Melissa Crawford has been burdened with the daunting task of getting the Scheinfeld program into the minds of budding entrepreneurs, and expanding the program’s interdisciplinary reach beyond business and marketing majors.

In the middle of its second year, the Scheinfeld Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation Program is working rapidly to expand its class offerings and improve the visibility for non-credit classes as well, enhancing its interdisciplinary education. The program is also in the process of making itself a starting point for students with varying interests to learn how to be entrepreneurs.

“My goal is to create a network of resources for students,” Crawford said. “The importance of networking for students cannot be understated.”

In her newly created position as program coordinator, she is pulling ideas from every corner, openly fielding ideas and advice from students, as well as large businesses looking to network with the school.

The Scheinfeld Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation Program was created in October 2007 after the Board of Trustees voted to name the program in honor of City College board member and retired businessman James D. Scheinfeld.

The first major event sponsored by the Scheinfeld program was a success, according to Crawford, providing a promising starting point to boost program awareness.

Last fall’s first lecture in the Enlightened Entrepreneur series filled the Fè Bland Forum to standing room only capacity as Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard gave insight to those in attendance.

“Students had unprecedented access to Yvon’s story and perspective on business,” Crawford said.

She hopes to repeat that success at the second lecture of the series, currently scheduled for April 14 in the Fè Bland Forum. This time the guest will be UCSB graduate Doug Otto, who founded Deckers Outdoor Corporation, a company that markets footwear from Simple, Teva, and UGG.

“His company is publically traded which offers a different twist and a different set of challenges, which will be a benefit to students,” she said.

Otto’s participation expands on a theme that the lecture series hopes to continue, featuring local entrepreneurs who are also looking ahead to environmental responsibility.

Chouinard’s lecture was such a success that there are plans for both a broadcast of the event on public access television, and a DVD release in the near future.

Crawford said that for the spring lecture, she hopes to attract more attendees from outside of Santa Barbara City College, and open it up more to the local community, and she expects a similarly packed room.

Another hurdle on the list for Crawford is to increase the level of student involvement.

There are eight credit classes offered on the City College campus, and additional non-credit courses at the Wake Center in Goleta. Crawford hopes to expand the interest of those classes to students interested in arts, media, graphic design, culinary arts, and hotel management, to name a few. Classes to appeal specifically to students in these areas may even be offered through the program in the future.

Beyond classes, she’s looking at other ways students can be involved.

“I have an interest in collaborating with business clubs and getting students more interested in entrepreneurship so we can raise funds for activities,” she said. Such activities would potentially include students creating a chapter of Students in Free Enterprise, or SIFE, at City College to promote local entrepreneurship.

Creating a group to raise funds on campus would also allow students to travel to conferences and workshops where they can share ideas with other schools.

“It gets students sharing ideas, and they come back feeling empowered,” Crawford said.

After attending a number of workshops and conferences in recent weeks, she is also interested in what other community colleges have done with little money and fewer resources.

The program’s advisory board is currently discussing plans for events that bring local businesses to campus, and introduce them to students looking for internships or entry-level jobs.

Crawford said companies looking for students to fill intern positions have approached her.

“There’s a need and we have a desire to participate,” she said.

Crawford wants to stress that she is open to ideas from every source, and encourages those interested in the program and people with suggestions to contact her at [email protected].