Each year at Fresno State professors work on their own ideas for new courses and instruction to explore entrepreneurial ideas on campus.

The Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fresno State and the Coleman Foundation recognize professors who develop and teach entrepreneurial courses on campus. They even have an exclusive club.

Professors who have been recognized are invited to a fellowship of professors called the Coleman Fellowship and are awarded a $5,000 stipend for their work. The group meets for monthly luncheons to discuss entrepreneurial education.

To become a member of the Coleman Fellowship, faculty members at Fresno State must submit proposals for new courses and demonstrate how that course will help students pursue higher education in entrepreneurship.

This year, three professors are being awarded and welcomed into the Coleman Fellowship. Professor Henry Delcore, from the department of anthropology, professor Lizhu Davis, from the department of child, family and consumer sciences, and professor Dave Goorahoo, from the department of plant science.

Professor Delcore was recognized for his course, An Interdisciplinary Approach to Entrepreneurship Education in Engineering, Social Science and Business. Delcore said he works with one of last year̢۪s Coleman awardees, professor Reza Raeisi from the electrical and computer engineering department.

Delcore found out about his award when he received a letter congratulating him for the success of his course, and informing him that he would be awarded a place among the Coleman Fellowship.

Delcore said that he will use the $5,000 stipend he was awarded to travel to conferences related to entrepreneurial work to improve his understanding of the subject.

“It’s a great recognition of the work and energy for the development of a new course like this,â€Â Delcore said.

Delcore̢۪s class requires students to combine their skills from different majors and design a working prototype of their own new product.

According to Delcore, the idea behind taking an interdisciplinary approach in this course is what makes it successful. He organizes students into groups so that engineering majors work on the technical and electrical aspects of the product. Business majors are expected to assess finances and marketing forecasts. Social science majors are expected to research the product on potential users.

“The goal of the class is to have a real working prototype and design the ultimate product, and a business plan,â€Â Delcore said. “And the emphasis is on doing, not just thinking.â€Â

One example of a new idea created in Delcore̢۪s class was a device that entertains restaurant patrons who are waiting for a table. The device includes games, movie trailers and access to the restaurant̢۪s menu. According to Delcore, the goal of the device was to improve upon the pagers used for people waiting at busy restaurants.

Delcore teaches a wide range of anthropology classes, from Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, to Peoples and Cultures of Southeast Asia.

Professor Goorahoo was recognized for his course, Organic Farming. Goorahoo said that being a member of the Coleman Fellowship is a great honor. He said that interacting with experts and applying those entrepreneurship skills to courses he teaches fulfills one of his teaching philosophies.

“To become a good teacher, one must first be a better student,â€Â Goorahoo said.

Goorahoo will be working on the Organic Farming course with one of last year̢۪s Coleman Fellowship awardees, professor Klaus Tenbergen from the food science and nutrition department.

Goorahoo said the $5,000 stipend he received will be used in developing and preparing for the class.

According to the syllabus for Organic Farming, students in the class will compile an entrepreneurial plan for an organic farm while interacting with organic farmers and other members of the industry to learn how to optimize productivity and profitability.

Goorahoo teaches a variety of classes ranging from Plant Science, Crop Science and Soil and Water. Goorahoo also teaches graduate courses in Plant Science.

Professor Davis was recognized for her course, Fashion Entrepreneurship. Davis was out of town over the weekend and could not be reached for comment.