Entrepreneurship Program Capstone Experience:
Building a Bridge between Theory and Practice
Students majoring in Entrepreneurship complete their capstone experience during their senior year. The capstone experience consists of two courses: ENTR 340 and ENTR 440.
ENTR 340: Entrepreneurship Capstone I
During the fall semester of their senior year, students sign up for ENTR 340. This one-credit-hour course assists students in identifying their post-graduation plans and objectives. Students will then search for entrepreneurs whose entrepreneurial activities align with theirs and invite the entrepreneurs to serve as students’ capstone mentors during the following semester. The course also provides students with an opportunity to expand their networks and become more familiar with acceptable and unacceptable behavior in a business environment.
ENTR 440: Entrepreneurship Capstone II
This two-credit-hour course consists of a classroom component (10 hours) and an experiential component (50 to 70 hours). The experiential component provides the students with the opportunity to enhance their entrepreneurial skills by working off-campus directly with their chosen entrepreneurs. This experience is different from an internship in that students are not assigned a specific task. Rather, they mostly shadow and observe the entrepreneurs in action, ask questions, and offer feedback. The classroom component of the course allows students to reflect on what they learn in the experiential components of the course and bridge the gap between theory and practice.