Waynesburg University’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Program is proud to announce that it has received the Excellence in Student Engagement in Entrepreneurship Award at the Deshpande Symposium 2024. This award recognizes an institution that encourages student leadership and engagement in developing innovative extra- and co-curricular activities that support the development of entrepreneurial awareness, skills and practice.
We are humbled and honored to receive this prestigious award from the Deshpande Symposium... Exciting things are happening and our program, which has shown steady growth, continues to impact and engage students both on and off campus. I am thankful to see how far we have come and thankful that this award celebrates our work in the area of Student Engagement.”
Representatives from Waynesburg University, including Mindy Walls, Director of the University’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program and the W. Robert Stover Chair for Entrepreneurial Leadership, Cassy Dorsch, Director of the eHIVE and Nest, and Andrew Heisey, Professor of Art and chief maker, attended the 13th Annual Deshpande Symposium awards ceremony Thursday, June 13, in College Park, Maryland, to accept the award.
“We are humbled and honored to receive this prestigious award from the Deshpande Symposium,” said Dorsch. “Just this past year, we have seen more engagement than ever before with our new eHIVE and have served a rural village in the developing world through Project GROW, our redemptive entrepreneurship project. Exciting things are happening and our program, which has shown steady growth, continues to impact and engage students both on and off campus. I am thankful to see how far we have come and thankful that this award celebrates our work in the area of Student Engagement.”
In 2022, the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program received the ‘Rising Star’ in Excellence in Curriculum Innovation in Entrepreneurship at the 11th Annual Deshpande Symposium.
“We are thrilled to be recognized by our peers from across the country for our work in student engagement,” added Walls. “This is especially meaningful because engagement has been challenging in the post-covid world. We have intentionally designed our programs to provide students with experiential opportunities both inside and outside the classroom. Our two learning labs—The Nest and The Makerspace— are integral to our engagement. The Nest provides our students with hands-on experience in running a retail operation and The Makerspace provides product design and manufacturing experience.”
The Entrepreneurial Leadership Program and its co-curricular entrepreneurial and innovation hub, the eHIVE, were launched in 2018 with the mission of providing the educational framework for students across all majors with an interest in entrepreneurial leadership to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Since its inception, the program has seen major growth and an expansion in its opportunities for hands-on learning for students.
A new center for the eHIVE was completed in January 2024, which includes a state-of-the-art makerspace, woodshop and classroom where students can engage and operate their own businesses on campus. Through The Makerspace, the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program has the ability to offer services for groups both on and off campus, which include printing, engraving, cutting, prototyping and more. These services provide a revenue stream through which the program can continue to grow.
In addition to The Makerspace, the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program also operates the University’s official on-campus store, The Nest. Students assume an active role in running the daily operation of the store and are offered hands-on learning opportunities through it in a variety of business courses such as accounting, retailing and entrepreneurship.
The eHIVE also provides real-world impact through its social entrepreneurship project, Project GROW, which helps a small, remote village in the Dominican Republic through business and entrepreneurial trainings. This past spring, a team of 18 visited the village in partnership with Waynesburg University’s Center for Service Leadership and a nonprofit, Meeting God in Missions, where students were able to see the direct impact of their trainings through Project GROW.
For more details about the Deshpande Symposium award and other honorees, please visit: https://venturewell.org/2024-deshpande-symposium-awards/.
About the Deshpande Symposium
Cofounded by the Deshpande Foundation and the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2012, the Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education brings together academics, policy planners, and practitioners to discuss best practices in integrating entrepreneurship throughout their college and university communities. This year marks the second year VentureWell has led the programmatic vision and operational management of the symposium. Read more about the symposium and the awards here.
About Waynesburg University
Consistently ranked a best value school, Waynesburg University’s Strategy for the 21st Century affirms its commitment to developing an entrepreneurial mindset and ethical leadership skills for all students. Rooted in its mission of faith, learning and service, the private, Christian university is located on a traditional campus in the hills of southwestern Pennsylvania, with an additional site for graduate and professional programs in Southpointe.
The Entrepreneurial Leadership Program
Launched in 2018, the mission of the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program at Waynesburg University is to provide students across all majors with the educational framework to instill an entrepreneurial mindset. Through the use of cross-disciplinary coursework, students from various disciplines with an interest in entrepreneurial leadership are able to develop that mindset through problem-solving skills transferable to any profession. Learn more at the link below.
