KEENzine5

22 LEADERS ARE ROCKSTARS Kris Ropella Dean Marquette University Why is an entrepreneurial mindset important for students? Change is at the core of our campus motto: Be The Difference. As educators, our highest calling is to educate our students to be leaders of change, change that translates to creating value in service of humanity. Engineering is the engine for change, a responsibility that may not be taken lightly, for our work as engineers reaches far and wide, for good and bad. If our students are going to fully understand the impact of their work on the world, they need to be curious about the world and their place in that world (calling), they need to make connections between their gifts and talents and the opportunities for change in the broader global community, and they need to understand how value is defined and by whom. The entrepreneurial mindset understands all of these lenses. How have you benefited from being a leader in KEEN? I have had the pleasure of watching the faculty and staff light a fire under each other as they think differently about the way they teach and the learning environment they create for our students. In turn, they are setting our students on fire, helping the students make connections about the bigger world and the possibilities for making valuable change. Ken Bloemer Director of Visioneering Center University of Dayton Why is an entrepreneurial mindset important for students? I’ve spent over 30 years with a wide variety of organizations from medical devices to lean manufacturing and from management consulting to higher education. In every setting, there was a small percentage of individuals, often engineers, who drove the organization to new heights. These individuals were more curious and thus had a greater depth of knowledge to draw upon, they made more connections that others could not see and, as a result, they created more value for the customers, the organization, and for themselves. These individuals were indisputably entrepreneurially minded. My wish for all undergraduate engineering students is that they will develop an entrepreneurial mindset for both the greater good and for themselves. How have you benefited from being a leader in KEEN? KEEN has enabled me to make a greater impact on undergraduate engineering education at UD than I could have hoped to accomplish otherwise. As a member of the Network, we have experienced an unprecedented level of faculty development around entrepreneurially minded learning and other advanced pedagogies. We’ve benefited from collaboration and feel a sense of comradery with our Network colleagues. We’ve also reached beyond engineering to faculty in communications, English, history, math, and physics who teach undergraduate engineering students. Importantly, our dean, provost, and president recognize the benefits of being engaged with KEEN and are enthusiastic supporters – and faculty are inspired by this. Joe Tranquillo Associate Professor Bucknell University Why is an entrepreneurial mindset important for students? I think the entrepreneurial mindset is critical for students. It empowers them to follow their own path and to seed ways of thinking that they will cultivate over their lifetime. They are encouraged to think deeply about themselves and the world around them, not passively but as active change agents. Long term, an entrepreneurial mindset will enable them to see opportunities to add value that others might miss, and to possess the habits of mind and action to be impactful in a complex and dynamic world. How have you benefited from being a leader in KEEN? I have met so many bright, energetic, and passionate people who are taking a long view on changing the conversation in higher education – one where we are much more than knowledge dispensers and skill builders. The entrepreneurial mindset has inspired me as well. I find myself using it all the time in my teaching, research, service, and even at home!