UNC is among eight universities nationwide to receive prestigious entrepreneurship grant

CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of eight universities nationwide selected by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, Mo., to receive a multimillion-dollar grant establishing entrepreneurship education across campus.

The Kauffman Foundation today (Dec. 15) announced the awarding of $25 million in grants – of which UNC will receive $3.5 million. Under the Kauffman Campuses Initiative, selected schools must match the Kauffman grant at least 2-to-1.

With its grant, UNC will create the Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative, led by the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, a campus hub and outreach arm for collaboration among academia, government, business and civil society.

Dr. John D. "Jack" Kasarda, Kenan Institute director and Kenan distinguished professor of management and sociology, will lead the campuswide initiative, which will focus on creating traditional business entrepreneurs, as well as social, civic and academic entrepreneurs.

"The Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative will make entrepreneurship part of the weave and fabric of the Carolina experience," said UNC Chancellor James Moeser. "Through this initiative our university will build a permanent foundation of faculty expertise, exciting educational opportunities for students and productive engagement with the wider entrepreneurial community.

"It will help Carolina lead the state’s economic revitalization by serving as an engine of innovation, job creation and economic growth."

Other selected universities to receive Kauffman Foundation grants are Florida International University, Howard University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Rochester, the University of Texas at El Paso, Wake Forest University and Washington University in St. Louis.

"Entrepreneurship is not a fad – it’s an enduring American phenomenon that’s as common as getting married or having a baby," said Carl Schramm, president and chief executive officer of the Kauffman Foundation.

"If roughly one in 10 Americans are trying to start a business at any given time, shouldn’t we be preparing more to succeed? These Kauffman Campuses schools will create a boundary-less culture of entrepreneurship, empowering all students on campus to access the skills, orientation and networks that can lead to greater opportunities for them and to the creation of jobs, innovation and prosperity for America," he added.

A panel of judges selected the eight universities from 15 finalist schools that participated in the six-month Kauffman Campuses competition. In June, each of 15 finalist schools received a $50,000 planning grant by the Kauffman Foundation to develop and submit an innovative and comprehensive five-year plan to inject entrepreneurship training and experiences into the culture of the university.

Additionally, the university president or chancellor from each of the 15 schools led their teams in presenting their plans to judges at the Kauffman Foundation between Dec. 9 and 11.

Among the criteria judges used in deciding upon the grants were:

• Whether a school could make entrepreneurship a common and accessible activity for all students.
• The level of involvement of the president or chancellor.
• The ability to generate matching funds.
• Whether the activity could serve as a model for other colleges.
• The relative strength of the innovative approaches.
• The likelihood that an activity would change campus culture and produce a sustainable entrepreneurial spirit on campus.
  

The Kauffman Foundation, established in the mid-1960s by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, works with partners to advance entrepreneurship in America and improve the education of children and youth. For more information, click on www.kauffman.org.

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Note: Contact Kasarda at (919) 962-8201 or john_kasarda@unc.edu.

UNC News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu
Kauffman Foundation contact: Wendy Guillies, (816) 932-1046 or wguillies@kauffman.org