Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Minor)

The Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship (GIE) Minor is designed to transform students into innovative leaders and responsible entrepreneurs capable of effecting change in the global marketplace. Housed in the Françoise O. Lepage Center for Global Innovation at the Barowsky School of Business, the GIE Minor will provide opportunities for both business and non-business students to engage in hands-on innovation and entrepreneurship-based education and activities.

Students enrolled in the GIE Minor will benefit from an intense, immersive, international experience. Small cohort groups ensure mastery of concepts and subject material in a collaborative learning environment. Students gain access to mentors and the opportunity to build international networks they can strengthen throughout their careers. Program enrollees can assess how their personality and skills align with the unique demands of starting and growing a business. Rigorous coursework ensures students are thoroughly grounded in innovation and entrepreneurship using human-centered design thinking. In an annual business plan competition they work in teams in high-intensity, high-stakes judging environments. Students will visit a Silicon Valley innovation lab to network with entrepreneurs. The program also includes a 10-day, faculty-led international cultural and business immersion trip where students meet with local management, entrepreneurs and executives. The GIE Minor provides Dominican students exposure to real, scalable and innovative business ideas and ventures in the global arena, irrespective of their major.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students who complete the GIE Minor will:

1. Demonstrate use of human-centered design thinking to generate innovative business solutions.
2. Practice balancing business viability, market desirability, and technical feasibility in a cross-cultural and global marketplace in a new business venture.
3. Appraise one’s entrepreneurial mindset and innovation skills in developing a potential business venture.

Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship (GIE) Minor Requirements

Four required 4 unit courses (16 units):

BUS 2059	Innovation and Design Thinking	4.00 units
BUS 3024	Marketing	4.00 units
BUS 4067	Global Innovation & Entrepreneurial Practicum	4.00 units
BUS 4074	Entrepreneurship	4.00 units

Total Credit Hours: 16

Students will be required to participate in one international 10-day trip to meet with businesses and immerse themselves into a foreign business culture. In addition to the course tuition, course travel fees will be required of all students in the program.