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Open to all VCU undergraduate students, the Certificate in Venture Creation focuses on developing a multidisciplinary mindset for successful entrepreneurialism and venture creation. Students participating in the program will hone understandings of the challenges, skills and resources necessary for venture creation, and through an immersive culmination experience, integrate these understandings around conceiving, planning and implementing a real venture.

Learning outcomes

The VCU Certificate in Venture Creation enables students to learn and do entrepreneurship. Students participating in this program will:

  1. Develop a venture creation mindset
  2. Effectively identify and address strategies to overcome venture creation challenges
  3. Apply venture creation skills to create, plan and implement a venture
  4. Effectively communicate through written and oral methods

The Certificate in Venture Creation program runs concurrently with a student’s major and is not a stand-alone program. Students should apply to the program during or after taking the introductory course, INNO 200. Interested students should submit their application to the VCU da Vinci Center, which administers the certificate program. Upon acceptance to the certificate program, a Change of Major form will be signed by the student and submitted to Records and Registration by the VCU da Vinci Center.

Certificate requirements

A minimum grade of C is required in each course that applies to the certificate.

The certificate requires a minimum of 13 credit hours of approved course work as follows:

Course Title Hours
INNO 200Introduction to Innovation and Venture Creation1
VNTR 300Venture Creation Skills3
VNTR 460Venture Creation Project3
Two discipline-specific electives (unless otherwise specified in the list below, only approved 300- or 400-level courses may apply)6
Total Hours13

The minimum number of credit hours required for this certificate is 13.

Electives

Note that elective choices are discipline-specific by major.

Course Title Hours
For students pursuing a major in the School of the Arts
CREA 300Idea Accelerator3
CREA 350Piloting the Enterprise3
CREA 393Design Ops Internship1-6
For students pursuing a major in the School of Business
BUSN 400Principles of Consulting3
FIRE 313Financial Management for Small Business3
MGMT 303Creativity and Ideation3
MGMT 321Survey of Entrepreneurship3
For students pursuing a major in the College of Engineering
CMSC 441
CMSC 451
Senior Design Studio I (Laboratory/Project Time)
and Senior Project I
3
CMSC 442
CMSC 452
Senior Design Studio II (Laboratory/Project Time)
and Senior Project II
3
EGRB 401
EGRB 402
Biomedical Engineering Senior Design Studio
and Biomedical Engineering Senior Design Studio
6
ENGR 402
ENGR 403
Senior Design Studio (Seminar)
and Senior Design Studio (Seminar)
2
All other students
ACCT 202Accounting for Non-business Majors3
ECON 203Introduction to Economics3
FIRE 311Financial Management3
IDST 301Interdisciplinary Theory and Practice3
IDST 499BIS Senior Capstone3
MGMT 321Survey of Entrepreneurship3
MKTG 301Marketing Principles3

The program director for venture creation will approve all course work intended to satisfy any elective requirements for the undergraduate Certificate in Venture Creation.

Sample plan of study

Note that classes are taken in conjunction with major course work; see curriculum outline for discipline-specific electives.

Year one
Fall semesterHours
INNO 200 Introduction to Innovation and Venture Creation 1
 Term Hours: 1
Spring semester
VNTR 300 Venture Creation Skills 3
Discipline-specific elective 3
 Term Hours: 6
Year two
Fall semester
Discipline-specific elective 3
 Term Hours: 3
Spring semester
VNTR 460 Venture Creation Project 3
 Term Hours: 3
 Total Hours: 13

The minimum number of credit hours required for this certificate is 13.

For more information, contact the student services coordinator for the VCU da Vinci Center at (804) 827-3764 or email davincicenter@vcu.edu.