SSTI Digest

Steven Preston was sworn in July 10 as administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, succeeding Hector Barreto.

Mark Wdowik was named vice president of technology transfer for the Colorado State University Research Foundation.

Ned Weinshenker has been appointed to a restructured position as vice president for strategic ventures and economic development at Utah State University.

In last week's Useful Stats article, we incorrectly reported that South Dakota ranked last among states experiencing a public high school graduation rate less than the national average for the 2002-03 school year; in fact, the state ranked 19th. South Carolina had the lowest graduation rate for that year. We regret the error.

Preliminary findings from the Commission on the Future of Higher Education fault U.S. colleges and universities with wasteful spending and a reluctance to create innovative approaches to 21st century education. A recent document released by the commission calls for major changes in financial aid, higher education funding, K-12 outreach, and educational assessment. When Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings launched the commission in September 2005, it was charged with developing a comprehensive strategy for postsecondary education that would make the most of national investment in higher ed. A series of shorter reports released earlier this year by Commission Chair Charles Miller made it clear that the commission's recommendations would require a major overhaul of financial aid programs and higher ed spending. The latest release is an early draft of the commission's final report, a version which still lacks conclusions but has already drawn public opposition from higher ed groups and several commission members. The report finds "equal parts meritocracy and mediocrity" in a national educational system that has become "…

Maine Gov. Mark Baldacci has unveiled a new handbook intended to help communities to capitalize upon their cultural resources to spur economic growth. Maine's Creative Economy Community Handbook: Maine State Government Resources for Communities offers advice for community leaders interested in building a creative and dynamic workforce. The guidelines it gives for designing a strategic plan could benefit communities across the country interested in similar initiatives. The handbook is the result of two years of work by Maines Creative Economy Steering Committee following a 2004 conference on the future of the state economy. The study was requested after it was reported that the creative economy was generating $6.6 billion annually in cultural tourism dollars. The committee has drawn upon the work of Richard Florida, who has theorized that networks of educated and entrepreneurial citizens lead to dynamic local economies. The state's Creative Economy Council estimates that 8.3 percent of Maine's workforce is made up of creative workers. These workers include artists, artisans, engineers, entrepreneurs and researchers. In…

As the authors of the recent Swedish report, The Internationalization of Corporate R&D, pointed out, industrial R&D may increasingly be found concentrated around public and private research institutions with strong research capabilities related to the specific corporation's interests. As companies become increasing global in their structure, so, too, will the location of the research expertise that they draw on. State investments to strengthen university R&D capacity and expertise, then, could be a logical approach for regions to remain or become significant players for the knowledge economy. Fortunately, that's a fundamental approach for many state TBED strategies. With its Third Frontier Project, Ohio provides just one example. But Ohio State University (OSU), the state's largest research institution, is taking the matter into its own hands, as well. On July 7, the university announced plans to invest $100 million over five years to support 10 research projects deemed "high-impact." While most major research universities use internal dollars to fund faculty research, OSU believes the size of its investments will help make a…

Proponents for a higher skilled workforce may be concerned with troubling new statistics regarding high school graduation rates. A new report from the EPE (Editorial Projects in Education) Research Center and Education Week shows that more than 30 percent of the nations ninth-graders fail to go on to graduate from public high schools. The report, Diplomas Count: An Essential Guide to Graduation Policy and Rates, details data on 2002-03 public high school graduation rates for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the 50 largest school districts in the nation. The graduation rates were calculated by using the Cumulative Promotion Index (CPI), which estimates the probability that a student in the ninth grade will complete high school on time with a regular diploma. The CPI rate depicts a four-step process a student must take in order to graduate: The first three steps include the completion of one grade to the next (i.e. 9-10, 10-11, 11-12) and the final step is the completion of grade 12 to graduation. According to the data, New Jersey ranked highest in the nation with an 84.5 percent high school graduation rate. Four…

Complete descriptions of the position openings described below are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. The University of Texas Health Science Center (HSC) at San Antonio is seeking someone to serve assistant vice president for technology transfer. This position reports to the vice president for research and is responsible for oversight, supervision, management, and coordination of activities within the Office of the Vice President for Research related to technology transfer and economic development activities of the HSC. This includes supervision of the Office of Technology Ventures, value creation activities, such as marketing, licensing, new company start-ups, financial valuation, business alliances, internal and external investment in technology development and dealing with highly specialized contract issues regarding sponsored research, collaboration, Bayh-Dole compliance, patent prosecution, materials transfer, conflicts of interest, confidentiality, and internal controls. The Oregon Economic and Community Development Department (OECDD) is recruiting to fill the position of innovation and economic…

Ernest Andrade, director of the Charleston Digital Corridor, announced he is stepping down as a city council member, effective Aug. 30. Thomas Bowles was named science advisor to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, succeeding a number of fellow Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists serving the governor. Lori Clark is the new coordinator of agency relations and research park initiatives at Northern Illinois University. Joey Dean was named vice president of economic development for the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce and as executive director of the Metro Little Rock Alliance. Dean succeeds Jay Chesshir, the chamber's newly named president and CEO, in both positions. President Bush has nominated Charles McQueary to be director of operational test and evaluation at the Department of Defense. The president also has nominated Nathaniel Wienecke to be assistant secretary of commerce for legislative and intergovernmental affairs. The Clovis, Calif.-based Central Valley Business Incubator selected Craig Scharton as its new…

Ernest Andrade, director of the Charleston Digital Corridor, announced he is stepping down as a city council member, effective Aug. 30.

Thomas Bowles was named science advisor to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, succeeding a number of fellow Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists serving the governor.