"We are determined to be the university where ideas from people in different disciplines come together and make something brand new. I'm committed to making UNC the most innovative university in the world."
-- UNC President Erskine Bowles, April 23, 2009
"Our universities need to emphasize entrepreneurship and leadership across all disciplines both inside and outside the classroom.... The spirit and skills of entrepreneurship should be infused across disciplines, working with businesses and communities."
-- UNC Board of Governors Special Committee Report on Community and Economic Development
UNC has always been a seed bed of innovation -- in our curriculum and in our cutting edge research. Going forward, we know that innovation -- thinking and doing new things -- and entrepreneurship -- turning those new things into enterprises -- will be even more critical to our success in the global economy. Individual campuses are well underway in launching their own initiatives to encourage more entrepreneurial activity. And our University-wide UNC Tomorrow effort is encouraging even more effort to create a culture on every campus that rewards new ways of thinking and doing that result in new jobs, from improving the effectiveness of our technology transfer efforts to advocating for statewide innovation strategies.
Across the Univeristy of North Carolina, campuses are offering majors and minors in entrepreneurship that are not only focused on businesses, but also on social and governmental enterprises. Universities are taking a wholistic approach to entrepreneurship, to create a more entrepreneurial culture throughout the campus.