Entrepreneurship professor awarded grant from Program for Leadership and Character

Assistant Teaching Professor of Entrepreneurship Ariel D. Smith has been awarded a $4,000 Course Development grant from the Program for Leadership and Character.

Smith is creating a new course for the Center for Entrepreneurship to support students’ character development called Exploring the Meaning of Ownership.

Plans for the course include community partnerships with local entrepreneurs and first-time homebuyers to take an interdisciplinary approach to exploring the meaning of ownership beyond owning a startup. Students will be motivated to consider ownership on an individual and collective level, from thinking about how they own their decisions, to food access, physical agency, political efficacy and community stakeholdership.

For the first time this year, the Leadership and Character Course Development and Redesign Workshop will bring together 15-20 WFU faculty with an additional 10-15 faculty from colleges and universities across the U.S. This diverse group will have a chance to cross-pollinate ideas and experiences in supporting students’ growth as persons, professionals and leaders of character.