Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Spring Semester 2026

Entrepreneurship Practicum (Face-to-Face)

ENTR 4500-01

Course: ENTR 4500-01
Credits: 3
Term: Spring Semester 2026
Department: MESA
CRN: 10364

Course Description

This course is for students who have already launched a business or who are prepared to do so imminently. Students who take this course will grow their businesses within a structured, supportive context. The knowledge, skills, abilities, tools, and techniques that contribute to business venture success will be demonstrated by the instructor and implemented by students.

Overview:

This is a hands-on Entrepreneurship course intended to help develop student businesses. The course will identify and explore the discrete steps involved in transforming an often vague and unrefined idea into an entrepreneurial opportunity. As a practicum course, the course uses a problem-based approach to learning about entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship is approached as a way of thinking and acting, as an attitude and behavior. The emphasis is on entrepreneurship as a process that can be applied in virtually any organizational setting. 

Course Format:

The course is designed for active student engagement in developing their entrepreneurial skills.  This will involve in-person instruction, individual and group work, real-life experiences, “field trips” and guest speakers. Most importantly, this course will primarily focus on each student “building” their business. I fully anticipate that each student’s business will become profitable, or become more profitable, by the end of this course. This class is all about building a REAL business.

Required Texts

Required Textbook:

None

Recommended Readings:

Expert Secrets; Traffic Secrets – Russell Brunson; The E-Myth -  Michael Gerber; The ONE Thing -  Gary W. Keller; $100M Offers - Alex Hormozi

Learning Outcomes

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of ENTR 4500, students will be able to:

  1. Design, launch, and iteratively refine a real-world entrepreneurial venture by applying advanced entrepreneurial frameworks, tools, and methodologies.

  2. Evaluate market opportunities using customer discovery, competitive analysis, and validation techniques to assess feasibility, risk, and growth potential.

  3. Develop and test business models through experimentation, data collection, and evidence-based decision-making.

  4. Apply financial, legal, and operational principles to manage venture resources, assess performance, and ensure compliance and sustainability.

  5. Leverage modern technologies and AI-enabled tools to improve efficiency, decision quality, and competitive advantage in entrepreneurial contexts.

  6. Communicate venture strategy and performance effectively through written reports, presentations, and investor-style pitches tailored to diverse stakeholders.

  7. Demonstrate entrepreneurial leadership and professionalism by setting goals, managing ambiguity, responding to feedback, and reflecting on personal entrepreneurial growth.

Course Requirements

Course Assessment:

Keys to this course:

  • Listening to other students’ experiences can be very helpful
  • Sharing your experiences with other students can be very helpful to them
  • Attendance and collaboration with other student ventures is essential in this course.
  • Implementing and tracking the effect of new tactics and strategies on profitability is essential, especially in preparing your final presentation in the class.
  • The final presentation provides a report on where student businesses started and where student businesses are at the end, and includes reporting on the strategies they incorporated to help the business progress.
Overall Point Distribution

25% Weekly Assignments: Weekly assignments will be associated with tasks specific to each student’s business and pertain to the Course Format Sections above.

25% Participation in Class and Weekly Discussion: Participating in-class discussion, contributing to the group with advice, questions, and insight, etc.

20% Mentoring with ELC:

  1. Mandatory mentoring meeting twice during the semester
  2. Ideally, meeting with mentor throughout the semester

30% Final Presentation: Each student will provide a report on where their business started, and where their business is, at the end of the semester, including reports on the strategies you incorporated to help the business progress, money made, lessons learned, best advice for the other student businesses, etc.

I reserve the right to assign grades based on how students are grouped at the end of the semester. 

Errors: You have two weeks to notify me if you should have been given credit for something.

Course Outline

Section 1: Mindset for Business Success

Section 2: Offer Creation & Value

Section 3: Content Production & Publishing

Section 4: Sales & Sales Sequences

Section 5: Traffic

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work


Late Policy:
Late work will be accepted, but late work will only receive up to half credit for each assignment turned in late.

Make Up Work/Extra Credit:
As mentioned above, any assignment (excluding the exam) may be turned in late for partial credit. No make up work will be accepted beyond the late work policy previously mentioned. Extra credit may be granted if a student chooses to write a 2-page book report on any book on entrepreneurship approved by the instructor.

Attendance Policy

Attendance: Class Attendance is Required: If you are registered for a Face-to-Face, Synchronous Remote, Hybrid, or Remote Hybrid course, attendance is required. If you are ill or instructed to isolate or quarantine, you may request a faculty member record the class and share it with you or you may request other reasonable accommodations. Your instructor will work with you to develop a plan for completing coursework while you are isolated/quarantined. In order for you to receive academic accommodations and ensure that your request is communicated to faculty, you must submit this self-report form.

Expectations for General Conduct

Respect yourself and respect others. This course is designed to encourage collaboration, as such, there will be a lot of real-life feedback, and as you are developing your business, unfortunately, some of it will be negative.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.