In This Week's Issue
SSTI News and Analysis
Higher Education in the New Economy
As state and federal funding for higher education dwindles and
the workforce needs of the new economy continue to shift, state and
university officials are reevaluating how higher education is
funded, its return on investment for the state, and how
universities can better drive economic growth. Recent examples in
New York, Ohio and Texas demonstrate how states are implementing
new policies to adapt to the changing times.
New York
Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently signed into law the NYSUNY 2020
legislation, an initiative the governor says will both help New
York's public universities become a leading
catalyst for regionally-focused economic development and stabilize
tuition. The new law allows the four university centers located in
Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, and Stony Brook to apply for challenge
grants of $35 million each to expand facilities and enhance
research-focused programs. A total $140 million is available
through the program, including $80 million in capital funding
authorized under the new law and $60 million in existing SUNY
funds.
Details recently emerged on the proposals submitted by the four
centers. The University of Albany wants to build a Biomedical and
Information Innovation Research Plaza and hire additional faculty
while Binghamton plans to construct a Health and Natural Sciences
facility for healthcare innovations and provide space for startup
companies. Meanwhile, Stony Brook wants to use the money to
jumpstart construction of a translational medical research center
and the University of Buffalo would use the money to implement the
next phase of its UB2020 plan, a long-term strategic plan focused
on enhancing research.
The law also enacts a tuition plan allowing each SUNY and CUNY
campus to raise tuition by $300 per year for five years. The four
research-focused institutions can implement an additional three
percent increase upon approval of their challenge grant
applications. Plans will be reviewed by the SUNY chancellor and
recommended to the Empire State Development Corporation board for
final approval, which is expected by the end of the year.
Ohio
A plan introduced by Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro
would enable the state's colleges and
universities to operate more like corporations by removing several
state regulations in return for taking a smaller share of state
funding and meeting certain benchmarks such as graduating students
sooner and increasing the percentage of degrees awarded in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. The
Enterprise University Plan, which recognizes universities as
drivers of economic development for the state, allows universities
to be free from mandates thus helping to increase efficiency,
effectiveness and competiveness, said Chancellor Petro.
There are two parts to the plan, each requiring legislative
approval. Phase one reduces mandates and regulations, including
eliminating statutory enrollment limits for public universities,
eliminating the requirement that the controlling board must approve
funds for the purchase of real property, and allowing universities
to differentiate the cost of tuition based on size and facility
reasons.
The second phase provides a framework for the universities to
receive greater autonomy from the state through further reductions
of mandates by meeting certain benchmarks to earn Enterprise
University status. This includes investing a portion of state aid
into scholarships or other initiatives and accepting less state
funding. Once a university gains this status, they will be eligible
to advance to International Enterprise University status.
Benchmarks to achieve this include unallocated net assets of 30
percent of total operating expenses, a five-year graduation rate of
75 percent, research expenditures of $250 million or more, STEM degree
percentage of 20 percent, and direct articulation partnership with
community colleges, among others.
The plan is available at:
http://www.ohiohighered.org/sites/default/files/uploads/enterprise-university-plan/Enterprise-Universities-Plan-WEB.pdf.
Texas
Lawmakers passed a
bill earlier this year requiring students to file a degree plan
with institutions of higher education no later than the end of the
second regular semester or term detailing how and when they intend
to achieve their degree. The idea is to graduate students earlier,
especially those receiving full tuition scholarships who may linger
longer than needed to complete a degree. A recent article in
Stateline reports that fewer than half of Texas students
graduate from four-year colleges in six years or less and the state
can pay up to $6,800 for each student who takes extra credit hours.
The bill, which also requires students to obtain permission if they
deviate from their plan, was signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry in
June.
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President Announces Capital Initiatives for Rural Small
Businesses
Speaking during a Rural Economic Forum at Northeast Iowa Community
College in Peosta, IA, President Obama announced several new
initiatives to promote economic growth in rural areas, including
two new capital programs. The Small Business Administration (SBA)
will partner with USDA to double its current rate of investment in
rural small businesses to $350 million over the next five years.
