
CEOs. With an average GPA of 3.6 and a long list of accolades including Banneker/Key full
scholarships, President’s scholarships, Dean’s scholarships, Gemstone members, Honors
students, Scholars students, etc., Hinman CEOs deliver excellence in and out of the classroom.
While a number of students elect to launch new ventures prior to, or upon, graduation, Hinman
CEOs are also thriving in corporations, typically in entrepreneurial roles including product
management, new venture financing, and intellectual property law. Goldman Sachs, Google, and
Microsoft are well served by Hinman CEOs alumni. Students are also pursuing graduate work at
prestigious universities including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, and Stanford. With EIP
students, Mtech is excited to mentor them towards these high levels of achievement.
GOAL 4: PRIMARILY THROUGH THE LEADERSHIP OF THE STUDENT AFFAIRS DIVISION
THE UNIVERSITY WILL CREATE A NOURISHING CLIMATE THAT PROMOTES THE
PERSONAL GROWTH OF STUDENTS AND ENCOURAGES THEM TO PARTICIPATE IN THE
WEALTH OF SHARED SOCIAL, ATHLETIC, CULTURAL, AND TRADITIONAL ACTIVITIES
THAT PROMOTE A SENSE OF COMMUNITY AMONG THE STUDENT BODY.
EIP will provide an enriching community for its students as they participate in a myriad of events
and activities during their time in the Program. Each fall will begin with an orientation event that
may include a ropes course and dynamic team building activities. Cookouts, socials, and the
annual Technology Start-Up Boot Camp will be hallmarks of the fall. Spring will bring seasonal
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Business Engineering Liberal Arts Sciences
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social activities including flag football games, team bowling, and the annual University of
Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition. With friends and teammates living together, cross-
disciplinary teams develop naturally as students’ skill sets mix and match to develop the next
great idea. Lectures and weekly speaker series provide wonderful networking opportunities.
Students gain confidence in their abilities to take the leap to launch innovations, and they benefit
from each other’s successes and challenges.
8. Performance Measurement
A performance measurement system will be developed and implemented for EIP, its students, and
its alumni. Beyond the normal course evaluations, a program level evaluation will be conducted
to measure the performance of students in the Program, the performance of staff and faculty
involved with the Program, and the performance of Program alumni. The methodology will
involve a longitudinal analysis where students are surveyed at program entry, at the completion of
the first year (as a midpoint measure), and upon graduation from EIP (in addition to alumni
surveys). Mtech is experienced in the development and management of such surveys based on the
Hinman CEOs Program’s similar method. Details of the performance measurement system will
be shared in a subsequent paper as the system is currently under development.
9. Resource Requirements
The required resources to support the launch and operations of EIP include one-time, startup costs
and recurring annual costs. The net annual cost to the Provost of the Program is $175,000 for
FY2011 once the Program is launched, and Mtech’s and the School of Engineering’s financial
contributions are deducted from the $235,000 total annual cost. Allocation among the items may
vary within the fixed total costs as indicated in Figure 5.
Item Total Cost
Department
Contribution
School
Contribution
Provost
Contribution
Director $100,000 - - $100,000
Admin. Asst. $35,000 - - $35,000
Faculty $40,000 $10,000 - $30,000
Workshop &
activities
$10,000 - - $10,000
IT, marketing,
finance, HR, &
mgt. support
$50,000 $25,000 $25,000 -
TOTAL $235,000 $35,000 $25,000 $175,000
Figure 5. EIP budget
• Annual costs
o Director: $100,000. With a director profile similar to that of the Hinman CEOs
Program and Hillman Entrepreneurs Program in Mtech, this salary is in line with
current salaries for program directors of peer entrepreneurship programs.
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o Administrative assistant: $35,000. The Hinman CEOs administrative assistant
supporting 90 juniors and seniors each year is a full-time requirement. To support
a larger program of 150 students, with the younger status of these students
expected to require more attention and support, a full-time administrative
assistant is critical to the day-to-day operations of the Program.
o Faculty: $40,000. The EIP director will instruct select courses as part of their
normal compensation. This course instruction cost is for additional instructional
support.
o Workshop & activities: $10,000. Based on 150 students per year in the Program,
a $66 annual budget per student is the minimum to support teambuilding and
community activities. As a measure of comparison, the Hinman CEOs Program
spends approximately $250 annually per student in these areas.
o IT, marketing, finance, HR, & management support: $50,000. As a non-academic
unit, Mtech will not receive any tuition contributions from EIP students. This
line item is the only source of contributions given to Mtech in support of these
initiatives. The total labor costs for Mtech to sustain IT, marketing, finance, HR,
and management support is anticipated at $50,000 annually.
• Nonrecurring start-up costs
o Offices for director and administrative assistant in the residence hall
o Conference room in residence hall for student and staff use
The total cost of EIP is $235,000 for FY2011 once the Program is launched. At $1,567 per
student annually, this is approximately 56% of the per student cost of the Hinman CEOs Program.
The lower cost of operations is attributable to two main factors: serving a larger group of students
(with 150 per year versus 90 for Hinman CEOs); and maintaining full-time staff at only one
director and one administrative assistant.
10. Next Steps
Mtech is committed to undergraduate entrepreneurship education as part of its venture creation
and education mission, is experienced in developing similar programs including Hinman CEOs
and Hillman Entrepreneurs, and has introduced a host of successful, innovative undergraduate
entrepreneurship courses, competitions, and activities. The new EIP living-learning
entrepreneurship experience for freshmen and sophomores will improve student recruitment,
enhance student enrichment, and contribute to the overall quality and rankings of the University
of Maryland.
References
Baron, R.A. 2006. Opportunity recognition as pattern recognition: How entrepreneurs
connect the dots to identify new business opportunities. The Academy of Management
Perspectives. 20(1): 104 –119.
Boni, A.A., Weingart, L.R., & Evenson, S. (2009, September). Innovation in an
academic setting: Designing and leading a business through market-focused,
interdisciplinary teams. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 8(3): 407-
417.Green, J.V. & Johnson, G.A. (2008, June). A holistic performance measurement
system for entrepreneurship education. American Society for Engineering Education
Annual Conference and Exposition, Pittsburgh, PA.
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Green, J.V. 2007. Discovering new ventures: An innovative high school
entrepreneurship education experience. In Proceedings of the 2007 American Society for
Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition. Honolulu, HI.
Green, J.V. 2009. An overview of the Hinman CEOs Program. In U.S. Association for
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA.
Kolb, A.Y, and Kolb, D.A. 2005. Learning styles and learning spaces: Enhancing
Experiential Learning in Higher Education. Academy of Management Learning &
Education. 4(2): 193-212.
Shane, S.A. 2000. Prior knowledge and the discovery of entrepreneurial
opportunities. Organization Science. 11: 448–469.
Shane, S.A. 2003. A general theory of entrepreneurship: The individual-opportunity
nexus. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.
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