The document discusses how venture competitions are becoming more common at liberal arts colleges as a way to blend business and the liberal arts. It provides examples of venture competitions at Muhlenberg College and Franklin & Marshall College and outlines the benefits they provide to students including engagement with alumni, breaking down silos, and resume enhancement. However, it also notes challenges in getting broader participation on campus, developing ongoing support from alumni and faculty, and creating actual new ventures from competition ideas.

1. Campus Venture
Competitions and
Student Engagement
W. Trexler Proffitt Jr., Muhlenberg College
Stephanie Kessler, Franklin & Marshall College
Presented at NCIIA Open 2013
Washington, DC
March 22, 2013

2. Venture Competitions
 Common at universities, business and engineering schools,
undergrad and grad programs
 Uncommon in liberal arts colleges (LACs)
 Recent energy, particularly those with business programs
(great instance of mimetic isomorphism)
 Sample Programs
 Babson Muller/Charm Prize 1985 (first LAC)
 Muhlenberg Innovation Challenge 2010
 F&M Innovation Challenge 2011
 Amherst Big Ideas Challenge 2012

3. Motivation for LACs
 Blending liberal arts and business
 Rethinking Undergraduate Business Education: Liberal
Learning for the Profession (Colby et al., Carnegie, 2011)
 Business Majors, but with a Twist (Light, WSJ, 2011)
 Business students need more liberal arts
 Teaching content in classrooms is not enough
 Wealth or Waste? Rethinking the Value of a Business
Major (Korn, WSJ, 2012)
 Liberal arts students need more business

4. Liberal Arts and Business
 Business often viewed as isolated from other fields
 Moving beyond technical content and into talent
development
 What are the talents we want to develop?
 Collaboration
 Problem-solving
 Leadership
 Creativity
 Resourcefulness

5. Potential Metrics
Measure Meaning
# of Unique Entries Participation
# of Majors Represented Diversity
# of Mentor Contact Hours Engagement with alumni
Faculty/Student Attendance at Popularity/Awareness
Presentations
Prize Money ($$$!) Institutional Commitment
Faculty Incentives to Students Academic Integration
New Ventures Created/Jobs Economic Development

6. Overall LAC Benefits
 Engagement with alumni
 Breaking down silos on LAC campuses
 Gateway to wider community, other competitions
 Bona fide resume enhancer
 Student confidence through application
 Learning by doing
 Rapid pace of learning
 Collaborative success
 New venture creation (perhaps this is actually last?)

7. Case Studies for 2013
Muhlenberg F&M (3rd year)
(4th year)
Official Start/End Dates 2/1-4/25/13 2/1-4/12/13
Typical Top Prize $1000 $1250
Fall Information Sessions 3 3
# of Categories 3 2
Approximate Initial Entries 20 25
Alumni/Parent Mentoring 90% 100%
Faculty Involved (100% business) 3 2
Funding from College $4000 $0
Alumni Contribution 0% 100%
Total prizes to be awarded 6 6
Staffing Model Faculty (PT) Staff (PT)

8. Innovation Challenges
 Spring Semester, with publicity in Fall
 Modest prize money of $5,000-8,000 per year
 Multiple categories attempted
 Open
 Sustainability
 Social Impact
 Tech
 Improve Campus
 Mentoring and judging by alums, staff, faculty, local
entrepreneurs and business development folks

9. Positives
 Multiple categories produces reasonable diversity
 4 categories led to 89 submissions by 150 students in 20
majors in F&M ’11
 Students tend to produce interesting ideas and refine
them well over time
 Fundraising, career services, PR, alumni affairs staff
enthusiastic (perhaps related to above?)
 Alumni/parents enjoy engagement
 Awards event is an acclaimed positive

10. Negatives
 Unclear what should happen before or after for
participants--pipeline uncertain (0 startups so far)
 Campus awareness low—constant publicity and peer
outreach required
 Few faculty involved, no integration w/coursework
 Alumni/parents have not donated in large #s
 Academic administrators appear indifferent
 Staffing model uncertain

11. Ongoing Challenges
 Diversify participation and awareness on campus
 Support multiple categories of entry
 Convert alumni engagement into long-term support
 Attract support from administration and faculty
 Develop pipeline of activity pre/post competition
 Get some ventures going!