Whitman hosts national conference on entrepreneurship centers as agents of change

Whitman hosts national conference on entrepreneurship centers as agents of changeSeptember 24, 2007Amy Schmitzaemehrin@syr.edu

The Department of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises in the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, will host the 2007 National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers Conference (NCEC) on Oct. 5-6 at the Whitman School.

The conference will feature four tracks on curriculum design and student programming; center structure, funding and operations; novel outreach and community impact; and entrepreneurship across campus. Melvin T. Stith, dean of the Whitman School, will open the program at 8:15 p.m. on Oct.5, followed by two days of keynote talks, presentations on the leading innovations in entrepreneurship education, academic legitimacy for entrepreneurship centers, global entrepreneurship courses, working with venture capitalists, programs targeting women entrepreneurs, the role of entrepreneurship centers in revitalizing low income communities and more. All lectures will be by the nation’s most prominent thinkers, researchers and educators in the field of entrepreneurship.

“We are very excited to host the NCEC this year, as the conference theme ties in with Whitman’s own entrepreneurial initiatives and spirit,” says Michael Morris, the Witting Chair in Entrepreneurship at Whitman. “In collaboration with the Kauffman Foundation, the 2007 NCEC is a seminal event for entrepreneurship educators and practitioners that will bring together inventive and innovative ideas for building great entrepreneurship programs. To have the conference on the SU campus accentuates both the University and the city of Syracuse’s commitment towards furthering our region with entrepreneurial initiatives.”

Every year, the NCEC helps create entrepreneurship centers on university campuses and facilitates information sharing, project development and program improvements once centers are established. The NCEC provides a platform for centers across the United States to learn from each other and share ideas in hope of attaining entrepreneurship excellence.

The Kauffman Foundation works to further understanding of the powerful economic impact of entrepreneurship, to develop programs that enhance entrepreneurial education and training efforts, and to better facilitate new technologies by entrepreneurs that can positively impact the nation’s economy.

The Department of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises in the Whitman School is ranked among the top entrepreneurship programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Fortune Small Business, Entrepreneurship Magazine and The Princeton Review. Morris was recently cited by Fortune Small Business as one of the top 18 professors of entrepreneurship in the nation.

For more information contact, Lindsay Wickham, events planner in Whitman’s Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship, at (315) 443-3550 or lwickham@syr.edu.