Contact:

John Liddy, Lead for Entrepreneurship and Immersion Programs, joliddy@syr.edu

Website:

Minor in Information Technology, Design, and Startups

Overview:

Do you have a dream of starting a new company? Don’t wait. Start now. The minor in Information Technology, Design, and Startups (IDS) is a great way to learn how to turn your dream into a reality. In IDS you learn by doing. IDS provides you the opportunity to launch your venture while earning a minor. In the process, you learn an entrepreneurial method and mindset that is applicable across a lifetime and within any industry. You do not need an idea to start. You only need the curiosity and drive to start building your unique pathway.

Learning Outcomes:
1.    Know how to start a business in terms of both formal and informal processes and practices.
2.    Know how to develop core technologies, proof of concept, or prototype of a product or service.
3.    Know how to obtain users, generate revenue and/or obtain financing for their business.

Additional opportunities include:
1.    joining hundreds of other students who have launched their venture(s) (for profit or not-for-profit)
2.    learning the skills necessary to be the hired talent that fuels an innovative startup
3.    acquiring real-world experiences that separate you from your competition as a job applicant in any field
4.    networking within a like-minded community of innovators that starts on campus and spans the world

You are coached and supported by experienced faculty members who help you to acquire the technical and behavioral skills necessary to generate an idea and then turn it into a commercialized reality. You will also gain insights and guidance from the network of community and alumni mentors who can further help you make the right connections to jumpstart your venture.

IDS is an interdisciplinary 18-credit minor. In IDS 401 - What’s the Big Idea?: Technology Innovation , students are exposed to many aspects of the creative entrepreneurial process, focusing on the creation and refinement of ideas that can be translated into startup teams and viable business models. Students are also exposed to principles and practice of design that are critical to the development of new products and services. After successfully completing IDS 401 , students are eligible to formally apply for the IDS minor, at which point they will enroll in IDS 402 - Idea2Startup . In IDS 402 , students work from within their startup team to translate ideas into a viable startup businesses, addressing all of the key components of that process from building minimally viable products, to financing, to creating partnerships, to creating customer demand and revenue streams. Students will then enroll in IDS 403 , The Syracuse Student Sandbox, for 1 to 6 credits. The Sandbox is a student-focused business accelerator focused on either launching or growing your venture into a sustainable reality. You will work at the Student Sandbox under the direction of an Entrepreneur in Residence. Students are also exposed to the basics of business and entrepreneurship by taking EEE 370 - Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises , taught by faculty from the Whitman School of Management.

Required courses make up between 10 and 15 credits required for the minor, depending on how many credits a student chooses to earn during their entrepreneurial experience. The remaining 3 - 8 credits are taken as electives, drawn from a long list of options available from across SU’s schools and colleges. Of the total of 18 credits required to earn the minor, 12 credits must be in courses numbered 300 or higher. In addition, no more than 3 elective credits can be double counted to fulfill requirements of another major or minor on campus. Petitioning coursework based on its applicability to the skillset you need to launch your venture is also possible. Lastly, IDS 460  courses are also available by petition. These are immersion experiences that include a trip to and tour of the startup community across Silicon Valley (Spring Break in Silicon Valley), or Seattle to Portland (Peak-to-Peak), Dublin, Ireland, or New York City (Entretech), or Chicago (TechTrek Chicago).

The IDS minor is administered by the School of Information Studies. There are no requirements for admission other than the successful completion of IDS401with a passing grade of C+ or higher and a cumulative GPA of 3.0.