SSTI Digest

Statewide efforts addressing all of higher education's public purposes are needed to combat the increasing competition and privatization sweeping the nation's public colleges and universities, says a new report from the Futures Project, Correcting Course: How We Can Restore the Ideals of Public Higher Education in a Market-Driven Era. State policies have come to favor an open market with the potential to create unhealthy competition that strays from the traditional goals of public institutions, such as increased access, better instruction, lower costs and greater efficiency, the authors contend. As higher education becomes more competition-driven, they argue, academic leaders feel compelled to chase revenues and rankings rather than to focus on providing a high quality education. The Virginia General Assembly recently passed legislation offering the University of Virginia, the College of William and Mary and 16 other public institutions status as independent entities or chartered universities. By accepting lower state appropriations in return for freedom from state regulations, these…

Creativity and curiosity are key ingredients for innovation, so it is not too surprising that many communities are looking for ways to increase the creative spirit among their residents and businesses. The how-to of nurturing creativity does not follow a simple recipe for easy replication across the country, but a recent World Bank working paper provides a broad platform of key ingredients. In Dynamic Cities and Creative Clusters, Weiping Wu examines seven American cities as well as Dublin, Bangalore and Hong Kong to identify common factors and public policies that have built these cities into urban hubs of creative industries. Wu, professor of urban studies at the School of World Studies at the Virginia Commonwealth University, defines these cities as having a concentration of creative industries that generate products protected by intellectual property (IP) laws and that house the creative workers for those industries. Wu notes the “creative class” includes occupations in architecture, design, engineering, entertainment and science. According to Wu, several factors appear to form an important…

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin signed last week legislation establishing the Department of Commerce and streamlining the support operations for the state’s economic development efforts. Senate Bill 1002, approved during the recent special session of the West Virginia Legislature, renamed the Bureau of Commerce the Department of Commerce. The bill encompasses all of the divisions, offices, boards and commissions under the former Bureau, with the exception of the Water Development Authority and Economic Development Authority – two agencies that become independent. S.B. 1002 also establishes the governor as chairman and board member for seven agencies: the Economic Development Authority, the Public Energy Authority, the Water Development Authority, the Jobs Investment Trust, the Infrastructure Council, the Housing Development Authority and the School Building Authority. With the reorganization, the Council for Community and Economic Development, which provided oversight for the West Virginia Development Office, becomes an advisory board. The executive director of the Development Office, appointed by…

Galynn Beer succeeds Johnny Roy as the new chairman of the board of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology. Jeff Brancato has been named Associate Vice President for Economic Development of University of Massachusetts. Victor Budnick, executive director of Connecticut Innovations, has announced his retirement effective April 1. Chris Capelli, currently director of the technology transfer office at University of Pittsburgh, is leaving to become vice president for technology transfer at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The University of Cincinnati has appointed Anne Chasser to serve as associate vice president for technology transfer and commercialization in the school's Office of Research. Ladd Christensen and Martin Frey are the new co-directors of the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development. Oleg Kagonovich has been promoted to the position of CEO of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance. He formerly served as Chief Operating Officer. Mike Koop, deputy commissioner of the…

Galynn Beer succeeds Johnny Roy as the new chairman of the board of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.

Jeff Brancato has been named Associate Vice President for Economic Development of University of Massachusetts.

Victor Budnick, executive director of Connecticut Innovations, has announced his retirement effective April 1.

Chris Capelli, currently director of the technology transfer office at University of Pittsburgh, is leaving to become vice president for technology transfer at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

The University of Cincinnati has appointed Anne Chasser to serve as associate vice president for technology transfer and commercialization in the school's Office of Research.

Ladd Christensen and Martin Frey are the new co-directors of the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development.

Oleg Kagonovich has been promoted to the position of CEO of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance. He formerly served as Chief Operating Officer.

Mike Koop, deputy commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Community & Economic Development, is resigning effective March 1 to return to the private sector.