The Burton D. Morgan Foundation, amplified by multiple new donors, is continuing its support of the innovative entrepreneurship program at Notre Dame College.
A continuation grant from the Burton D. Morgan Foundation has been supplemented by the first gift from the Harvard Business School (HBS) Alumni Club of Northeast Ohio to the College, and contributions from two additional HBS alumni donors. Entrepreneurship activities at the College also have received significant gifts from the Cleveland Foundation Fenn Educational Grant and from individuals, including members of the Notre Dame Board of Trustees, alumni and other friends of the College.
In combination, the gifts and grants reinforce programming at Notre Dame’s campus Enterprise Development Center (EDC), which supports more than 100 students pursuing Notre Dame’s ground-breaking entrepreneurship offerings.
The funds received from all donors allow for the expansion of course content, provide scholarships to students and strengthen the culture of entrepreneurship on campus through student participation in off- and on-campus activities.
Educational Entrepreneur
The entrepreneurship program at Notre Dame is led by Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship Robert “Bob” Chalfant, a company founder, serial entrepreneur, investor, U.S. Navy combat veteran and business owner.
Before arriving at Notre Dame in fall 2019, Chalfant led the entrepreneurship program at the University of Akron. He was the director of the Fitzgerald Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies there. He has served on the board of directors for four private companies and three nonprofit organizations. He is known to invest in his students’ companies and in startups in the Akron and Cleveland areas.
Entrepreneurship Co-Majors
Notre Dame’s entrepreneurship program is advanced among colleges and universities. Students can add entrepreneurship only as a co-major to any other degree program at the College. The resulting double major trains students to apply an entrepreneurial mindset to their specific field of study, growing their own career and business endeavors to create personal wealth for themselves and their families.
This innovative dual major program at the College commands a very high level of diversity within the program: About half of the entrepreneurship co-majors are non-business majors, and about half are women. Ethnic diversity is evident in the program, as well. The co-major was first offered in fall 2019.
Popular and inventive bachelor’s degrees in performing arts music entrepreneurship, and in performing arts theatre entrepreneurship also are available at Notre Dame.
Enterprise Development Center
Regardless of their majors, Notre Dame students work and learn side-by-side with practicing entrepreneurs in the EDC, an advanced communications, events and meetings hub for entrepreneurial programming on the campus.
Activities in the EDC include all the entrepreneurship courses and guest speakers open to students in more than just entrepreneurial studies. In addition, the EDC is used to host programs for Women’s Entrepreneurship Week, in which the College participates each year; the Young Entrepreneur Pitch Challenge; and meetings for the Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund through which students from Notre Dame and seven other universities decide which of 10 startup companies receive equity funding.
To learn more about how the entrepreneurship program at Notre Dame helps students succeed in life, contact Chalfant at rchalfant@ndc.edu.
June 2020
About Notre Dame College
For almost a century, Notre Dame College has educated a diverse population in the liberal arts for personal, professional and global responsibility. Founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1922, the College has grown strategically to keep pace with the rapidly changing needs of students and the dramatic changes in higher education. But it has never lost sight of its emphasis on teaching students not only how to make a good living but also how to live a good life.
Today, the College offers bachelor’s degrees in 30 disciplines plus a variety of master’s degrees, certification programs and continuing and professional development programs for adult learners on campus and online. Notre Dame College offers NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletic programs for men and women and is located in a picturesque residential neighborhood just 25 minutes from the heart of Cleveland. Hallmarks of the Notre Dame experience include stimulating academics, personalized attention of dedicated faculty and staff, and small class sizes.
Notre Dame College is located at 4545 College Road in South Euclid. For further information contact Brian Johnston, chief communications officer, at 216.373.5252 or bjohnston@ndc.edu.