This term, the Conrad Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre at the University of Waterloo launched the Minor in Entrepreneurship, a cross-campus minor that combines relevant and dynamic Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (BET) courses with real-world entrepreneurship experience.
The Minor is available to students in Arts, Environment, Science, Math, and Applied Health Sciences (Engineering students may take the Option). Students in these faculties now have the opportunity to add entrepreneurial courses to their schedules, harnessing their classroom learning as well as their entrepreneurial drive to make new things happen.
How does it work?
The minor consists of:
- six BET courses;
- two electives; and
- an experiential component.
Students can pursue one of two tracks in the Minor in Entrepreneurship: (1) Venture Creation or (2) Corporate Entrepreneurship. In the venture creation track, emphasis is placed on starting a business. Students are required to complete an Enterprise Co-op (E Co-op) term or an equivalent venture-building term in which they will pursue their startup.
In the Corporate Entrepreneurship track, emphasis is placed upon innovation within existing companies or entrepreneurial approaches to work and life. Students are required to explore and develop the commercial potential or viability of their major end-of-program project (capstone, research-based thesis, or independent project approved by the minor coordinator).
Students don’t have to choose a track immediately. Conrad recommends beginning with BET 100: Essentials of Entrepreneurial Behaviour, which helps students to refine their ideas and determine which entrepreneurial path they prefer.
Create solutions to real-world problems
The Conrad Centre’s BET courses make everything more tangible,” says Rachel Friesen, 4A International Development and Business student. “They have encouraged me to take initiative and create solutions of my own.”
She was attracted to BET 300: Foundations of Venture Creation and BET 400: Growing Early Stage Ventures as a means of applying her academic knowledge of global problems to make an impact in the world.
The BET courses catalyzed an entrepreneurial journey that has led her to join the founding team of EyeCheck, a startup that produces tools to better understand eye health globally. As co-founder, she leads the business development, operations, and marketing aspects of EyeCheck.
“The BET courses provide practical tools for entrepreneurship, as well as connections to a network of people further along in the entrepreneurial process than I am,” Rachel notes. “The atmosphere of the courses is also motivating; you are surrounded by doers.”
To learn more
Please review:
- The Minor in Entrepreneurship web page;
- Frequently Asked Questions about the minor;
- The blog on the Minor by Minor Coordinator Doug Sparkes.
Further questions can be directed to Lindsay Kroes at the Conrad Centre.
Students: add Minor courses to your Winter 2016 schedule of classes in Quest when the drop/add period begins on November 23.