Assessment and Evaluation of Villanova University’s Engineering Entrepreneurship Minor Program

Villanova University has been offering an engineering entrepreneurship minor program for ten years. This 16 credit minor program starts with idea generation, proceeds through feasibility and prototyping courses and culminates in a business plan preparation course. There are also three practicum courses included in the minor that provide focused experiences for students in related themed areas. The program has graduated over 100 students and continues to see a robust enrollment of about 12% of the engineering students and is the largest subscribed minor in the College of Engineering. After a decade of offering the engineering entrepreneurship minor, the program was evaluated to identify its strengths and determine if any modifications needed to be made. The program evaluation was based on the collection and analysis of several forms of data including course syllabi, focus groups with current students, and surveys of alumni. This paper will share the significant lessons learned from offering the Entrepreneurship Minor as a curricular option within the Engineering Curriculum for the past decade. In doing so, the paper will highlight the ways in which Villanova University’s program is unique among Engineering Entrepreneurship Minors located at other universities. History of the Minor Villanova University started an engineering entrepreneurship minor program in the fall 2008 semester. At the time, an entrepreneurship minor was offered in the Business School and a group of engineering faculty members had been considering offering a minor to engineering students but the initiative did not gain traction until a seed grant was provided by the Kern Family Foundation to establish an engineering entrepreneurship minor program in the College of Engineering.