The Entrepreneurship Training Program in the School of Graduate Studies at Memorial University
By Grace Tatigian, Entrepreneurship Training Program Coordinator, MUN
What is ETP?
Memorial University offers a free program to its graduate students: the Entrepreneurship Training Program. This is open to all grad students who are interested in starting their own business, regardless of their educational background or knowledge about entrepreneurship.
The ETP is divided into two streams: Discover and Develop. Discover is where the students get started; they can complete the course in person or online and learn about the basics of entrepreneurship. Develop is for the students who excelled in the Discover program: they have a plan and they’re ready to put it into action. Discover and Develop are both eight-week programs and there are ETP events happening every semester.
Where do you fit in?
Every week, we have presenters come in and speak with the students. We cover a wide range of topics—networking, marketing, accounting, and commercialization to name a few. We’re always looking for local professionals to come in and share their knowledge, stories, and expertise with the students.
This is a fantastic opportunity for you to come and not only teach, but also promote your business. You can teach the basics of bookkeeping and give your business card to students who would rather leave that aspect of the business to you. You can lead a seminar on social media strategies, and when the time comes for them to promote their brand, they’ll know where to go.
But there are other ways to get involved with the students as well. If you have entrepreneurship, networking, or growth-based events, we can promote them for you. We have students in a variety of disciplines, from gender studies to mechanical engineering, so there’s a good chance that we have students who will be interested in your events. Many students who join the program do so because they want to network and get to know people in the entrepreneurial community.
Going forward
In the fall 2018 Discover cohort, we have over 90 amazing students, and we want to keep you up to date! Look to future editions of The Advisor for profiles of our successful program graduates, welcoming them to the NLOWE community.
Getting involved
For more information on the program, or to find out how you can get involved, please contact me, Grace Tatigian, the Entrepreneurship Training Program coordinator, at gtatigian@mun.ca. I’d love to discuss different ways we can work together. And if you want to learn more about the program, you can always visit www.mun.ca/etp. There you’ll find alumni profiles, resources, and application information. And finally, if you’re a grad student at MUN, please apply for the program!
