THE LYLES Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at California State University, Fresno takes tests and lectures out of the picture and offers students an innovative way to learn, focusing on community involvement and mentoring.
“The Lyles Center gives you more resources and mentoring than any university could ever give you”The Entrepreneur Mentors Program, a 3-unit course led by Lyles Center Executive Director Dr. Timothy Stearns, teaches key entrepreneurial skills including leadership, vision, team building, networking, and selling. “This class is about more than learning,” Stearns said. “You can learn about entrepreneurship anywhere. This class is about building skills in entrepreneurship.”
Each year, the Lyles Center selects a group of students to be part of the class. Students go through an interview process and are selected from a pool of candidates. Participants are chosen based on a commitment to pursue resources and experiences that will result in the enhancement of their entrepreneurial skills. “It is not about how many students we have,” Stearns said. “We take an elite group and try to be impactful with a lot of resources.”
The program is designed to give college students a chance to interact directly with some of Central California’s leading entrepreneurs. Each student is matched one-on-one with a professional mentor that best fits his or her area of interest. The program provides resources and experiences that help students in their entrepreneurial endeavors.
Additionally, students attend weekly seminars, listen to entrepreneurial presentations, participate in workshops and social networking events and take field trips to meet entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and inventors. The main goal is for students to develop skills and make connections that will help them succeed professionally.
One field trip students take is to San Francisco to take the Johnson O’Conner aptitude test, the most widely used skills assessment. This allows students to discover their natural potential and identify personal strengths and weaknesses.
The seminars and workshops focus on personal and entrepreneurial growth with topics such as getting to know yourself, business etiquette, communication and selling techniques.
Students do not spend their time sitting in a classroom, but rather, go out and get involved. Grades in the course are based on participation with their mentors, in the community and on collaborative projects with peers and mentors.
“The Lyles Center gives you more resources and mentoring than any university could ever give you,” a student who participated in the program said. “I want to be involved in anything the Lyles Center does.”
“This class is a chance for students to actively ‘pitch-in’ and add value to their entrepreneurial skills as a group,” Each year, the class works together on entrepreneurial projects that benefit the community. Projects in the past include helping a food bank improve business practices and organizing and raising funds for a student business competition. “This class is a chance for students to actively ‘pitch-in’ and add value to their entrepreneurial skills as a group,” Stearns said. “The Lyles Center provides the space and mentoring for them to do so.”
