Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship, & Venture Innovation

The Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Venture Innovation will offer bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs for students who want to be tomorrow’s business, community, and academic innovators. Faculty in the program discover and disseminate knowledge through their research, supporting Arkansas, economic development and the academic community.

Department Directory

Academic Programs

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Major
Bachelor’s Degree

Start your own for-profit or non-profit venture. Manage and grow small businesses, or enter the workforce with an entrepreneurial mindset and skills in innovation and technology commercialization.

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Minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Minor Program

A minor for Walton College students desiring more knowledge of innovation and entrepreneurship to assist them in their business careers.

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Master of Science in Product Innovation
Master's Degree

The one-year Master of Science in Product Innovation will prepare students to usher new products from ideation through the commercialization phases in existing companies or in new ventures. The curriculum will cover the needs-based product design, prototype development and testing, business model development and validation, and project and product management.

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PhD Program: Strategy and Entrepreneurship
Doctoral Degree

The department offers a PhD program in Business Administration that prepares students for careers as scholars focused on problems facing businesses. The program offers areas of emphasis in Entrepreneurship, Nonmarket Strategy, and Corporate Social Responsibility, and Micro foundations of Strategy and Entrepreneurship.

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Department News

Study: Stock Purchases by Senators Generate Abnormal Returns for Firms

Researchers based study on public perception of politicians as unethical, having privileged information.

October 20, 2022

A biker riding on a Northwest Arkansas trail. Photo by Michael Gjellum.

Walton College Launches Master of Science in Product Innovation Program

The degree targets recent graduates and mid-career professionals who want to develop skills to launch products in a startup or innovative environment.

September 29, 2022 | By Lori McLemore

Callander and Cummings Recognized with Schulze Publication Award

The authors explore how to bridge the gap between art and business.

July 8, 2022

Using Diversity to Improve Educational Experiences at the U of A

This session with Rogelio Garcia Contreras and Jackie Wiersma-Mosley will highlight inclusive teaching practices that support all U of A students. Join the talk from 1:30-2:30 p.m. today via Zoom.

March 30, 2022

Heartland Challenge; Credit: Cari Humphry

Student Startup Teams to Compete for $110,000 Cash Prize Pool in U of A's Heartland Challenge

Twelve graduate startup teams across North America will compete this spring in the third annual Heartland Challenge, a competition designed to simulate the process of raising venture capital for a high-growth enterprise.

March 28, 2022

Assistant Professor Rogelio Garcia Contreras receives the Service Learning Outstanding Teaching Award.

Garcia Contreras Recipient of Outstanding Contribution to Service Learning Teaching Award

Rogelio Garcia Contreras, teaching assistant professor and director of social innovation in Walton College, received the 2021-22 Outstanding Contribution to Service Learning Teaching Award.

March 17, 2022

Rogelio Garcia Contreras; Credit: Rachel Grunert

Rogelio Garcia Contreras Named 2020-21 Service Learning Committee Member of the Year

Rogelio Garcia Contreras, a teaching assistant professor who has taught two service learning classes in Walton College, directed multiple service-learning-based honors theses.

September 8, 2021

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New Program at U of A to Support Outdoor Recreation Entrepreneurs

A new program is being developed at the U of A that will train and support regional entrepreneurs focused on outdoor recreation-oriented hospitality, service and experience businesses, as well as outdoor industry product design and development start-ups.

September 8, 2021

Goforth Joins NWA Council Executive Committee

Sarah Goforth, executive director of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, will join the NWA Council Executive Committee.

July 16, 2021

Jared Greer, center, receives the winner's check at the 2018 SEC Student Pitch Championship, with Carol Reeves, left, of the U of A, and Blake Petty, right, of Texas A&M University.

Local Startup Lapovations Awarded $100,000 Small Business Award

The grant builds on a similar $1 million Small Business Innovation and Research award Lapovations received from the National Science Foundation in 2020.

June 15, 2021

Epic Spotlight: Farid Noori

November 17, 2020

innovators are needed now more than ever.

Help Solve Community Problems Exacerbated by COVID-19 Through Social Innovation Challenge

September 18, 2020

New Course and Collaboration to Focus on Problems Caused by Pandemic

Faculty and students will collaborate with a university in India to develop innovations for medical devices and protective equipment.

July 14, 2020

Blending Art and Entrepreneurship

Though Adrienne Callander is an assistant professor of art and entrepreneurship, her research centers on challenging the separation of these two processes.

April 16, 2020