Monday, September 22, 2003

For Immediate Release  

            Tri-State University is thinking differently these days. Thanks to a $283,000 grant from the Kern Family Foundation of Waukesha, WI, the University will develop a new minor in entrepreneurship.

            "This new minor is like a seed," said David Finley, Ph.D., dean of the Allen School of Engineering and Technology. "We think it’s going to lead to even bigger and better things; ultimately affecting the culture of the entire institution."

            The Kern Family Foundation was established in 1998 by Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern of Waukesha, WI, to bring about societal change in a number of specific areas. The newest program focus area is engineering education. The goal is to raise public awareness of the importance of engineering as well as encourage more young people at the pre-college and undergraduate levels to choose and stay with engineering as a career choice.

            Last spring, the Kern Family Foundation contacted a number of Midwest private engineering schools with a request for proposal that invited these schools to thank strategically about initiatives that would propel their undergraduate programs to the "next level" in terms of preparing more students for engineering careers in industry. "We sat around a table with our thinking caps on and tried to imagine how best we could use an infusion of money," said Finley. "Our thoughts grew into the EXCellence In Tri-State Entrepreneurship (EXCITE) Program. And that’s how we feel about it. This is an exciting project that could have far-reaching effects for Tri-State, Steuben County, the State of Indiana—and hopefully the entire Midwest."

            The long-term goals of EXCITE include developing a Tri-State entrepreneurial major; instituting an annual design competition; providing funding to winners of the competition so that they can develop prototypes; making available venture capital to the creators of promising prototypes; and locating an incubator of technology-based business start ups near campus. An auxiliary goal is to build an Applied Research Center.

            With funding from Kern, the short-term goals of the EXCITE program are to develop the entrepreneurial minor, to market the minor to freshmen in both engineering and business, and to disseminate program successes to other institutions.

            Finley and Tom Enneking, Ph.D., vice president for academic affairs visited the Kern Family Foundation offices near Milwaukee recently and pitched the program.

            Tri-State was one of three schools initially chosen to receive a grant.

            "You can see how this seed could grow," said Finley. "What we’re proposing, really, is creating a new culture on campus in which students begin to think like entrepreneurs no matter what their major.

            "It really is exciting."

            Tri-State University is an independent, co-educational institution offering associate, baccalaureate and master degrees in over 40 programs to students in engineering, mathematics, science, computer science, business administration, teacher education, communications, criminal justice and social sciences. Founded in 1884, Tri-State today operates a 485-acre main campus in Angola, IN, with off-campus centers in Fort Wayne, South Bend and Merrillville, IN.

Tri-State University • Office of Public Relations • (260) 665-4119 • sauerl@tristate.edu

Please use your browser's Back button to return to previous page.