杏吧原创

07/06/2023
By Ed Brennen

鈥淓ntrepreneurship鈥� never seemed like a scary word for rising senior business majors Cameron Famiglietti and听Maddie Gear.

As marketing co-ops for the听Rist DifferenceMaker Institute, a big part of their jobs is to inform fellow UML students how they can explore and develop their entrepreneurial ideas through the campus-wide program.

However, after attending the recent听听in Scottsdale, Arizona, Famiglietti and Gear are rethinking their marketing strategy.

鈥淲e have been marketing DifferenceMakers all wrong. We were trying to market it as an entrepreneurship resource rather than a resource that's open to all students,鈥� Famiglietti says. 鈥淲e never really realized that the word 鈥榚ntrepreneurship鈥� can be really scary for most students, especially those who aren't majoring in business.鈥�

A session on broadening student engagement convinced Gear that by instead 鈥渦sing terms such as 鈥榩roblem-solving鈥� and 鈥榮ocial impact,鈥� students will be more likely to want to progress their ideas.鈥澨�

Launched at UMass Lowell in 2012 by Chancellor Emerita听Jacquie Moloney听and technology entrepreneur Gururaj 鈥淒esh鈥� Deshpande, the annual Deshpande Symposium brings together faculty, administrators and business leaders from around the world to share strategies for promoting entrepreneurship on college campuses.

Famiglietti and Gear attended the three-day symposium with another DifferenceMaker co-op, MBA student听Nick Jarek听鈥�23, and former Student Government Association President听Neyder Fernandez听鈥�23, who is pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in education administration.

鈥淚t was a campus full of people who are doing the same thing I want to do, so it was great to connect with them.鈥� -MBA student Nick Jarek 鈥�23 on Deshpande Symposium

Manning School of Business Interim Dean听Steven Tello听says the university sponsored the students鈥� participation because it was a valuable opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship programs at other institutions.

鈥淥ur students got to share stories, learn about new types of competitions and innovation ecosystems and build their own professional networks,鈥� says Tello, who joined the students in Arizona along with iHub Director听Tom O'Donnell, Dean of Student Affairs and Wellness听Brenda Evans听and听Jessie Santer, associate director for promotions and media for Student Affairs.

Armed with 鈥渓iterally 20 pages of notes鈥� from the symposium, Jarek says he has already begun to implement what he learned during this summer鈥檚 First-Year Orientation sessions, which include a visit to DifferenceMaker Central on North Campus.

鈥淲e teach people that what we do is for everyone,鈥� says Jarek, who began working as a DifferenceMaker co-op while earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in digital media. The co-op experience has made Jarek want to pursue a career in higher education and 鈥渄edicate my life to helping students change the world鈥� 鈥� something that was reinforced at the Deshpande Symposium.

鈥淚t was a campus full of people who are doing the same thing I want to do, so it was great to connect with them and learn more about what they do,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t helped me be sure that that鈥檚 what I want to do.鈥�

Famiglietti, who manages the DifferenceMaker social media channels, was nervous at first about being one of the only students at a professional conference, but 鈥渆veryone was super-inviting,鈥� she says. The UML students connected with faculty from the University of New Brunswick in Canada, who invited them to a conference on their campus in October.

Gear says she returned home from the symposium inspired to help students turn their ideas into reality.

鈥淒ifferenceMaker offers such tremendous resources to students, and I would love to see more students utilizing them,鈥� she says.