Problems i2 Passport Solves
Key Problem: Some students have already engaged in some level of innovation and entrepreneurship prior to their first year at college, but many more have had no exposure, reason, or interest to explore innovation and entrepreneurship. With so many competing activities, clubs, and sports, the question is how do entrepreneurship centers engage “newbie” students to introduce them to, and potentially ignite their interest in problem solving, innovation, and entrepreneurship?
Solution: By creating i2 Passport, students are able to engage in innovation and entrepreneurship as well as expand their knowledge in customer discovery and idea development. These are also valuable skills that students can then take with them down their career paths. The goal is to get students to take the first steps to creating and pursuing a new idea and diving head first into innovation and entrepreneurship.
Problem: Most, if not all campuses struggle to get students to attend their events or programs. Programs that are put on for students tend to not get as much participation as universities might want.
Solution: i2 Passport uses some events that other organizations have already planned, cutting down the work and driving up attendance at events that other organizations have already planned.
Problem: Student debt is such a huge problem for students across the country. It tends to be the #1 pain point for students.
Solution: Cash prizes that students win through i2 Passport can be used to pay for tuition/student loans and break through the noise of other activities/clubs/teams in order to get students aware of i2 Passport, and use any leftover money to fund their start-up company.
Problem: Since students are coming from all over campus, they all have different strengths and talents. How do you get certain students to join together and use all their different strengths? How can students partner up to engage in different ideas.
Solution: i2 Passport provides opportunities for students to come together to build the best ideas possible with students they would never meet otherwise.
Problem: How does a university engage a certain subgroup of students to participate in these events? How can you reward a specific subgroup of students, including women?
Solution: i2 Passport allows you to create many different categories of prizes for students. A separate drawing can be created for a specific group of students that the university would like to engage, for example FirstGen students or underrepresented students. UNH has also seen very high involvement from women who participate in this program.
How do Students Win?
Once students sign up for the program, they are the able to attend different events on campus and earn points. Each event that they attend is worth a different amount of points. All points are based on a variety of factors. Students can win by either attending the most events out of all participants or attending one event in each category to be entered into a drawing.
i2 Passport points: First, second, and third place prizes are all given to the top three students with the most points. These are the students who attend almost all of the events that are offered and earn the most points.
Drawings: Students must complete at least one activity in each of the categories of events to be entered into two drawings, each with cash prizes. As long as they complete one event in each of the categories, they will automatically be entered into these drawings. This helps ensure the key skill sets are learned and keeps students motivated throughout the semester. If they do not have enough time to go to all the events, or don’t think they will be able to catch up to the top three, they still have a reason to continue going to events and could still be rewarded for their efforts.
Subgroup Drawing: There are many different opportunities with this program to reward specific subgroups of students with whom the university wants higher engagement. Some examples could be FirstGen students, or underrepresented students. They are then placed in their own category for a separate drawing for a higher chance to win. Requirements are the same, but it gives FirstGen students a better chance at winning and helps draw that specific subgroup of students to participate in the program.
Technology
The i2 Passport Program has developed its own software and mobile applications that students can download to receive and view any and all information they might need to complete the program. Some features of the app are:
- View when upcoming events are as well as what category they count for and how many points they are worth.
- Keep track of events they have already completed and events that they still need to complete.
- View their total amount of points and easily see what place they are in.
License at Your University
i2 Passport might sound easy to create, but it isn’t! LUCKILY, YOU CAN NOW LICENSE i2 PASSPORT AT YOUR UNIVERSITY. How do you market and get student registrations? What information do you collect and use for data analytics? How do you engage campus partners? How do you track points and show who is ahead on the leaderboard? How do you stop students from gaming the system? What needs to be included in the six pages of terms and conditions? How do you keep students engaged and ensure they are walking away with key skill sets? These and thousands of other details are packaged and ready for you to easily implement.
After developing and perfecting the i2 Passport Program over the past four semesters, the University of New Hampshire is now offering to license the program to other colleges. This will include technology (software/apps), marketing documents, legal considerations, communication and engagement strategies, and planning tools to implement the program to your university.
If you are interested in licensing this product at your college/university, please contact Joshua Cyr at the UNH Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center.
Email: josh.cyr@unh.edu
Office: 603.862.1351
i2 Passport™ is a registered trademark of the University of New Hampshire, and the content of the i2 Passport™ program is © 2024, The University of New Hampshire, all rights reserved. Used with permission…