This month, Florida State University welcomed officials from the Armenian State University of Economics (ASUE) as part of a growing partnership to enhance entrepreneurship education.
The collaboration, funded by a U.S. Department of State grant awarded to FSU’s Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship and Learning Systems Institute (LSI), aims to foster innovation and global connections through STEM and social entrepreneurship initiatives.
“As the nation’s first standalone college of entrepreneurship, we know that innovation grows stronger through collaboration,” said Susan Fiorito, dean of the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship. “Our partnership with Armenia allows both institutions to learn from each other, elevate entrepreneurship education, and prepare students to lead in a global economy.”
Susana Santos, Jim Moran Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, serves as principal investigator on the project, and Vilma Fuentes, program director for FSU’s Ukraine Task Force and an associate in research at LSI, is serving as the co-principal investigator.
“Building bridges between the U.S. and Armenia, especially with a focus on entrepreneurship and at the student level, is a powerful force for growth and prosperity,” Santos said. “The partnership we’ve forged between FSU and ASUE is poised to pay dividends for generations to come.”
Over the summer, Santos and Fuentes visited ASUE’s campus in Yerevan, Armenia, along with Eric Liguori, associate dean of the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship and Jim Moran Professor of Entrepreneurship, to formally implement the partnership. While there, Santos, Fuentes and Liguori trained more than 30 ASUE faculty on contemporary approaches to entrepreneurship education.
“The data make clear that entrepreneurs in Armenia have the motivation but lack one of the most crucial supports — access to quality entrepreneurship education,” Liguori said. “Our hope is by beginning to bridge this gap, we can empower the next generation of Armenians to create jobs and opportunities that strengthen communities across the country.”
The group from FSU was also on-site at ASUE to celebrate the grand opening of ASUE’s new STEM Social Innovators Incubator — a key component of the project that’s expected to become a launchpad for Armenian innovators and changemakers. Other initiatives include a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project between FSU and ASUE to promote entrepreneurial thinking between their students.
“It is so exciting to work with Armenian colleagues and introduce this high-impact teaching methodology into a new part of the FSU curriculum,” Fuentes said. “The Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship seems like the ideal place to explore this innovative approach to instruction and internationalization. Our COIL project will promote entrepreneurship through design thinking and virtual collaboration between American and Armenian students.”
ASUE leadership has also visited Florida State. Lusine Danielyan, director of internationalization, development and partnerships at ASUE, and Grisha Amirkhanayn, head of continuing education at ASUE, visited FSU’s Tallahassee campus Sept. 6-14 to continue work on the joint venture. Their itinerary included visits to FSU’s Innovation Hub and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in addition to participating in the Experiential Classroom, a premier clinic for educators from across the globe who are relatively new to the teaching of entrepreneurship and the building of entrepreneurship programs.
“One of the greatest things about this partnership is how people here are open to collaboration, how they are keen to make our university develop and how they are willing to cooperate with us,” Amirkhanayn said.
In addition to developing and expanding the structure of the COIL project, leaders aim to build on the momentum from this summer with the launch of an FSU/ASUE Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship, which will help FSU and ASUE students not only gain knowledge, but also build bridges around the globe.
“It is very important to have these international collaborations to learn, to see, to exchange, and to meet people and create these connections,” Danielyan said. “I believe that’s where everything big starts, just two people talking, then doing a small project, then something bigger, and then changing lives.”
“It is very important to have these international collaborations to learn, to see, to exchange, and to meet people and create these connections.”
—Lusine Danielyan, Director of Internationalization, Development and Partnerships at ASUE
LSI strives to lead the way in creating innovative educational solutions that seamlessly connect theory with practice. Through advanced research, the institute develops industry-leading methods and implementation strategies to enhance systemic learning at all levels and in all environments. For more than five decades, LSI has been committed to driving measurable improvements in the performance of both individuals and organizations. To learn more, visit lsi.fsu.edu.
The revolutionary and highly experiential Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship at Florida State University is dedicated to teaching those who wish to embark on an entrepreneurial journey. The College attracts students across disciplines and equips them with the entrepreneurial skillsets and mindsets necessary to launch new ventures, innovate, and foster change in an increasingly dynamic, global environment. JMC offers three undergraduate majors, five graduate majors, 10 minors and a vast array of extracurricular opportunities to inspire innovation, instill compassion and ignite an entrepreneurial mindset in the next generation of leaders. For more information, visit jimmorancollege.fsu.edu.