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Undergraduate Affairs
1055 Business Instructional Facility
515 East Gregory Drive
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 333-2740
Admissions: (217) 244-3890
Fax: (217) 244-9992
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The Social Entrepreneurship Summer Institute (SESI)

Upcoming Event:

Social Entrepreneurship Showcase
Thursday, October 15, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Business Instructional Facility—Atrium
515 East Gregory Drive
Champaign, IL 61820

The showcase will feature team project posters, student e-portfolios,
and program highlights. Opportunities will be available to talk with
students, community partners, and program coordinators about the
community engagement projects and student learning outcomes.

5:30-6:00 Reception/Poster Preview
6:00-6:30 Speakers and Q & A
6:30-7:30 Poster Session

The Social Entrepreneurship Summer Institute is an initiative of the
Office of Undergraduate Affairs in the College of Business, supported
by the Chancellor's Task Force for Civic Commitment in the 21st
Century and the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership, in
collaboration with the following 2009 campus and community
partners:

A Woman's Fund
Center for Teaching Excellence
Community Concepts
Crisis Nursery
Eagle's Nest of St. Clair County
East St. Louis Action Research Project
Girl Scouts of Central Illinois
Greater Community AIDS Project
Hope Community Health Center
Illinois Green Business Association
Opal's House, Inc.
SmileHealthy
United Way of Champaign County
Unity in Action Magazine

What is SESI?

The Social Entrepreneurship Summer Institute is a multi-faceted civic
engagement initiative that combines business education outreach for
professionals working in the non-profit sector with service-learning
internships for University of Illinois students. The institute features
presentations by U of I faculty, APs, and business professionals; and
the curriculum emphasizes principles in social entrepreneurship. U of I
students apply the concepts learned during the institute and companion
course, Social Entrepreneurship & the Citizen Leader, to address
community needs in innovative and sustainable ways.

For Community Organizations

The Social Entrepreneurship Summer Institute (SESI) is an intensive summer program hosted by the College of Business that provides community organizations with business training and a team of student interns for the summer. SESI will meet on a Friday and a Saturday for three weeks in June starting June 12th and ending June 27th. Ten community organizations will be admitted to participate in the summer program and will be exposed to curriculum including, but not limited to, introductory accounting, finance, program planning and management. The institute will also help community organizations to explore whether a “social entrepreneurship” enterprise, creating a for-profit venture to sustain their non-profit’s organization and mission, is right for them. The organizations will be guided in the development of a business plan for a possible social entrepreneurship venture. Each community organization will be provided with a team of student interns who will work with them during the institute and for the remainder of the summer (each intern is committed to interning for a minimum of 60 hours after the institute is over).

For Students

Connected with the Social Entrepreneurship Summer Institute is the Social Entrepreneur Fellows Internship Program. The Fellows program provides an excellent opportunity for students to both learn about societal issues and civic engagement and to serve the community. Students may apply to participate as fellows in a variety of internship roles, including interning with community organizations, interning as research assistants and interning as SESI administrative assistants. Students applying for internship positions with community organizations will need to be available to participate in both the institute (June 12-13, 19-20, 26-27) and commit to working with community organizations for a minimum of 60 hours during the remainder of the summer.

For Researchers

SESI will allow researchers to study a number of potential research questions including the impact of such a program on student’s perceptions of and commitment to civic engagement, the impact of student’s civic engagement on the health of community organizations, the impact of business principles on the effective operation of community organizations, to monitor the burgeoning movement towards social entrepreneurship, and whether businesses can improve their own performance by learning from community organizations.

If you are interested in participating in SESI or would like more information please contact:

Dr. Collette Niland
Director of SESI
Assistant Dean for Advising
cniland@uiuc.edu
217-333-2740

Undergraduate Affairs

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