Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/201447
Cultural Permanence As these centers open themselves to larger audiences—from a wider range of disciplines and backgrounds—they're also developing what their directors call "entrepreneurial ecosystems" at their universities. These ecosystems encompass a wide range of activities, including competitions, workshops, networking events, advising, curriculum development, and field trips. The true challenge is how to make such multifarious activities interconnect in ways that build momentum and become self-sustaining over time, says II Luscri, director of the Center for Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship (ICE) at Villanova Business School in Pennsylvania. "The real question is, how does what we do become part of the permanent culture on campus?" Luscri asks. "How is it something that lives beyond myself, the dean, the president of the university, and all of the people who are engaged in supporting entrepreneurship on campus right now?" One of the ICE Center's answers to that question is Pitch Day, an event launched two years ago. At that time, center staff realized that the business school's annual business plan competition and entrepreneurship course, the engineering department's entrepreneurship course, and the university's interdisciplinary mobile application course all ended with students pitching their ideas to panels of judges. To increase their impact, the center decided to combine them all into a single annual event. Held in April, Pitch Day opens with a luncheon for all students, judges, faculty, and visitors before presentations begin and closes 24 November/December 2013 BizEd d with a celebration and awards ceremony after the judging is complete. "Instead of bringing in ten judges to see 30 students make presentations, we now bring 250 students and 100 judges to campus," says Luscri. "We've only held Pitch Day twice, but we make clear that it's held every spring. That helps us communicate the permanence of this program." Diverse and Interdisciplinary Villanova's Pitch Day also accomplishes another important goal: It brings together a variety of disciplines, including business, computer science, and engineering. Luscri wants to find even more opportunities to work with other departments, including Villanova's schools of law, engineering, nursing, and arts and sciences. The Miriam-Rose Leduc from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, who earned an entrepreneurship minor and a bachelor's degree in music, performs for the opening of the Johnson Center's Entrepreneurial Connections Day. center most recently worked with Villanova's School of Law to open a clinic where second- and thirdyear law students will offer legal advice related to entrepreneurial projects. "We will continue to align ourselves as a cross-campus, interdisciplinary center," says Luscri. "That is a major shift for us." Creating more interdisciplinary offerings is also a top priority for Donald F. Kuratko, director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business in Bloomington. Kuratko began his efforts to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem with a series of conversations with deans and faculty from each campus department. "I asked each dean, 'When you hear the word entrepreneurship, what does it mean to you?' Then I asked them what kinds of solutions would be most valuable to their schools." The dean of IU's medical center, for example, told Kuratko he was most concerned about commercializing the technology developed in his laboratories, so the Johnson Center formed teams of MBA students to help the medical school take its best ideas to market. The dean of the Jacobs School of Music wanted his students to develop entrepreneurial mindsets, so the center helped the school develop Project Jump Start, a series of workshops, networking events, advising opportunities, and competitions. And the dean of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs asked for the center's assistance in developing a certificate of social entrepreneurship, open to both its students and Kelley students. The Johnson Center also just spent three years working with