Charter
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY COUNCIL ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP
CHARTER
Mission
The Temple University Council on Entrepreneurship (TUCE) was formed to
foster and promote the entrepreneurial spirit throughout Temple University
and to actively encourage and assist the development of new ventures in
the greater Philadelphia region by the students, faculty staff and alumni
of Temple University
Background
Temple University seeks to develop the potential “acres of diamonds”
-- its students, faculty, staff and alumni. The spirit of entrepreneurship
inherent in Temple’s founding has been a constant driver of its
future.
Fittingly, the University has been recognized by the Princeton Review
and Forbes.com as the 20th most entrepreneurial campus in the U.S., the
highest ranked in the Philadelphia region. Entrepreneur Magazine rated
the Fox School of Business as one of the top 30 entrepreneurship programs
in the country. These accolades also reflect the level of innovation and
discovery that is taking place in every school and college at Temple.
Award-winning programs , student achievements and faculty research in
a variety of disciplines are the seeds of further distinction in entrepreneurship.
The University also enjoys strong connections, through alumni and friends,
with a highly accomplished regional business community, which can be leveraged
to support entrepreneurial opportunities for the Temple family.
As entrepreneurship is a critical component of economic and social growth,
and as entrepreneurs are often leaders, supporting entrepreneurship also
supports Temple’s educational mission.
In this spirit, the establishment of the Temple University Council on
Entrepreneurship (TUCE) was championed by the Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Institute (IEI) of the Fox School of Business. Based on individual meetings
between the Executive Director of IEI and the Deans of each of the 17
schools and colleges and an IEI Team presentation to the Council of Deans,
it was agreed that the establishment of such council would be beneficial
to both students and faculty on a variety of fronts, including to:
• Better prepare or provide alternative careers to students
• Provide hands-on assistance to those ready to start their own
business, and enable them to move to the next step
• Encourage innovation and creativity commercialization
• Connect future entrepreneurs with mentors and financial networks
Role
TUCE is a unique model among major universities in the US. It will link
all Temple schools and colleges in the area of entrepreneurship and it
will be the forum for related issue discussions and program development.
TUCE's meetings and discussions will be coordinated by IEI, which will
also coordinate implementation of all decisions reached by TUCE.
Membership and Structure
Each school will be represented by a senior person at the Associate/Assistant
Dean or professor level. Each school's delegate will be that school's
champion for entrepreneurship. If the delegate cannot participate in TUCE's
scheduled meetings or activities, an alternate should be appointed by
the dean of that school.
Additional members will include the Executive Director and Associate Director
of IEI, the Director of the Temple Small Business Development Center,
senior members of the Temple University Office of Technology Transfer,
a leader of the Temple University League of Entrepreneurial Women, the
presidents of the undergraduate and graduate student entrepreneurship
clubs, and the heads of certain university Institutes and Centers deemed
relevant to the development of entrepreneurship. Depending on the initiatives
and programs undertaken by TUCE, other internal and external guests will
be invited to participate.
An interim chairperson will be provided by the IEI, but TUCE will ideally
elect a chairperson on an annual rotating basis from among its membership.
Additional officers will be appointed and bylaws will be developed within
TUCE’s first year.
TUCE Responsibilities
In carrying out its mission, TUCE may undertake the following activities:
- Create cross-campus, inter-school entrepreneurship-related programs and events.
- Discuss individual school entrepreneurial needs and identify custom tailored programs that will benefit students and faculty of each school.
- Develop communications systems that will announce and market cross-campus events or programs to students and faculty in all schools
- Identify and discuss creative entrepreneurial opportunities and resources to assist with commercialization
- Identify very successful/accomplished entrepreneurs from within the ranks of the alumni of each of the schools to serve as speakers, competition judges or mentors
- Encourage cross-school cross-major entrepreneurial team development
- Motivate students, faculty, staff and alumni from all schools to participate in IEI's annual 3-phase Business Innovation Competiton and competitions of major universities across the US
- To identify consulting teams for creative and business-related projects across campus and in the community
Delegate Responsibilities
TUCE delegates will be expected to:
• Attend all TUCE regular meetings and as many Temple entrepreneurial
events as schedule permits
• Be an enthusiastic proponent of entrepreneurship and actively look for
opportunities within his/her school for information desemination and program
applications
• Be the communication conduit with all school students and faculty for
all entrepreneurship events, workshops, seminars, news, etc.
• Identify suitable event ideas and successful entrepreneurs from the
school’s alumni cadre as speakers/panelists and propose to TUCE
for agreement and implementation
• Facilitate opportunities for IEI staff to present to classrooms or faculty
assemblies within each school on the programs, resources and services
offered by IEI
• Contribute articles or other news to Temple’s entrepreneurship
e-newsletter
• Build an entrepreneurship support team within each school