Entrepreneurship courses available to campuses through Digital Learning Co-op | Penn State News

"Three core courses required for students enrolled in the Intercollege Minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ENTI) are now available to all Penn State campuses through the Digital Learning Cooperative, an administrative system that assists campuses and colleges in the sharing of online, hybrid and video courses" inform Penn State News.
 

Three core courses required for students enrolled in the Intercollege Minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ENTI) are now available to all Penn State campuses through the Digital Learning Cooperative.
Photo: Penn State

Through the use of the cooperative, any campus can now expect regular access to the 9 credits that form the core of the ENTI minor curriculum: MGMT 215: The Entrepreneurial Mindset; ENGR 310: Entrepreneurship Leadership; and MGMT 425: New Venture Creation.

No transfer of funds from campuses will be required for access to these courses, as the regular credit-hour fees for the Digital Learning Cooperative have been waived.

Photo: Anne Hoag

Anne Hoag, ENTI minor director and associate professor of communications, applauded the collective work across units in support of the initiative. “This was a complex and collaborative effort, with the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses, Office of Undergraduate Education, Smeal College of Business, and World Campus stepping up to defray expenses and donate services and expertise,” said Hoag. “The result is removal of a major barrier to entrepreneurship education at smaller campuses."

In fall 2017, faculty from Penn State Abington, Berks and University Park will teach the three ENTI core courses online.

Dan Goldberg, a lecturer in business at Penn State Abington and successful business owner, will teach ENGR 310, and knows first-hand the impact this type of education can have. “Our country, which was founded in the Commonwealth, is based on entrepreneurship and innovation. Small business is the backbone of America. Since almost all businesses started off as a small business, it's important for our students to know how to create and build successful enterprises that help Pennsylvania, and the rest of our country, to grow and prosper.”

According to Goldberg, the ENTI minor has been quite successful at Abington, as the campus ranks second in ENTI enrollment next to University Park. One of the students it counts among its successes is Dylan Weisman, a 2016 graduate in business management and marketing with a minor in the ENTI New Ventures cluster.

“The ENTI minor had a profound effect on me,” said Weisman, currently an MBA student at Penn State Great Valley. “You learn a lot of macro concepts in business and marketing classes, and ENTI allowed me to take all those concepts and apply them to a small business.”

Weisman, who described himself as a serial-entrepreneur, is using his entrepreneurial skills to run an event and entertainment business, Flare Event Group, that he founded in 2011. He credits his ENTI professors for making the minor’s classes stand-out amongst others. “The professors are all business owners and have real-world experience to back their knowledge. That makes a huge difference.”

For Weisman, completing the minor paid immediate dividends, and he hopes to use what he’s learned by giving back to the entrepreneurship community at Abington. “The whole reason I’m getting my MBA is so I can come back to Abington to be an adjunct professor in the ENTI minor,” said Weisman.
Read more...

Source: Penn State News