Abstract

AEM120, "Principles of Entrepreneurship and Business" and AEM121, "Guest Speaker Series on Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise", are first-year introductory courses to entrepreneurial concepts and practice which aim at orienting students towards, and giving them permission to engage in, entrepreneurship.

Issue

Entrepreneurship activity (and, therefore, entrepreneurship education) is vital for the transformation of scientific and technological advances into innovations; for the generation of business activity; and for increasing the likelihood of personal success. In the recent past, the Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise program (EPE) has attempted to reach as many students as possible with judicious use of modest resources. But, while the results of the efforts are remarkable, they still reach only a small percentage of the Cornell community.

Response

Creation of two introductory courses to entrepreneurship. AEM120, "Principles of Entrepreneurship and Business", is a 2-credit course which emphasizes recognition of business opportunity and the use of Web-based learning tools. AEM121, "Guest Speaker Series on Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise", is a 1-credit speaker series with puts students in contact with successful, active entrepreneurs.

Impact

The response to the courses has been superb, with 325 students taking AEM120 and 410 students taking AEM121 in Fall 2004, the first time these courses are offered. And, more than half of the students in each course stated that they would recommend these courses strongly to fellow students. We hope that these alumni will take additional entrepreneurship and business courses, and will engage in entrepreneurial behaviors.

Funding Sources

• Private (e.g., commodity groups, foundations, companies)
• EPE
• Selzer Fund

Collaborators

• Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise Program

Key Personnel

• John Jaquette, Director, Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise Program, Cornell University
• Pedro David Perez, Applied Economics and Management