John Carroll University

Interdisciplinary Minor in Entrepreneurship
The minor is specifically designed for all students, regardless of major, and combines the best of idea development, creativity, and innovation with an introduction to entrepreneurship. The minor is taught by professors who are experts in their fields, from both the College of Arts and Sciences and the Boler School of Business.   
Entrepreneurs’ House

John Carroll has “Entrepreneurs’ House” – a housing option that brings together students who are interested in entrepreneurship. Students have key access to a secure lounge on the floor, which has comfortable furniture, computers, printers, and a wide-screen television. It provides a quiet space to study or just hang out. There are a series of programs run throughout the semester, including a session on developing creativity, an introduction to being an entrepreneur, and a chance to get an inside look at the business of one of the Entrepreneurs Association members.  

Master Entrepreneurs
Students from any major are coached by master entrepreneurs from the Entrepreneurs Association, the top business owners’ organization in Ohio. Students work alongside successful business men and women, as they move the idea from “could be” to “let’s do it”.  Each team has a business partner who has an economic interest in seeing the good idea launched into an actual business. Teams present their idea to a panel of judges and cash prizes are awarded.

Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE)
John Carroll is a top contender in the annual SIFE program.  Open to all students, SIFE allows student teams to plan, organize and execute a service project. Coaching is provided by SIFE Advisory Board members, who come from many different businesses in northeast Ohio.  The program is supervised by the Sam Walton Fellow at JCU whose expertise is in leadership. Regional finals are held each March in downtown Cleveland, and there is opportunity to compete at the national level.

ER 101. Creativity, Invention and Innovation
This course explains the creative process: What is it, how to improve it, how to work with it. The course also helps students develop models and explore frameworks for the early stages of new product development.

ER 102. Idea Development
Students learn how to move from an innovation as a fuzzy concept to an innovation as a well-designed idea. Methods for evaluating and selecting ideas are also introduced.

ER 203. Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Students seek to develop an understanding of the role of the entrepreneur and new venture creation in economic growth and development. The course explores the functional areas of business: Project development, Production & Operations, Marketing & Sales, Finance & Accounting, etc.

ER204. Social Entrepreneurship
This course introduces the meaning and importance of social entrepreneurship in the modern economy and demonstrates how entrepreneurship can be a part of non-profit and social organizations. Social entrepreneurship may differ from profit-seeking entrepreneurship in the metrics used to measure success.

ER 480. Entrepreneurship Field Experience
Students, as members of a consulting team, visit and analyze a Cleveland social enterprise or business firm and complete a total field analysis of the non-profit or business. This provides the student with the opportunity to integrate the content of prior course work into a cohesive body of knowledge.

The Entrepreneurship minor is open to all undergraduates at JCU, regardless of chosen major. The proposed minor has two tracks, one for students planning on a major in the College of Arts & Sciences and another for students planning on a major in the Boler School of Business. Courses are designed to fit neatly into the freshman and sophomore years, with some shorter courses (less than 3 credit hours) that can be used to “fill out” the student’s schedule.

As students approach the junior year, and declare a major, they can continue in the minor by choosing either the Arts & Sciences emphasis or the Business emphasis. The upper-level courses in the minor sequence will, with team-taught marketing, accounting and finance courses, give students a basic understanding of a complex organization.

The campus and the city of Cleveland serve as ready extensions of classroom learning. Site visits to various entrepreneurs’ businesses and meetings with business owners help coach students on their great ideas!  Professional members of the Entrepreneurs Association are driven, successful, and interested in seeing JCU students succeed!

The Entrepreneurs’ House connects students with a variety of activities that provide many opportunities to rub shoulders with successful entrepreneurs!  One of the many examples is a recent dinner with an alumni who started his web design business in the dorms at John Carroll and now runs a successful integrated marketing company.

Goals of the Program:

• To provide students, regardless of academic major, the opportunity to integrate and apply the principles of entrepreneurship as they pursue traditional academic majors
• To identify the connections between traditional academic majors in the liberal arts and sciences or business with entrepreneurship
• To integrate the structures and functions of basic organizational practices, such as project planning, accounting, marketing, finance, production, and evaluation, with entrepreneurial practices
• To instill and develop the habits of mind characteristic of entrepreneurial thinking; including innovation, problem-identification and problem-solving, idea development, and an orientation towards action and venture development
• To evaluate the similarities and differences between for-profit and not-for-profit entrepreneurship with a particular focus on the emerging field of social entrepreneurship

A list of all majors available at JCU, may be viewed at: http://www.jcu.edu/academics/deptlist.htm

AACSB Accreditation for JCU’s School of Business

JCU is a recipient of the Burton D. Morgan grant for entrepreneurship faculty fellows

JCU’s student team was a national finalist for SIFE 2009 competition

Mark Hauserman, Director of the Muldoon Center for Entrepreneurship was selected as the Sales and Marketing Executive of Cleveland,    2009

JCU’s Entrepreneurs Association was selected by the United States Association of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (USASBE) as a finalist for innovative pedagogy award for founding its cooperative university programs in NE Ohio

School type: Four Year, Private, Founded: 1886

Affiliation: Catholic (Jesuit)

Web site: http://www.jcu.edu/

Student Profile:

Number of undergraduate, full-time students:
3,015

Percentage of undergraduate, full-time male students, female students:
49% male, 51% female

Number of states represented by student body:
27

Number of countries represented by student body:
11

Percentage of international students:
1%

Percentage of minority students:
21.3%

Number of students participating in entrepreneurship:
259 students participate in entrepreneurship related academic courses or programs at JCU.

Faculty Profile:

Number of full-time faculty:
210

Student/Faculty Ratio:
15:1

Athletics:

Athletics division, conference, number of varsity sports:
NCAA, Division III, Ohio Athletic Conference, 20 varsity sports.

Financial:

Cost of tuition:
$36,024 Tuition includes room and board and student fees.

Percentage of students who receive some financial aid:
83%

The Boler School of Business
John Carroll University
20700 North Park Boulevard
University Heights, Ohio 44118

216-397-4391
Fax: 216-397-1833