Innovation Accelerator - FAQ for Undergraduate Students
Is the IA just for graduate students? Entrepreneurs come from all walks of life. While the IA is an initiative run out of the Management Department in the School of Business, we look for diversity in our project teams and encourage applications from students at all levels and at all schools at UConn. We are looking for smart, creative, energetic, passionate students with good communication skills. Normally an undergraduate applicant will have completed at least their first 5 to 6 semesters of study. A maximum of one undergraduate student will be accepted per team. An undergraduate may work with graduate students from business, engineering, law, or liberal arts. An interest in entrepreneurship (or intrapreneurship) will make the IA experience more meaningful to the student and lead to greater impact for our client ventures. Experiential Learning at the UConn School of Business – What is it? The experiential learning programs at UConn are truly unique. At the IA we provide funding and support, faculty mentoring and interaction with senior executives at client firms. It’s like a full-time internship – except the team members are in charge of the process – not the faculty and not the client. Teams of typically 4 members are selected by faculty mentors to work with one entrepreneurial high-tech venture. These client ventures are selected each semester by faculty from a large pool of applicants. The faculty and client agree prior to the semester on an initial scoping document that outlines the business problem, goals of the project and a list of probable project deliverables. Most early stage entrepreneurs are focused on day-to-day tactical issues. Our projects focus on mid-term strategies for the venture that can transform the business and accelerate its growth. The project teams then take over. They meet regularly with the venture’s founders. The teams research the space, validate the problem, refine (or change) the goals and firm up the deliverables. At the midpoint and again at the end of the semester the team makes presentations to the founders with their insights. The faculty is there to help – but the team members make the decisions and define the strategy. It is truly experiential. Faculty will work with you as peers – not as students – and allow you to learn and take ownership. This is why we require passion, dedication and creativity. How does experiential learning differentiate me from other students? Undergraduate students at every school in the country often take the same classes and use the same (or similar) textbooks. Upon graduation you will compete with thousands of similar graduates from around the country for jobs OR as an IA graduate at the recruiting table, you can talk about your IA experience – about how you had a 360 degree view of an entrepreneurial venture, took the initiative in research, innovation and creativity, and developed strategies that helped transform that venture. IA graduates will tell you that recruiters love to talk about the IA and that you, as a graduate of the IA, will truly be differentiated from your peers. Or the experience could also inspire you to (co)found your own venture – drawing upon some of the insights you’ve experienced. Entrepreneurship is a contagious mental state. What are the benefits of participating at the IA? The IA experience is a lot of work. Students are expected to put in 35 to 50 hours every week during the semester. Expectations of the client and the faculty are high. The biggest benefit of working at the IA is the experience of working in a team of like-minded creative and passionate students with the founders of hi-tech entrepreneurial ventures. You will get a 360 degree view of the venture and can truly make a meaningful impact on the future direction and success of that venture. The problems teams work on are typically very unstructured and the team, not the entrepreneur or the faculty mentors, need to develop the structure for working and providing solutions. This is what real business is like - solving unstructured problems - but not something you will encounter in your prior academic life. This can be very frustrating (especially at first) but also very rewarding at the end of the project and in your future career. If that opportunity excites you then Apply. You also get other financial and academic benefits. Those other benefits (which are described below) should be secondary to your decision to apply. Do I have to be a technologist? No, you don't need to be a technologist - at the IA we examine the business side of technology so you need to understand business. You can learn the client's technology at the IA well enough so you can effectively focus on the business issues. Since you are working in teams there will usually be some scientists or engineers in a team. You do need to be able to effectively use business technologies like the web and Office products. Backgrounds of past students who benefited from the IA experience include business, engineering, communication, education, law, economics and history. You need to have an interest in business and technology. Do I get paid for participating at the IA? In the spring and fall semester undergraduate students are paid $450 per week in addition to six academic credits (see below). During the summer semester when no academic credits are offered you get paid $785 per week. Do I get academic credit for IA participation? You get 6 Independent Study credits for working at the IA during the fall or spring semesters. Your program director decides how the credits apply to your major or minor. During the summer semester you do not get academic credits. Instead you get paid for a full-time internship (see above). Can I participate at the IA more than once? Yes, we have had – and we encourage - participation more than once. You need to check with your program director to see if you can get more Independent Study credits if you participate in the program more than once. When am I expected to be at the IA? The core hours you should be at the IA are from 8:30am to 5:30pm every day - Monday to Friday. The IA expects that you will take 2 courses and no more than 3 courses in addition to the IA experience. The IA will work around your class schedule. Non-MBA team members must arrange their classes on M/W or Tu/Th – preferably 8am classes or 2pm or later classes so as to maximize time at the IA. When you need to miss core hours of IA operations because of class schedules, you are expected to make up the time by returning to the IA and working late or getting in early. Where is the IA located? You are expected to work out of our facilities at 222 Pitkin St in East Hartford. Creativity and Innovation are team sports. Given the compressed 13 week programs you need to be physically located at the IA. Do I have to come to the IA – or can I work from Storrs or home? You need to work out of the IA facility. The projects are team projects that require close coordination and interaction between team members so you have to be at the IA. What types of ventures seek IA assistance? Every semester it will be different. They are all high technology ventures based in Connecticut but they could be life sciences, hardware, software, medical devices etc. Most of the ventures are small with great promise. What are the expectations of participating companies? The IA is supported with funding from the State of Connecticut to assist high-technology ventures. The IA’s goal is to provide transformational strategies to a client venture that will enable faster growth and help the economic development of Connecticut. We do not position these as student projects – instead they are positioned as comparable to a consulting initiative from a major consulting firm. Team members become subject matter experts in the participating company’s vertical through a combination of secondary research (internet, reading reports etc) and primary research (talking with other subject matter experts, clients or potential clients of the firm, competitors, and survey research etc.) but that knowledge isn’t what we tell the client. Instead we use that knowledge and the team’s creativity and innovation to provide transformational insights and strategies, supported by the evidence, that the client hadn’t thought of, or didn’t have support for. If it sounds like its hard – it is! Feel up to the challenge? Do you want to make a difference? Then Apply. How do I apply? Send us a copy of your current resume/vita in Microsoft Word format via email to InnovationAcceleratorApps@business.uconn.edu. Also attach a cover letter (also in MS Word format) that outlines your interest, your GPA, and what makes you a great candidate for the program – from the perspective of your personal traits, your experience, your academic interests and your long-term business interests. The files that you submit must be in the following format: "LastName FirstName Resume.doc" and "LastName FirstName CoverLetter.doc". |
