Faculty Development Programme in Entrepreneurship

Rationale

Few until recently believed that entrepreneurs could be created through educational endeavours, or that Entrepreneurship could be a matter of teaching/training. Initially educational interventions in Entrepreneurship were given less importance but after a series of successful demonstrations by scholars like Prof. David McClelland and others, it was proved that entrepreneurs could be created through teaching, training and counselling interventions as well. Progress since then has been swift and now Entrepreneurship Development has become almost a movement. While a large number of organizations are focusing on Entrepreneurship training, not much emphasis has been given to promote Entrepreneurship through educational interventions, particularly in our country. The need of the hour, therefore, is to make Entrepreneurship Development more effective by imparting relevant education focusing on developing entrepreneurial competencies, skills in identifying a viable business opportunity & preparing business plan, knowledge on how to mobilise resources and manage an enterprise. The most crucial change agents, however, in the process of developing young entrepreneurs are teachers with adequate skills, knowledge and information in the area of Entrepreneurship. Keeping this in view, the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, took the initiative of introducing Entrepreneurship in the academic curricula of science & technology institutions and also in setting up Entrepreneurship Development Cells in many of them. Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI) on the basis of interactions with educationists, students and entrepreneurship professionals designed a module on Faculty Development Programme (FDP) and has been implementing it successfully across the country and elsewhere. The Institute has been receiving enthusiastic response for this programme from the academic community. Till date, the Institute has organized about 54 Faculty Development Programmes at national and international levels and in the process has groomed over 1164 teachers. EDI announces ten Faculty Development Programmes at nine different locations during the year 2007.

Objectives

The programme is designed to train and develop professionals in the area of Entrepreneurship Development so that they can act as 'Resource Persons' in guiding and motivating young students, particularly from S & T stream, to take up Entrepreneurship as their career. The specific objectives are to:

* expose the participating faculty members to the comprehensive Entrepreneurship Development process and equip them to coordinate/ organize entrepreneurship related activities in their colleges/ polytechnics/ schools
* equip them with requisite skills, knowledge and competencies for effective initiation of Entrepreneurship Awareness Camps and Entrepreneurship Development Courses in their institutions.

Content

* The content of the programme is broadly classified as follows.
* Entrepreneurship Development Process & Model : Concept, process, models and strategies, Exposure to EDI-EDP model, identification and selection of the potential entrepreneurs, monitoring and follow-up
* Skills and behavioural training: Entrepreneurial motivation and competencies, problem-solving, counselling and communication
* Resource building: Procedures and formalities in setting up new enterprises, incentives and benefits for entrepreneurs
* Self-directed attitudinal and behavioural changes resulting in confidence building for taking up and implementing entrepreneurship development related activities
* Knowledge-based information inputs: Curriculum development, procedures involved in initiating, planning, implementing and evaluating EDPs curriculum
* Business Opportunity Identification
* Business profile preparation, business plan formulation, assessing the viability of a business plan
* Small Business Management
* Business crisis
* Conceptualising, designing and implementing programmes for potential entrepreneurs with special reference to curriculum design, programme planning and management.

Methodology

To impart the inputs detailed in the programme structure, the following training methods will be adopted:

* Lecture-cum-discussion, case studies, role-plays and simulation exercises.
* Interaction with experts in Entrepreneurship Development, curriculum development and opportunity guidance, and with successful entrepreneurs for practical insights.
* Study visits to institutions and small enterprises.
* Group work and practice sessions.