I have been teaching at Penn State Great Valley School of Professional Studies (an AACSB accredited business school) as an Adjunct Professor since the Summer session of 2003. I teach several courses, including "BUSAD 575 - High Tech Venture Development", "BUSAD 511 - New Ventures 1", and "BUSAD 522 - New Ventures 2", all in the MBA program in the Management Division of the B-School. In the 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 school years, I teach "High Tech Venture Development" in the Fall, "New Ventures 2" in the Spring, and "New Ventures 1" in the Summer.
I have taught BUSAD 511.101 "New Ventures 1" during Fall, Spring and Summer sessions. New Ventures 1 is the first of the Entrepreneurship specialty courses leading to the New Ventures MBA degree. I teach from a minimum of 8 students to as many as 30, almost all of whom are full-time employed, and who seem to generally be in their early thirties (though their ages range from mid-20's to "mature"). Their combined work experience, maturity, and academic focus on Entrepreneurship provides the leverage to maximize the course's potential. The chart below illustrates most of what & when I have taught:
Year
Spring
Summer
Fall
2004
New Ventures 1
New Ventures 1
2005
New Ventures 1 (Fall-1) &
New Ventures 1 (Fall-2)
2006
New Ventures 2
New Ventures 1 &
New Ventures at
The Philadelphia Center
2007
New Ventures 1
New Ventures 1
High Tech Venture Development (Fall-1) &
New Ventures 1 (Fall-2)
2008
New Ventures 2
New Ventures 1
High Tech Venture Development (c) &
New Ventures 1
2009
New Ventures 2
New Ventures 1
New Ventures 2
2010
New Ventures 1
New Ventures 1 at PJM* (Fall 1)
&
New Ventures 1 (Fall 2)
* Note: This course is conducted onsite at PJM Interconnection, the regional energy RPO located in Norristown, PA
For example, I taught the New Ventures 1 course in the Summer of 2008, with the class having 23 students. We formed five teams, and during the course they delivered five outstanding Strategic Plans for the businesses they created for the course. The businesses were innovative, well thought out, and very well presented. I would bet on each and every one of them to be successful with the management teams that created them.
I generally teach New Ventures 2 in the Spring sessions, but the scheduling depends upon the course demand and other factors. We had a small class for my NV 2 course in the Fall of 2009. New Ventures 2 concentrates on actually launching the business and how to get it going and run it well, whereas New Ventures 1 introduces the creation of the business, innovating new products, finding funding sources, defining the market, building the organization, .... Hope to see you there.
High Tech Venture Development is generally offered in the Fall. It is right in my "sweet spot" of subject material, being both entrepreneurial and tech-oriented. For a funny spin on High Tech Venture Development, see this YouTube clip by RichterScales.
Here are some examples of the courseware for the New Ventures 1 courses:
Here is the syllabus for the New Ventures 2 courses:
Here are some examples of the courseware for the High Tech Venture Development courses:
In addition to teaching at Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies, I also have taught at The Philadelphia Center. The Philadelphia Center is sponsored by a consortium of over 60 colleges and universities, whose chief sponsor is Hope College. The Center's program is like a "Junior Year Abroad" program, but for students who want to experience a major metropolitan area. They live and work coop in center city Philadelphia, as well as take a class in their and an elective. I am teaching the "Entrepreneurship" elective. You can learn more at The Philadelphia Center.
Entrepreneurship students click here (password required) for class notes, readings, assignments, and other class materials.