This will be accomplished through SBA's Impact
Investment Fund. SBA and USDA also will launch a series of rural
private equity and venture capital conferences nationwide to help
connect private equity and venture capital investors with rural
startups, according to a White House press release.
Read the announcement...
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Arkansas Governor Announces $2.7 Million STEM Education Pilot
Program
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe and the state's
Workforce Cabinet announced a $2.7 million pilot program
— STEM Works — focused on
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education in high
schools. STEM Works will be made up of two components. The first
component will focus on overhauling the state's
STEM curriculum at the high school level to better prepare
high school graduates to pursue college degrees in STEM
disciplines. The second component — UTeach
— will attempt to attract qualified college
graduates to become STEM educators.
During the pilot stage, schools from across the state will be
encouraged to adopt a STEM curriculum made up of components from
two national STEM education initiatives. Participating school
districts will create New Tech High Schools, a component of the New
Tech Network model
— a nonprofit organization that works
with schools, districts and communities to implement an
interactive STEM education model. The program also will support the
implementation of Relevant Education for Active Learning (REAL)
Schools, a component of the Environmental and Spatial Technology
(EAST) schools model
— a national educational initiative
focused on student-driven service projects using the latest in
technology.
The goal of the program is to have 10 high schools signed up by
January 2012 with implementation of the model for the 2012-2013
school year. Long term, state officials hope that within a decade,
half the state's high schools will transition
their STEM curriculums to this model.
UTeach, the second component of STEM Works, will focus on
recruiting college students majoring in STEM fields to become high
school educators in their field. Starting in fall 2012, five
universities (i.e., Arkansas State University, Arkansas Tech
University, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the
University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and the University of
Central Arkansas) with the state will offer the UTeach program on their campuses.
The long term goal of STEM Works is to develop a highly skilled
workforce that will be able to meet the escalating demand for
employees in high-tech fields. Beebe believes the initiative will
allow the state to attract and retain high-tech companies and
well-paying careers associated with those industries. Read the
press
release...
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Treasury Approves $360M for State Small Business
Lending
The U.S. Department of Treasury has released details on its
latest funding approvals from the State Small Business Credit
Initiative (SSBCI). Eleven states, and Washington, D.C., are slated
to receive a portion of the $360 million that will be used to
expand state small business lending and capital programs. In order
to qualify, states must demonstrate that their relevant programs
will generate at least $10 in new private lending for every $1 in
federal funding. As such, Treasury expects the funding to generate
more than $3.6 billion in additional small business lending and to
create new private sector jobs.
Florida is due to receive the largest single allotment of the
funds during this set of approvals. The state plans to use its
$97.7 million to create a new capital access program to provide
portfolio insurance for small business loans. FL-CAP, managed by
Florida's Division of Strategic Business
Development (DSBD), will operate with separate loan loss reserves
for each participating financial institution. DSBD also will
partner with Enterprise Florida for two other new programs
supported by the SSBCI funding. The first, a venture capital
program, will invest directly in Florida startups. The second is a
small business loan program that will provide loan guarantees, loan
participations and direct loans in the areas of commercial banking
and export finance.
Ohio has been allotted $55 million in SSBCI dollars for its
programs. The Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) plans to use
the funding to support its Capital Access Program, which encourages
state chartered financial institutions to make loans to for-profit
or nonprofit small businesses that are having difficulty obtaining
business loans through conventional underwriting standards. ODOD
also will launch a new cash collateral program and the Targeted
Investment Program, a venture capital program that will target
small businesses in manufacturing, production and logistics.
Other state venture capital programs that will be launched using
the SSBCI funding include Iowa's Demonstration
Fund Program, Louisiana's Seed Capital Program,
Tennessee's INCITE Fund and
Texas's Small Business Venture Capital
program.
