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Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship

We are a dedicated institute for student entrepreneurs across campus and beyond. We aim to maximize your success by fostering your entrepreneurial mindset, promote inter-disciplinary collaboration and provide support for the creation and development of your new ventures. Jumpstart your ideas and get involved today!

Tune in for excitement!

Passion. Potential. Pitches. Don't miss any of the 2025 New Venture Challenge excitement.

Tune in Friday, April 11 at 1 p.m. for great ideas and fierce competition. Then, join the judges, mentors, spectators and teams as they see who is going home with thousands of dollars in venture financing. The awards broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. and one team will walk away as the overall best venture. 

Start your entrepreneurial journey

Central Michigan University’s College of Business Administration is the home of the Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship and the first Department of Entrepreneurship in the state of Michigan. We are a student-centric hub where experiential, curricular, and external entrepreneurial opportunities intersect.

Our mission is to maximize student success by fostering a campus-wide entrepreneurial mindset that promotes inter-disciplinary collaboration and the creation of new ventures.

We aim to create innovative programming, boost cross-campus and ecosystem collaboration and provide a comprehensive mentoring program.

Our institute provides extracurricular opportunities and is open to all undergraduate and graduate CMU students.

Student opportunities

  • Meet experienced alumni, faculty, entrepreneurs, investors, and other business and political leaders.
  • Learn practical skills, innovative thinking, and connect with mentors and entrepreneurial resources.
  • Attend skill-building workshops and compete in pitch competitions and Hackathons.
  • Take part in special scholarship programs and travel experiences.
  • Pitch your venture at our signature New Venture Challenge event and compete for up to $20,000 in cash awards.

      Find your path

      Are you interested in becoming an entrepreneur?

      Every journey is unique. Explore the opportunities that interest you.

      Provost announces interim leaders for College of Science and Engineering

      by Erica Peters

      Paula Lancaster, provost and executive vice president, has announced an interim leadership team for the College of Science and Engineering. The announcement follows the decision by current Dean Dave Ford to step down from his position at the end of the month.

      Lancaster has appointed Tracy Galarowicz to serve as interim dean and Pete Vermeire to serve as assistant dean of the college.

      Galarowicz has served as associate dean in the college since 2022. She is a faculty member in the Department of Biology and has previously served as department chair. She earned a doctorate in ecology from the University of Illinois; a master’s degree in biology from the University of Minnesota Duluth; and a Bachelor of Science from St. Norbert College.

      Vermeire is a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics and has served in various leadership roles across the college and university, including assistant chair, assistant to the dean, associate dean and special assistant to the provost for academic and financial management. Vermeire earned a doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Notre Dame.

      “I look forward to working with Drs. Galarowicz and Vermeire in these new roles and appreciate the experience and unique skills they bring to these positions,” Lancaster said. “I also want to thank Associate Dean Chris Tycner for his continued leadership of the college and its priorities, particularly in the areas of research and external partnerships.”

      The university will launch a national search for the next leader of the College of Science and Engineering in the coming months, Lancaster said.

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