Motto: The Seinäjoki UAS student possesses an entrepreneurial spirit and is capable of creating and developing new profitable and successful businesses.

Entrepreneurship and the promotion of it is viewed in three complementary ways:

1) Entrepreneurship is defined as entrepreneurial-type activity, which may have, but does not have to have a direct connection to business or the practice of business.
2) Entrepreneurship is defined as the creation of new business or the development of existing business. In this way, entrepreneurship is increasingly associated with knowledge and skills known as business competence.
3) Entrepreneurship is defined as the process associated with establishment of one's own business.

There are three dimensions for promoting entrepreneurship of students in Seinäjoki UAS:

1) To encourage the development of entrepreneurial spirit and an entrepreneurial attitude as well as the heightening of interest toward entrepreneurship.
2) To improve the knowledge and skills needed in entrepreneurship to make entrepreneurship a career choice worth considering.
3) To support and guide those seriously considering a career in entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurial spirit is developed in all degree programmes of Seinäjoki UAS through pedagogy and practices that promote creativity, innovativeness, visualisation and the ability to take risks. The utilisation of these methods is not dependent on the actual content of the course in question. Entrepreneurial spirit is also promoted through various theme days and multidisciplinary studies.

More extensive pedagogic solutions and learning environments in the schools used to promote the knowledge and skills needed in entrepreneurship include virtual business activity, partnership business activity, project workshops, online forestry office, project learning based on needs in the working world, SeAMK Hyvinvointipalvelut (wellness services), Young Skills, Raami co-operatives and Frami Pro.

For students considering a career in entrepreneurship, the institution offers courses across degree programmes in addition to the pedagogic methods and courses in their own degree programme. Examples of such courses include Business Start-up Planning, Business Basics and From an Idea to a Business. The national Sytyttäjä (ignition) competition offers students the opportunity to compete with business ideas. There are also general courses available to everyone, which deal with business development. These include Financial Planning and Tools for Establishing Business, Expanding and Developing Business Activities, Family Business and Succession, Networks in Business.

The knowledge, skills and attitudes associated with entrepreneurship are monitored with the Entre Intentio meter. This is a tool with which the development of students' interest in, consideration for, competence in and intention to engage in entrepreneurship are measured from the time they begin their studies until they graduate. The tool helps to monitor the impact of various procedures to promote entrepreneurship on the development of attitudes and intentions.

The primary purpose of the tool is to seek out a potential group of students who are considering and have intention to engage in entrepreneurship and to do this in the earliest phase of their studies as possible. In this way, they can begin along their entrepreneurial path through career counselling and attend courses that promote entrepreneurship and Yritystalli. All of the degree programmes offer students the opportunity to participate in Yritystalli in addition to their other studies. Yritystalli enables students to develop their business ideas and expertise as future entrepreneurs while they study and to connect what they learn to their other studies. Each school has its own Yritystalli manager or a contact person.

The Yritystalli managers/contact persons in the schools:

School of Business and Culture:Helena Hannu and Merja Juppo
School of Food and Agriculture:Heikki Holma and Elina Ojala
School of Technology:Jari Rajamäki
School of Health Care and Social Welfare:Minna Hautamäki and Sinikka Volanto

The Protomo Seinäjoki project of Frami Ltd and Seinäjoki UAS brings concrete addition to the services of the students and also the personnel planning to start a business. Protomo's services are aimed especially at developing a new kind of (innovative) service, product or business idea before actually starting the business. With the financial support of universities of applied sciences (Tuoteväylä-funding), it is possible to develop the business idea or find out the commercial prospects of the business using expert help subject to charge.

Protomo Seinäjoki contact persons: Ville Orrenmaa (Frami Ltd) and Helena Hannu (Seinäjoki UAS)

SeAMK Tuoteväylä-funding: Seliina Päällysaho

ops.seamk.fi - Kampusranta 11, 2nd floor (Frami F), 60320 SEINÄJOKI - Puhelin: +358 20 124 5000 - Faksi: +358 20 124 5001 - opintotoimisto@seamk.fi