Oklahoma State University's initiative in entrepreneurship education
There is a global entrepreneurial revolution afoot, and The Center for Entrepreneurship is in its midst. Free markets represent a highly effective economic structure, but they do not work without someone to drive them. The driver is the entrepreneur. There is a need for a society filled with individuals with dreams, who will take calculated risks, demonstrate tenacity and perseverance, and creatively overcome the challenges and obstacles involved in creating something new. As a small part of the answer, Oklahoma State University has partnered with two other universities to take a nationally-recognized entrepreneurship training program to The Center for Entrepreneurship. The Dynamic Entrepreneurship Classroom is an intense, three-day exposure to best practices in entrepreneurship education for university faculty. Importantly, the focus is on more than new venture creation --- it is about the entrepreneurial mindset. Entrepreneurship is about transformation and empowerment. It is concerned with how to recognize opportunity, leverage resources, mitigate risks, and embrace creativity and innovation.
Entrepreneurship education and its impact
Oklahoma State University has joined with Texas Christian University and Syracuse University to share the potential of entrepreneurship with faculty members. The program aims to equip faculty with the tools to effectively teach entrepreneurship within universities and to citizens hoping to start new ventures. Thirty-three faculty members were recently exposed to lectures, discussions, experiential exercises, and classroom demonstrations. They were introduced to leading-edge teaching methods, new perspectives on entrepreneurship, approaches for building a great entrepreneurship program, and novel approaches to experiential teaching and learning.