By UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
The inaugural group of entrepreneurship faculty fellows for Fort Hays State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship was recently announced during the Entrepreneur Direct Speaker Series. These FHSU faculty were awarded fellowships based upon the creativity and innovation of their proposed projects.
The faculty fellows are appointed throughout this academic year and will work on various projects on campus and in the community.
“The best university entrepreneurship programs in the country have entrepreneurship faculty fellows programs,” said Dr. David Snow, director of entrepreneurship. “However, they are quite rare outside of this elite group. So, for FHSU to also begin a program such as this, it speaks volumes about where we are headed with entrepreneurship.”
Snow created the entrepreneurship faculty fellows program to promote and recognize the innovative accomplishments of FHSU faculty. The program is funded by the Center for Entrepreneurship and the Office of the Provost. Eight projects were awarded, which included the appointment of 11 faculty fellows. Each project is granted up to $4,000.
“The purpose of launching the entrepreneurship faculty fellows program is to support our creative and innovative faculty and to encourage entrepreneurial behavior from everyone,” said Snow.
“The goal of the Center for Entrepreneurship is to motivate all faculty, staff and students to develop their entrepreneurial spirit by taking action through seeking opportunities and developing solutions which will have a positive impact on the campus and community.”
The projects come from a wide variety of disciplines across the university. The projects and the faculty fellows:
Dr. Emily Breit, associate professor of finance. Breit is conducting research to study the relationship entrepreneurs have with lending institutions and why they may not apply for funding when they should
Dr. Sarah Broman, assistant professor of teacher education, and Dr. Beth Walizer, professor of teacher education. Their project is to develop a literacy program for at-risk children in Northwest Kansas.
Dr. Nicholas Caporusso, assistant professor of informatics. Caporusso’s project is an online platform to connect businesses that need websites, video and other marketing services with students who can perform the work.
Claudia Carvalho, instructor of biology. Carvalho’s project will address the problem of medication non-adherence and increasing antibiotic resistance.
Dr. Arvin Cruz, chair of the Department of Chemistry and assistant professor of chemistry. Cruz’s project is an attempt to create novel materials for solar electricity generation that can be commercialized.
Dr. Jacqueline Lubin, assistant professor of advanced education programs, and Dr. Brent Goertzen, professor of leadership studies. Their project is to develop a graduate certificate to increase the expertise of teachers working with students with autism.
Dr. Sam Schreyer, associate professor of economics. Schreyer’s research focuses on increasing the likelihood of success for startups by analyzing their wage dynamics and employment strategies.
Dr. Ziwei Qi, assistant professor of criminal justice, and Dr. Hsin-Yen Yang, associate professor of communications. Their goal is to create a program to assist abuse survivors in developing skills for self-employment.