{"id":25184,"date":"2018-06-15T15:41:23","date_gmt":"2018-06-15T19:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=25184"},"modified":"2024-07-02T16:55:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T16:55:45","slug":"faculty-entrepreneurs-workshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=25184","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating 10 years of the UNC Faculty Entrepreneurship Workshop"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the two-and-a-half day workshop, faculty learn skills that they can apply to ideas they\u2019re working on today or tomorrow. College of Arts & Sciences faculty have benefited from the workshop.
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UNC Faculty Entrepreneurship Workshop participants Alex Yarborough (School of Dentistry) and David Ansong (School of Social Work) discuss ideas during the workshop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Every spring, small groups of the most enterprising faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill experience flashbacks of sitting in class as undergraduates. While participants in the Chancellor\u2019s Faculty Entrepreneurship Workshop<\/a>, which is sponsored by Chancellor Carol L. Folt and led by Innovate Carolina, these researchers and teachers find themselves in the shoes of the students they instruct: showing up eager to learn, collaborating on group projects and working feverishly toward final presentations.College of Arts & Sciences faculty have benefited from the workshops.<\/p>\n

This flipped classroom experience is relatively familiar territory for Carolina faculty. However, the subject of this crash course \u2013 entrepreneurship \u2013 can feel like entirely new terrain.<\/p>\n

After all, faculty have more-than-full-time teaching and research responsibilities that consume their attention. Entrepreneurship is something they may choose to wade into gradually as time allows. Once they\u2019re immersed, however, the transition to faculty entrepreneurs can become an experience of pure serendipity that leads them down exciting, reward-filled paths that they can\u2019t predict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\u201cWhat in the world am I doing emailing Uzbekistan and talking to rappers in Egypt?\u201d asked Mark Katz, Ruel W. Tyson, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Humanities and Director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities in the College, who also founded the international hip-hop diplomacy program Next Level. \u201cThat\u2019s not what I thought I would be doing five years ago. This has not been a straightforward journey, but it\u2019s been a gloriously winding journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Katz is a 2010 alumnus of the faculty workshop, which celebrated its 10th<\/sup> anniversary in May. His subsequent work with Next Level led him to create a series of international workshops that use hip-hop to promote entrepreneurship and cultural understanding. The program has received $5 million in grants from the U.S. Department of State and hosted workshops in 21 countries since 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know some of my colleagues probably hear the word entrepreneurship and feel an allergic reaction because they think, \u2018That\u2019s not what I do. I\u2019m an artist or a humanities scholar, so why does that matter?\u2019\u201d said Katz. \u201cBut, in fact, it\u2019s really a mindset and a way of thinking that can be applied to any area. It doesn\u2019t matter whether you\u2019re a scholar and have no intention of creating a business or venture of any sort. It can really help you simply in your thinking about how you do your scholarship, teaching and service.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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It\u2019s that kind of broad thinking about the entrepreneurial journey that sparked optimism in Ronit Fraiman, assistant professor of applied physical sciences in the College and a faculty participant in the 2018 event. \u201cThe most important thing I learned in the workshop is that entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes and that there are different ways and paths to be an entrepreneur,\u201d said Fraiman. \u201cIt was inspiring to hear about the journey of other colleagues and realize that, after all the ups and downs, the wins and the losses, it will all be worth it in the end \u2013 and one day my dreams can also become a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Echoing the idea that an entrepreneurial way of thinking can have diverse applications, David Ansong, an assistant professor of social work, sees opportunities to use lessons from the workshop to enhance his research. \u201cThe workshop opened my eyes to subtle, yet practical ways that as I could bring an entrepreneurial mindset to bear on my work as a social work researcher to address complex social problems, without necessarily turning every intervention into a business or detaching from the core values of the helping profession,\u201d he said.\u00a0 Ansong is the principal investigator on a research project led by a team of social work faculty who received $75,000 via the 2017 C. Felix Harvey Award<\/a> to help abused and neglected children find permanent homes with their grandparents and other relatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Rich Superfine, the Taylor-Williams Distinguished Professor of physics and astronomy and professor of applied physical sciences in the College, shared how the entrepreneurial mindset is a key part of making a new dream at the University real: the new convergent science initiative and building plan at Carolina. The Institute for Convergent Science will bring basic and applied scientists from many disciplines together to pursue new discoveries and make an impact faster. And Superfine noted that a critical part of its success will be taking an entrepreneurial approach to building effective teams with individuals who can identify problems, teach one another, explore ideas together and launch solutions that get results.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also seen the entrepreneurial movement also work on campus as the foundation for the applied physical sciences department, which he chairs. As the first new department in the sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill in 40 years, it was built on a new way of thinking. \u201cThis is an entrepreneurial venture within the University enterprise,\u201d Superfine said of the department.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Katz\u2019s initial introduction into the world of entrepreneurship at the University happened when he agreed to co-teach a music entrepreneurship course when the previous instructor was unavailable. \u201cI wasn\u2019t an entrepreneur, and I didn\u2019t have a background in economics. But I drew on what I did know,\u201d said Katz. \u201cAnd what I did know was based on my research into music and technology, and in particular, hip hop.\u201d That resourceful perspective and his involvement in the course landed Katz a valuable invitation.\u00a0 \u201cPerhaps, in part, because I was this accidental entrepreneurship teacher, I was invited to be in the workshop, which I remember being called entrepreneurship bootcamp at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Like most faculty, Katz didn\u2019t show up to the Faculty Entrepreneurship Workshop with his ultimate idea in hand and ready to go. The majority arrive with inklings of projects, initiatives or businesses that they\u2019d like to explore. And a small few come ready with innovative ideas or early ventures they\u2019ve been working on for months or years. That\u2019s exactly how the instructors and coaches who run the workshop want it \u2013 a group of diverse faculty thinkers whose varied ideas can all benefit from an entrepreneurial mindset and skillset.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never considered my work to be entrepreneurial so, at first, I was unsure if the workshop would be applicable to me,\u201d said Jessica Williams, assistant professor in the School of Nursing and a participant in the 2018 workshop. \u201cThis was one of the most valuable workshops in which I have participated because it allowed me to view my scholarship from a different perspective and think about my work in new, innovative ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continue reading on the Innovate Carolina website.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every spring, small groups of the most enterprising faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill experience flashbacks of sitting in class as undergraduates. While participants in the Chancellor\u2019s Faculty Entrepreneurship Workshop, these researchers and teachers find themselves in the shoes of the students they instruct: showing up eager to learn, collaborating on group projects and working feverishly toward final 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