Community Colleges as Incubators of Innovation

<p>While community colleges have traditionally focused on providing students with opportunities to gain credentials for employment, the increasingly important question is: Are they preparing students for the looming dynamic, disruptive, and entrepreneurial environments ahead? This book addresses the urgent need for community colleges to prioritize entrepreneurship education both to remain relevant in a changing economy and to give graduate students the flexible and interdisciplinary mindsets needed for the future of society. It argues that entrepreneurial education should be offered broadly to a wide range of students, and across all disciplines; defines the key constructs for achieving this objective; and describes how to create entrepreneurial learning environments.The expert contributors, with the support of the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), start from the premise that community colleges are uniquely positioned to lead entrepreneurial initiatives through both internally-generated curriculum design and through collaboration with the local entrepreneurial community to build bridges between the classroom to the community which in turn can offer models of implementation and constitute a network or support system for students. Community colleges can become incubators of innovation, a magnet for talent, and provide the impetus for development strategies that their communities have not begun to realize. As the chapters make clear, developing an entrepreneurial program itself requires an entrepreneurial mindset that transcends any lack of resources, requiring a spirit of imagination and resourcefulness. This book takes the reader on a journey through the steps needed to build a meaningful, relevant, and sustainable entrepreneurship program, covering program development, curriculum design, appropriate pedagogical approaches, and community engagement.</p> <p>Foreword—Andy Stoll Acknowledgments—Rebecca A. Corbin and Ron Thomas Introduction. The Impetus for Entrepreneurial Education—Rebecca A. Corbin and Ron Thomas1. Leading With an Entrepreneurial Mindset— Bree Langemo 2. An Entrepreneurial Approach to Entrepreneurial Education—Andrew Gold and Mary Beth Kerly 3. Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. Innovate and Flourish—Eugene Giovannini 4. Entrepreneurial and Workforce Development—Christopher Mullin and Doan Winkel 5. Invisible Opportunities. How Collaboration Supports the Growth of an Urban Entrepreneurial Ecosystem—Steven Tello 6. The Ecosystem that Thrives—Deborah Hoover 7. Creating an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Rural Appalachia—Charles Terrell and Joe Kapp 8. Community Colleges as Entrepreneurial Catalysts—Madeline M. Pumariega and Carrie Henderson 9. The Power of Collective Action. A Five-Year Journey—Van Ton-Quinlivan Conclusion. Entrepreneurial Community Colleges. Sustainability and Lessons from the League—Rufus Glasper Afterword—J. Noah Brown Appendix NACCE. A Retrospective—Rebecca A. Corbin and Ron Thomas About the Contributors Index</p>