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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.

      Barbara Slagel, DHA, a recent Health Administration doctoral graduate, analyzed health disparities research during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, minority groups were disproportionally affected. For example, Slagel says, “American Indian and Alaskan Natives, Black, and Hispanic people had more than three times as many premature excess deaths as white people.”  

      Slagel aimed to “learn what disciplines were conducting health disparities research during COVID-19, what journals were publishing the research, who was funding the research, what collaborations were occurring, and what thematic trends were evident in the research.”  

      Slagel found that health disparities are a multidisciplinary concern. The terms used to describe health inequalities depend on perspectives and whether the research is qualitative or quantitative. Three main clusters of relevant, thematic trends were identified by Slagel, (1) global health crisis and society, (2) COVID-19 related predictors and outcomes, and (3) mental health. Additionally, she found that the disparities may be linked to structural racism, socioeconomic inequities, and mental health issues.  

      To conduct her research, Slagel utilized bibliometric analysis which allows for exploring large amounts of research. Specifically, Slagel drew from the Web of Science and used VOSviewer to create maps of data which show connections between data points.  

      Slagel was recently selected to present her dissertation and follow up research in Rome for the 17th World Congress on Public Health in May 2022. 

      This story is brought to you by the  Office of Research and Graduate Studies.

      Source: Hadlee Rinn

      Media Contact: Kara Owens

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