The 15-credit Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, offered by the Mike Ilitch School of Business, is designed to provide students with the specialized knowledge and skills required to develop and launch new ventures and lead innovation efforts. Entrepreneurs and innovators are critical to the long-term health and prosperity of our economy and society, and students are significantly and increasingly interested in avenues which will help them to understand the opportunities and acquire the necessary skills and access to the networks and pathways leading to opportunity and success.
Students who earn this certificate will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the stages of the new venture creation process, from discovering, creating and refining ideas, to finding viable and sustainable opportunities by building, testing and evaluating a value proposition and business model, to launching, sustaining and growing a new venture by acquiring and managing financial and human resources.
- Lead, manage, or work effectively within interdisciplinary teams to achieve success, and to create a positive and ethical work culture.
- Develop a personal network within the entrepreneurial ecosystem, with a special emphasis on Detroit and the state of Michigan
- Understand what it takes to translate their ideas, inventions, and discoveries into reality, and develop and implement a plan for the next steps on their journey of discovery, experimentation, and action.
This multidisciplinary certificate program includes core courses offered by the Ilitch School, plus electives currently offered by several business disciplines and Wayne State's College of Fine, Performing & Communication Arts, College of Engineering and School of Medicine.
The graduate certificate is primarily designed for individuals working toward or holding a graduate degree who wish to create or grow a new venture, join with others engaged in this effort, or enter the entrepreneurial ecosystem in another capacity to pursue their own career and contribute to the development of our economy and society. Students can add this certificate on to an existing graduate degree program or earn it as a post-graduate student. The program is available to all current graduate students, as well as those holding graduate degrees from Wayne State and other accredited universities.