Normally applicants are sponsored by another Member. Individuals who are not referred are interviewed by the Director and their application, if accepted, is presented to the Chair of the Membership Committee.
There are three Member Classes: Masters, Entrepreneurs and Professionals.
Masters
The Master program is a voluntary program and here is how the program works:
A number of Student “Slots” are given to the Department Chairs in September based on the number of Masters who step forward. Students identified by the Faculty are nominated through their Department Chair to Dr. Jack Soper, the Kahl Chair in Entrepreneurship. The nominated students are then interviewed by Dr. Soper, Mr. Hauserman, and two Master Members. If selected, these students are admitted to The John Carroll Chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneur Organization (CEO) and they become a full member of the EA for one year.
Students who are members of CEO are also eligible to be chosen as Schenkelberg Scholars and to participate in EA mentoring projects under the supervision of a faculty member.
Masters are identified by a special colored ribbon on their badge at Association events.
Masters and Sponsored Students will meet as a group at a lunch sponsored by the Association on Friday, October 13th.
This program ties together the successful EA Member, the Faculty, and those special students who may become entrepreneurs in the future.
Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs typically have been in their business for 5 years and have at least $1.0M in Revenues.
Since there is no hard and fast definition to fit this changing area of American Business, we have looked at our Entrepreneur members and found the following characteristics:
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They typically have pledged their house at a Bank to make payroll
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They are totally dependent on their business for their income
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When they leave their business it goes into a noticeably lower gear
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They are totally responsible for the startegic direction of the business
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Their business is profitable and growing
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They are interested in learning as a method to help grow their business
Professionals
Our professional members typically have a minimum of 15 years in their area of expertise.
Charateristics of our Professional Members:
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They usually have an expertise in a specific discipline
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Their compensation is generally the result of a team effort
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When they leave their business for short periods, it goes on without them
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They generally work inside a large organization
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They supply services to the entrepreneur
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They are very helpful to our Entrepreneur members, particularly in the Association's Mentoring process
According to our Membership standards, Professional Members are currently limited to 25% of the Membership.
