Develop Entrepreneurial Skills to Direct Your Journey

Mindset Scholars cultivates and supports a multidisciplinary and multicultural community of undergraduate students from across Santa Clara University, and delivers engaging experiences that prepare students to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

Mindset Scholars includes Academic Coursework that covers the entrepreneurial mindset from the perspective of each school:

• In the Leavey School of Business, students take BUSN 70 - Contemporary Business Issues (4 units), which is taught by a former CEO of a company. 
• In the College of Arts & Sciences, students explore empathy through SOCI 1 - Introduction to Sociology (4 units), which includes an introduction into qualitative research.  This course is taught by Dr. Cara Chiaraluce. 
• In the School of Engineering, students are exposed to topics like Design Thinking, Product Opportunity Analysis, and more, to identify solutions to real challenges.  There is no math in the Engineering courses and students complete 2 units in these topics.

Mindset Scholars typically take 1 course per quarter.

Mindset Scholars also includes unique co-curricular and experiential opportunities:

• Idea Lab - Mindset Scholars are advised on which section of Idea Lab to take based upon their interests.
• Field Excursions - opportunities to explore the entrepreneurial mindset in Silicon Valley.  Last fall, students attended StartUp World.
• Go Boldly - a career planning experience that helps Mindset Scholars create a 3-5 year career plan by applying Design Thinking to their lives
• Career Launch & Networking - Mindset Scholars are provided the tools to be stronger at networking as well as networking opportunities to connect them to unique internships.
• Other special workshops and opportunities, including breakfast with President Julie Sullivan

Mindset Scholars are given priority applications to a variety of Ciocca Center opportunities, including Innovation Fellows, Bronco Ventures Accelerator, and BEACH.

Each Mindset Scholar is matched with a mentor, who is a current SCU student in their major, minor, or school.  They provide insights on navigating SCU and opportunities to get engaged on campus.

Each Mindset Scholar additionally has quarterly advising hours with a Ciocca Center advisor, where they are supported by a professional at SCU. These advising hours are personalized for each Mindset Scholar to connect them into resources at SCU related to their personal interests.  For example, a Mindset Scholar interested in Creative Writing would be connected to the Santa Clara Review, the HUB Writing Center and other resources related to writing, whereas a Mindset Scholar interested in building a business might be connected to MakerLab and Ciocca Center Bronco Ventures Accelerator and other resources related to building a business.  These advising hours are used for a variety of topics to support success, such as, making appointments at SCU's Career Center, finding an on-campus job, connecting with tutors on campus, and all sorts of other questions.

Mindset Scholars is estimated to be about a 2-4 hour time commitment per week on average.