Programs
Propel Business
The Propel Business New Venture & Innovation Program is an initiative offered by the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation & Entrepreneurship, the Management and Organization Department, and Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, to provide a virtual assistance hub for Smeal graduate students and alumni interested in new venture creation.
The Propel Business program is a curated and moderated portfolio of services and resources offered through the Smeal College of Business that includes a finance clinic (including financial modeling and venture funding), digital library, faculty assistance, and legal assistance support.
Propel Connect
Propel Connect™ brings together Smeal graduate students, alumni, faculty, staff, and our strong network of entrepreneurs for community building.
Join our online community of innovators and entrepreneurs to make connections, solicit advice, build your network, and access other online resources.
Experienceship Program
The Experienceship Program is an internship program for second and third year students currently enrolled in the Smeal College of Business Corporate Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIENT) major offered by the Management and Organization Department.
The program aligns with the Invent Penn State Initiative to support economic development in Pennsylvania, further instilling a culture of entrepreneurship and corporate innovation, as well as building a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem across the University and Commonwealth.
Pennsylvania small businesses and startups, including Ben Franklin and Happy Valley LaunchBox companies, will benefit from this subsidized program. Harnessing the entrepreneurial skills and capabilities of CIENT students will increase the likelihood of commercial success of new ventures.
Students will benefit by obtaining real-world experience in small, growing businesses, finding new networking opportunities, developing professionally, and leveraging opportunities to apply what they know.
Undergraduate
The Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship supports undergraduate education through the CIENT Major and ENTI Minor at Penn State. Continue below for additional information regarding the major and minor.
The Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIENT) major is designed to help you develop problem solving and creative thinking skills, along with the ability to spot trends, recognize opportunities, and develop plans to capitalize on high-potential ideas. Emerging entrepreneurs and innovative managers of small to large businesses must be competent in various mediums of communication, have good negotiation skills, lead with ethics and integrity, and be grounded in business aspects of planning, capital investing, goal setting, and decision making. For more information about this major please click here to view the CIENT Major.
Entrepreneurs and innovators exist in all industries and in all types of companies. The key to entrepreneurial achievement is arming yourself with the tools and knowledge that position you to succeed. The ENTI minor teaches you the foundational skills you need, such as innovative thinking, leadership skills, and management and planning tools. For more information about this minor, please click here to view the ENTI Minor.
Graduate
The Smeal Professional Graduate Portfolio offers many ways for students to gain knowledge in Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship through our online graduate certificate in Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship and our online master in Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Students in all of our professional masters programs, including our three MBA programs, can earn an online concentration in Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship. These courses can be applied to the online graduate certificate in Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship and can also be used to “stack” a second online masters in Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Through these courses, students learn how to be successful entrepreneurs in three contrasting scenarios: in start-ups, within an established corporation, and within networks of corporations. Research shows that graduates with the skills to execute innovation and change within complex enterprises are extremely valuable. Since a large percent of Smeal professional graduate careers take students into large corporations, this unique clinical experience in creating and managing innovation-driven change positions students above the crowd in the job market. Each course is structured so that students can compare and contrast the role of the entrepreneur in small and large enterprises.
For more information, please see the links below or contact the Professional Graduate Programs Office.
Online Master's in Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Graduate Certificate in Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Farrell Center Consulting
Farrell Center consulting projects are rigorous, semester-long, company-sponsored projects involving intellectual property protection, generally proposed by a prospective client organization, based on real client need, and targeted at graduate and upper-division undergraduate students. Through this program, faculty-led student consulting teams, embedded in business courses taught at Penn State University, aid small, medium, and large companies, help them identify and assess business problems, and provide viable solutions. These projects strategically leverage the knowledge, skills, and real-world experience of students in the Smeal College of Business.
Project deliverables are based on students’ best efforts during the semester. These uniquely designed projects are intended to provide students with real-world consulting experience while providing value to the client at no charge. Clients are required to provide a simple project charter document at the beginning of the semester outlining business challenges, project goals, and expected deliverables. Clients are also expected to offer at least one hour per week of time to the student team to provide guidance, receive weekly status reports, and answer questions.
This program provides an excellent opportunity for small, medium, and large companies to obtain valuable, free services, and students to gain real-world, client-focused work experience and team-building skills. Multi-semester project opportunities are available upon request. Participating organizations will see the best Smeal College of Business students have to offer, receive help with their business challenges, and gain insight into possible recruiting prospects.