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A new faculty initiative seeks to embed an innovative mindset and skill set into coursework across a variety of majors, while students can now earn experiential learning credit for their ventures.
The final exam for students in professor Tim Marshall's spring content marketing class took on the flavor of a Shark Tank episode as teams competed in a Content Venture Challenge in front of a panel of expert judges.
Marshall, who holds the Burton D. Morgan Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship and directs BW's Digital Marketing Center, decided as an "experiment" to change up the coursework this semester.
"This course usually involves working with existing small businesses and features activities to help students to really get inside the heads of their entrepreneur-clients so they speak the same language," Marshall explains. "Through those exercises, I discovered a strong curiosity around entrepreneurship among the students, so I pivoted to explore and nurture that interest."
Marshall leaned on the expertise of BW LaunchNET powered by Burton D. Morgan and his own contacts from brand agencies, startups and larger brands to provide feedback to students as they developed their ventures in teams.
"For the final, students had to produce social content, lead magnet or offer pages, and revenue-generating content products, memberships or subscriptions, in addition to preparing a detailed budget and financial plan," Marshall adds.
The winning content idea, "Broke Appètit," included social content and podcasts promoting loyalty programs and freebies at fast-food and fast-casual restaurants.
One of the students behind the project, Jessica Ghinga '27, was thrilled with the outcome. "So grateful for this amazing opportunity to present our hard work and hear real feedback from our judges. What an incredible experience!" she raved on LinkedIn.
Marshall, LaunchNET and the BW Faculty Center are working to embed entrepreneurship into more classes at BW.
The inaugural cohort of a new "Innovation + Entrepreneurship Faculty Learning Community" includes seven faculty members from disciplines that include philosophy, engineering, English, sociology, biomimicry and hospitality management.
"This professional development opportunity provides resources to revise an existing course or design a new one to promote innovative skill sets and entrepreneurial competencies," Marshall notes. "Innovation has no limits, so it doesn't make sense to limit teaching it in only one department. My goal is for entrepreneurial thinking and innovative skill sets to be promoted and supported on every quad on campus, both in and out of the classroom."
To that end, this spring, BW approved entrepreneurship to fulfill the University's unique experiential (EXP) learning requirement for students of all majors. The EXP requirement ensures that all graduates have practical experience that aligns with their coursework, personal interests and professional goals.
"Traditionally, EXP could only be fulfilled through an internship, study abroad, service-learning, research or a designated, hands-on learning course," Marshall explains. "The addition of entrepreneurship is open to students at all stages of venture creation, from early ideation to scaling an existing for-profit or non-profit organization."
To participate, students must complete a set of goals with a venture coach from BW LaunchNET. Examples include meeting with an entrepreneur-in-residence, developing and practicing a pitch, and completing certain deliverables, such as a business model canvas.
To further build their skills, BW students can also add an entrepreneurship minor.
Jackai Nichols '25, who transferred to BW after the closure of Notre Dame College, found that aspect of a BW education particularly attractive.
Nichols helped to pay for the degree he earned from BW in May by running a successful e-commerce business called "Green Chaser 216 Clothing," which sells urban streetwear. But he hopes to apply his entrepreneurial skills to a future business career beyond his "side gig."
"I've been intentional about building connections between my brand and my business coursework," Nichols says. "As a business administration major with a goal to lead in operations and launch community-focused ventures, the one-on-one support and hands-on assignments helped me turn what I learned into real progress."
With an elevated faculty embrace of innovation embedded in every discipline, BW classrooms are helping great entrepreneurial ideas to percolate across campus.
