US Southeast

Eugenio Pino & Family Global Entrepreneurship Center at Florida International University

The Eugenio Pino & Family Global Entrepreneurship Center, founded in 2003 at Florida International University, facilitates all entrepreneurial activities at FIU. The Center provides campus-wide awareness of entrepreneurship as an approach to life that enhances and transcends traditional academic experiences. It is woven into the fabric of FIU through activities and courses across the university. The multi-dimensional nature of the Center allows it to address the unique entrepreneurial needs of one of the nation’s largest ethnically diverse academic institutions, located in one of America’s most entrepreneurial and dynamic international cities, Miami.

Whether in the arts, sciences, business, engineering, or humanities, entrepreneurship at FIU adds value to every discipline and enhances the creativity and innovation of students, faculty, staff, and alumni. In addition to facilitating course development throughout FIU, the Center fosters new technology firms, strengthens existing family-owned and managed firms, researches important issues, encourages new community enterprises to improve the economic vitality of South Florida and the Americas, and develops entrepreneurial leaders in all areas.

The Center is built on five organizational pillars:

•    Applied research focused on issues of specific concern to entrepreneurial enterprises in Florida and beyond

•    Education through formal courses and informal activities at FIU at both the graduate and undergraduate levels on the special issues facing entrepreneurial enterprises

•    Outreach directed to assisting entrepreneurial firms and new organizations in South Florida and the Americas

•    Interdisciplinary emphasis that promotes collaboration with colleges, departments, and centers across campus

•    International focus that builds upon FIU’s international reputation and Miami’s position as the business and financial crossroads of the Americas

Curriculum

Undergraduate Programs

We are currently revising the existing (and moribund) undergraduate emphasis in entrepreneurship and small business that exists with the College of Business Administration.  The Center will offer certificates in Entrepreneurship which will reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the field and will allow the entrepreneurship courses offered campus wide to be available to non-business and engineering students as a certificate will be added to their existing majors. We are in the process of working with the Freshman Experience faculty at FIU to include entrepreneurship within the Experience and to build that as an experiential module.

Graduate Programs

The Evening MBA program of the Chapman Graduate School has instituted an emphasis in entrepreneurship. The I&SE Department has instituted a Technology Management Program with an emphasis in entrepreneurship.  Many of the courses for these two programs are joint courses and reflect the interdisciplinary nature of entrepreneurship.  Entrepreneurship courses are now being integrated into the existing Masters of International Business (MIB), the International Masters of Business Administration (IMBA), the Executive Masters of Business Administration (EMBA), and the Masters of Industrial & Systems Engineering (MSISE).  In addition, all graduate level courses can be taken as electives in other master’s programs thus allowing other MS or MA programs to take advantage of an added entrepreneurial emphasis to their existing major.  We anticipate that the science programs will be the first to take advantage of this opportunity.  We graduated our first doctoral student in entrepreneurship in 2008.

Course offered by the Global Entrepreneurship Center include Introduction to Entrepreneurship, Business Plan Development, Entrepreneurs in the US, Technology & American Society, Management of a Professional Practice, Family Business & Closely Held Firms, Creativity & Innovation, Management of Innovation & Technology, Technology Product & Service Development, International Entrepreneurship, and Entrepreneurial Finance

Organization

In addition to its extensive academic course offerings, the Center utilizes five operational units, operating in synergy to implement its program. They are the:

•    Entrepreneurial Academy

•    Institute for Family Business

•    Institute for Technology Innovation

•    Entrepreneurship Research Institute

•    Institute for Community Innovation.

Personnel for the Global Entrepreneurship Center include Dr. Alan Carsrud, Executive Director and Professor; Colleen Post, Associate Director; Lauren Suarez, Events & Promotions Coordinator; Alina Rivero, Administrative Secretary;  Lis Morales, Part-time Student Assistant;  and Arlette Prats, Part-time Student Assistant.

Outreach

The Global Entrepreneurship Center hosts the annual Entrepreneur Challenge Business Plan Competition; supports the Florida-based New World Angels, Inc.; Coordinates the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer Program for rural entrepreneurs in Central America; hosts the annual Spectrum Kauffman Lecture Series on Research, Family Business, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship and is a Kauffman Campus designated by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City.

Contact Information

Eugenio Pino & Family Global Entrepreneurship Center, Florida International University – University Park Campus

VH 130, Miami, Florida 33119

305.348.7156, f.305.348.0011, E-mail: casruda@fiu.edu or postc@fiu.edu

Web site: http://www.entrepreneurship.fiu.edu