Entrepreneurship, Department of
Course Designator: ENT
For information, please contact the chairperson, 989-774-2624, 164 Grawn Hall; department website
Entrepreneurship is the engine that powers economic growth and transports people from poverty to prosperity. It is also a mindset. An entrepreneur is someone who sees opportunities that others do not and is willing to exert initiative and tolerate risk to pursue them. An entrepreneur combines assets and resources, business insight and skill, and the entrepreneurial spirit (which is characterized by innovation, flexibility, persistence, and a willingness to risk failure) to create value, jobs, and wealth. Entrepreneurship impacts a nation’s ability to succeed in a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive global economy.
Why Study Entrepreneurship?
The study of entrepreneurship at CMU provides students with a comprehensive, hands-on business education that prepares them with the right skills, training, and mindset to start new businesses. However, entrepreneurship involves more than founding new companies. Thus, CMU’s entrepreneurship offerings also empower students to: be change agents at established firms; manage small businesses; work as employees at new ventures; serve social enterprises; lead family businesses; build franchises; become independent inventors; develop self-employment niches; and acquire existing companies.
Entrepreneurship at CMU
CMU’s entrepreneurship program shapes budding entrepreneurs through our strong academic curriculum and practical experiences.
The Department of Entrepreneurship at CMU offers an Entrepreneurship Major, in pursuit of the Bachelor of Applied Arts degree, as well as an Entrepreneurship Minor and a certificate in Entrepreneurial Studies.
The Entrepreneurship Major offers a broad foundation of business courses with an entrepreneurship focus. The skills and knowledge acquired is valued by both new ventures and established organizations. Students discover their own aptitude for entrepreneurship and learn how to find and evaluate business opportunities, identify potential sources of funding, organize and manage new businesses, identify and manage risks, and develop strategies to grow new and existing ventures, including social ventures. The curriculum focuses on academic rigor and experiential learning targeted to develop the business acumen needed to start a business, to acquire and lead existing ventures, and to work effectively within other growth-oriented organizations. The faculty and staff are committed to teaching practical skills, inspiring innovative thinking, and connecting students with resources that include mentors, experts, angel investors, venture capitalists, and other stakeholders within the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The minor offers a unique learning experience to students who aspire to start a business of their own or secure employment in a career that is related to, or dependent on, innovation and entrepreneurial skills.
The certificate requires just four courses. When completing these courses, students build essential business skills and learn more about entrepreneurship, innovation, and venture development.
The Faculty
Joseph Affholter, Padowithz Alce, Alan Fitzpatrick, Louis Foreman, Jason Gordon, Joseph Green, Jeffrey Hoyle, Julie Messing, David Nows (Chair), Michael Pisani, Mark Potts, Carolyn Shick, Malika Simmons, Adam Smith, Robin Sosnow, Chelakara Subbaraman, Penny Woelfert, Lynne Zagami
The Programs
Entrepreneurship Major
Entrepreneurship Minor
Undergraduate Certificate - Entrepreneurial Studies