The CO.STARTERS at AUT programme was recently shortlisted for an international award. The Reimagine Education Awards took place this month at Wharton School, which is part of the part of University of Pennsylvania in the US.
CO.STARTERS is a nine-week extra-curricular programme designed to help aspiring entrepreneurs, providing them with the tools and networks to turn their ideas into action.
Launched in Semester 1, 2016, the programme had more than 150 staff and students register their interest, with 65 formal applications.
CO.STARTERS programme manager, Sabrina Nagel, says CO.STARTERS provides a service that's different and unique, investing in AUT staff and students from a diverse range of disciples and backgrounds.
"The future of work is changing: increasingly our graduates will be starting their own businesses, working for start-up companies, freelancing or working independently", says Sabrina Nagel.
"As this change occurs, CO.STARTERS has adapted to provide a practical learning environment that is different and unique from academic studies. Each cohort is made up of very diverse individuals; a combination of students, alumni and people from the business community. This enables peer-to-peer learning whilst also building a strong community of aspiring entrepreneurs who stay connected well after the nine weeks. It brings in mentors and guest speakers from the business community and is facilitated by local entrepreneurs. The focus is on executing an idea instead of theoretical concepts."
The programme has been highly successful for its first year - when surveying the participants, it was found that 100% of respondents would recommend it to others.
"Providing our students with opportunities to grow their 'c-skills' and build entrepreneurial mind-set is an important cornerstone to ensuring their future success. Being shortlisted for this prestigious award is recognition that we are on the right track," she added.
Though the pilot has recently concluded, the team behind CO.STARTERS are looking to scale up in 2017 and use the experience gained in the past year to continue developing the programme. This includes expanding to AUT's South Campus, bringing in a commercial partner, and working with a variety of partners to bring the programme to various communities around Auckland and New Zealand.
For more information, visit the CO.STARTERS website: http://www.aut.ac.nz/community/Co.Starters@AUT .
