Alumni : Support & Participation

There are many opportunities to support and participate in the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship as alumni, including:

• Advisory board members: Each entrepreneurship business planning team has a formal advisory board comprised of members of the business community.
• Business plan reviewers: Independent of advisory boards, business plans are forwarded to business community members in similar or transferable industries for specific review and feedback.
• Present and defend reviewers: Every business planning team must present and defend their business plan at the end of the first semester. Not a competition, this activity is designed to generate feedback and guidance for the individual spring semester business plan focus.
• Entrepreneurship Alumni case studies: Entrepreneurship student teams write case studies on alumni-launched enterprises. This pedagogical approach leverages real world-bridged value unmatched in other course-based activities.
• Business plans competition judges: Beyond present and defend, judges select the best of the best of all entrepreneurship student teams in the program-wide annual business plans competition.
• Internship hosts and referrals: The student-centered approach and center-based funding allow entrepreneurship internship program placements to be made in the right host for each student, regardless of industry, market segment, skills set, or geographic location. Once these elements are identified, the right organization is identified through a network of entrepreneurs across the country. Most contacts start with alumni. More than half of all interns, local and national, are placed with entrepreneurship program alumni. At least another 20 percent are placed based on an alumni contact and referral.
• Financial contributions: The Karl Eller Center receives no state or university funding. As a self supporting entity, reliance on business and alumni community gifts is significant. Alumni support scholarships, internships, the entrepreneurship computer lab, and mentors-in-residence programs.
    

For further information, please contact us.