Read the announcement at:
http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1278.aspx.
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Federal Agencies will Partner to Commit $510 Million to Spur
Biofuels Industry
The Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy and the
Navy will invest up to $510 million during the next three years to
produce advanced drop-in biofuels to power military and commercial
transportation. To accelerate the production of these advanced
bio-based jet and diesel fuels, the federal agencies in partnership
with the private sector will work to jointly construct or retrofit
several drop-in biofuel plants and refineries. The joint
plan calls for a substantial cost share commitment from private
industry partners — of at least a one-to-one
match. The biofuels initiative will be steered by the White House
Biofuels Interagency Work Group and Rural Council.
Read the press
release...
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NSF Awards $74M for Engineering Research Centers
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced that it will award $74 million total for the creation of four interdisciplinary research and education centers as part of the third generation of NSF Engineering Research Centers. In addition to their primary focus on commercialization and education, these centers will emphasize innovation, entrepreneurship, small business collaboration, and international partnerships. For the first time, two of the ERCs will be co-funded by the Department of Energy. One, led by Arizona State University, will investigate quantum energy and sustainable solar technologies. A second at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville will develop more reliable and efficient electricity transmission networks. The other two ERCs will focus on research into urban water infrastructure and mind-machine interface at Stanford University and the University of Washington, respectively.
SSTI Events
SSTI Conference Schedule Available Now
Interested in attending SSTI's 15th Annual Conference on November 8-9, 2011 in Columbus, OH? Our full schedule of sessions, plenaries, recepitions and activities is now available, along with our conference brochure (pdf format).
Visit the site...
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TBED People and Job Opportunities
TBED People
E. William (Bill) Colglazier, recently retired executive
officer of the National Academy of Sciences and the National
Research Council, has been selected the Science and Technology Advisor to
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott named Doug Darling to head up the
newly formed
Department of Economic Opportunity. He also named Cynthia,
Lorenzo, who had been interim director, to head up the Agency
for Workforce Innovation.
Steve Jenkins has left his position as senior vice
president for economic development at Go Topeka.
Denyse Ferguson has been named vice president of economic
development at the Cincinnati USA
Partnership, the chamber's economic
development arm. Ferguson previously served as the president and
CEO of the Lansing Area Economic Partnership, Inc. (Leap, Inc.) in
Michigan.
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Staff Picks
Entrepreneur Names Top 10 Angel Groups
With 282 angels in its group, Ohio TechAngel Funds landed in
Entrepreneur magazine's number one spot
of Top 10 Angel Investor groups in the nation. See the
list...
Britain Finds More Investment for Startups with Succession of
Successful Exits
While funding for startup companies in Europe generally has
lagged behind the U.S., technology investors in the UK say that may
be starting to change as British tech entrepreneurs begin to yield
successes.
Read more...
Investors, USDA Seek More Risk Capital for Rural
Communities
In this
post, Michael Gurau, president of CEI Community Ventures,
discusses a recent roundtable convened by the USDA to focus on what
the federal government could do to provide greater funding flow
into rural markets.
Canadian Students Get Boost from Government to Launch
Businesses
University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier
University's Entrepreneurship Accelerator
Program will get a combined $1.1 million from the provincial
government to help students launch companies. The bulk of the
funding ($1 million) will help the University of Waterloo triple
the number of students involved in the entrepreneurship program.
Read more...
WSJ: Tech Sector Hit by Decline in Government IT
Spending
As some of the most aggressive buyers of software and hardware,
governments are cutting back on spending for technology, and
switching to web-based services and consolidating IT
— unwelcome news for Silicon Valley.
Read more...
Workers Need Transferable Skills to Succeed
In Rebecca Bagley's latest
blog post, she discusses the importance of identifying platform
skill sets — those shared across cluster
organizations — so that skills will transfer to
other companies in the cluster.
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