Midland University launches Corporate Entrepreneurship Certificate Program

Midland University: Omaha Campus is currently accepting applications for the first round of their new Corporate Entrepreneurship Certificate Program launching in early June. The seven-month program consists of MBA courses focused on entrepreneurship for intrepreneurs and bringing startup-style thinking to established business careers. “[The certificate uses] some of our MBA coursework that we really think…

Midland University: Omaha Campus is currently accepting applications for the first round of their new Corporate Entrepreneurship Certificate Program launching in early June.

The seven-month program consists of MBA courses focused on entrepreneurship for intrepreneurs and bringing startup-style thinking to established business careers.

“[The certificate uses] some of our MBA coursework that we really think will help people develop their entrepreneurial side within a corporate environment,” said the Director of the MBA at Midland University, Elizabeth Churchich, Ph.D. “Midland is trying to build certificates in ways that respond to the needs of businesses. We want to be the educational spirit behind innovation in lots of different places.”

Churchich said that Midland believes that instructors are most influential when they’re actively doing the thing that they’re instructing on, so all of the certificate classes are taught by real-world professionals like Joe Frost, Faculty Lead of Corporate Entrepreneurship for Midland University’s MBA program.

“We really think that a program like this can create very innovative thinkers within an organization that can help break through some of the barriers that become established as organizations reach some sort of ceiling in their growth,” said Frost. “We’d love to see people that have gone through the class be able to apply [their knowledge] inside their work to make significant career advances and become leaders within their own organizations.”

Midland University: Omaha Campus is offering a $6,000 guaranteed scholarship to students of the inaugural class, covering nearly half of the tuition of the program.

“For the education, access to mentors and entrepreneurial communities we have engaged in the program, and the peers and the people you’re going to meet during the program, it’s a great value,” said Frost.

Frost wants a wide range of business professionals to feel comfortable applying to the program. Interested applicants only need to submit an application, a letter of reference and a few supporting documents.

“We are really looking at a person who is hungry, motivated, and ready to learn,” said Frost. “It’s a program that many people would qualify for. If they want the information, if they want the education and to work hard, they can be successful at this program.”

The program will earn students a standalone certificate and is an accessible option for professionals who aren’t ready to begin a full MBA course. 9 of the credit hours can be applied toward an MBA in the future if a student decides to pursue that after completing the program.

“Students get the certificate and the mentorship that comes with it, but then they get those credit hours that they can take with them if they want to continue their education,” said Frost.

Midland University wants to provide educational opportunities for all levels of learners, not just people who are looking to complete graduate degrees.

“We know that there’s a lot of educational needs in Omaha,” said Churchich. “There are a lot of great universities but there’s some unmet need particularly in the professional development space––people who want to keep their job and go back to school. We’re happy to be a part of that.”

The classes are presented in a hybrid structure, allowing students to work on their own time and only requiring in-person sessions three weekends per 9-week session. The remainder of the course work is presented online.

“The structure of the hybrid program is pretty unique to Midland’s MBA program and works well for working professionals,” said Frost. “You get the benefits of an in-person curriculum with the flexibility of the virtual class to go with it.”

The program consists of 4 courses: Entrepreneurship for Intrepreneurs, Sales and Leadership, Marketing Management and Business Metrics and Management, and ends with a fifth independent study course, Guided Project Launch with Mentors.

“With what we know about being in the education space, we were able to piece together [a curriculum] and say, ‘This is the set of knowledge that can really define you as a corporate entrepreneur,’” said Churchich.

Frost said he took feedback from what MBA students at the university wanted and customized a curriculum program using his first-hand experience as a serial entrepreneur who has founded and launched numerous startups including Homesmartz, Mortgage Pledge, V180 Media, KreativElement, Frost Media Group and SWOT Media Group in St. Louis, Missouri.

“The curriculum [is] based on my experiences as an entrepreneur and what I thought would be great for students to understand about entrepreneurship,” said Frost. “This is geared to that person who wants to learn and integrate entrepreneurial thinking, problem-solving, identification and leadership into an internal environment to better lead from within.”

Visit the Midland University website for more information or to apply online.

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This content is sponsored by Midland University.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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