10:30 am - 4:00 pm 24/04/2024

External Collaborations: Challenges and Success Stories in Enterprise Education

Aston University, Enterprise Hub and online

Wednesday 24^th April 2024, 10.30am-4.00pm 

Summary

Hybrid event
This will be a hybrid event so that most of the day can be available to online delegates. Interactive activity will be scheduled towards the end of the day. The presentations and panel sessions and discussions will be accessible to both the in-person and online audience.

In-person venue: Aston University, Enterprise Hub, John Cadbury House, 190 Corporation Street, Birmingham B4 6QD. The Enterprise Hub was launched in November 2023 to support entrepreneurs and innovators with a range of leading expertise in small business growth and provide access to a range of new facilities. For more background, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/latest- news/new-city-centre-enterprise-hub-launched-aston-centre-growth

We propose to showcase a selection of external and alumni collaborations both extracurricular and in the curriculum, from three Birmingham HEI’s.

AGENDA (subject to change)
10:30 – 12:30

Welcome from Paula Whitehouse, Deputy Dean College of Business and Social Sciences, and Director of the Aston Centre for Growth.

Nicola Gittins (Deputy Director, Student Entrepreneurship and Enterprise University of Birmingham) will give an overview of the mentoring provided through their Elevate Startup programme. Elevate is the University of Birmingham’s student and graduate incubator. Through the programme students are offered a range of support, with an emphasis on the powering of mentoring. Utilising the university’s network of alumni and corporate partners, students are paired with relevant mentors throughout the programme and beyond. It is becoming increasingly evident that for many businesses these connections are proving significantly influential in advancing the startups to their next stage.

Carolyn Keenan and Kath Rice from the Aston Enterprise & Entrepreneurship department will describe the effective use of their Startup programme’s alumni to deliver enterprise workshops to their students. Aston Enterprise and Entrepreneurship’s mission is the help curious students explore, experiment, and launch new ideas. The team do this through a series of events, competitions and programmes open to all of the Aston student community.

Panel discussion with above speakers plus additional academics from Aston who regularly bring in guest lecturers and speakers, and some start-up founders featuring an extended Q&A from both the online and in-person audience.

12:30 – 13:30: Lunch

13:30 to 14:00 Optional tour of John Cadbury House and the Enterprise Hub

14:00 – 16:00

Jennine Jones, Enterprise Manager at Birmingham City University will outline the involvement of externals from the regional entrepreneurship ecosystem in the design and delivery of their Hatchery programme. The STEAMhouse Hatchery is an exciting, eight-week competition for final-year, Master’s and PhD students – as well as recent graduates – to access regular support from business experts, collaborate with peers and be in with the chance to win part of a £10,000 prize fund.

Aimee Postle, Programme Director and Business Coach from Aston Centre for Enterprise, Coaching and Innovation, will talk about enriching the in-curriculum student experience through real life business client challenges and having externals on the pitch panels for assessment. And how to authentically assess in line with learning outcomes and considering the business POV.

Interactive session where delegates will take part in a mini client sprint and grade each other.

Speakers
Carolyn Keenan & Kath Rice – Aston Enterprise & Entrepreneurship Department
Nicola Gittins – Deputy Director, Student Entrepreneurship and Enterprise University of Birmingham
Jennine Jones – Enterprise Manager Birmingham City University
Aimee Postle – Aston Centre for Enterprise, Coaching and Innovation
Carrianne Wallace – Lecturer in Marketing & Enterprise Aston University
Emma Neale – BSc Marketing Programme Director Aston University

Benefits of attending
Delegates attending this session in-person or online will:

– Be able to identify new ways of working with external stakeholders for the benefit of student/graduates
– Explore using external stakeholders in assessment
– Explore the topic of collaboration with alumni
– Gain practical take-aways from the presentations and interactive session. 

Cost to attend

EEUK Members FREE
Non-Members in-person £100
Non-Members on-line £30

Attendee details