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The current downswing in the economy is impacting appropriation levels to public institutes of higher education, requiring universities and colleges to pursue both short-term and long-term solutions to improve their revenues. In a recent survey to its membership, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) found 85 percent of schools experienced a reduction this year in state appropriations compared to the previous year. For almost half of responding public universities, the cut exceeded 10 percent.

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Eric Abelquist has been named executive vice president of Oak Ridge Associated Universities and deputy director of the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.

Arn Boezaart, who has been interim executive director of the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center the past six months, will take over the position permanently.

This issue of the Digest unveils a new format and look for the Digest. Shorter but containing more material at the same time, we think this new format will permit you to get the most important news of the week for the TBED community in a format that works best for you. We consider literally hundreds of items each week for the Digest, so we’re particularly excited to introduce the Staff Picks section that will provide you with links to stories, videos, blog posts, etc. that we think you should be aware of.

The Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recently announced that they are restructuring the funding process for the broadband programs introduced in the Recovery Act earlier this year.

To attract additional federal funds and boost job creation, Michigan legislators passed a bill authorizing the state to spend another $30 million on a program to create alternative energy clusters and support technology commercialization.

A recent survey found 78 percent of Americans believe innovation will be more important to the U.S. economy in the next thirty years than the previous thirty years. While the importance of innovation is recognized, 81 percent of Americans believe the quality of K-12 math and science education lags behind other countries. The survey of 1,200 U.S. respondents, commissioned by the Intel Corporation and Newsweek magazine, found that 33 percent of Americans said the U.S.

Underrepresented minorities were awarded 79,097 bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering related fields in 2006, an 18 percent increase from 2002, according to data released this month by the National Science Foundation. In 2006, 14,099 S&E master’s degrees and 1,661 S&E doctoral degrees were awarded to underrepresented minorities, a 32 percent and 12 percent increase, respectively, compared to five years earlier.

The total number of international students at colleges and universities in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 671,616 in the 2008/09 school year, rising 8 percent from the previous year and representing the largest percentage increase in 28 years. The Institute of International Education (IIE) reports in its annual Open Doors report that 15.4 percent of international students in the U.S. came from India, 14.6 percent from China, and 11.2 percent from South Korea. A record number of U.S.

Nov 16-22 marks the second annual Global Entrepreneurship Week, a celebration of fostering innovation and ambition in people under 30 years of age and encouraging them to start new businesses. Founded by the U.S.-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the UK-based Make Your Mark campaign, the Global Entrepreneur Week website maintains an interactive calendar of entrepreneur-focused events in 87 countries and all 50 states. According to the site, Tennessee leads the U.S.

NorTech, the Northeast Ohio Technology Coalition, seeks applications for a Vice President of Strategic Outreach. Reporting to the president and CEO, and serving as an integral member of the senior management team, the VP of Strategic Outreach will be responsible for the development of NorTech’s overall communication strategy and building relationships with key stakeholders.

Mayors from across the nation anticipate their cities will be in worse financial shape next year as sales tax revenue, revenue from service fees, and property tax revenues all are expected to decline. Findings from the U.S. Conference of Mayors survey indicate that while two out of three mayors expect budget shortfalls this year, four out of five are projecting shortfalls in their next fiscal year and those shortfalls are expected to be the same or larger than this year’s experiences.

Exactly six weeks into the federal government's fiscal year which commenced on Oct 1, five of the 12 appropriations bills for FY10 have been signed into law by President Obama. The remaining seven bills are at various places in the appropriations process, none of which have emerged from conference committee for a final vote by each chamber.

Angel investors are reducing the average size of their investments, according to the latest report from the University of New Hampshire Center for Venture Research. In the first half of this year, total angel investment dollars fell by 27 percent from the same period in 2008, but the number of angel deals increased by six percent. As a result, the average deal size has fallen by 31 percent since early 2008.

More information on these opportunities and others is available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

Using the interest earned from $400 million in state savings, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell announced a plan that would provide Alaska high-school students with scholarship funds to attend the University of Alaska or in-state vocational institutions based on academic performance.

Southwestern Pennsylvania is on course to add 11,640 green jobs to its economy by 2015, according to a new report commissioned by two local organizations, the Green Building Alliance and Growing Technology through Energy and Community Health (GTECH) . The region’s green services sector is on the verge of a major boom and will be the driving force in the growth of the green economy, according to the report.

Federal R&D obligations to U.S. universities and colleges between FY 2003 and 2007 did not keep pace with inflation, according to the latest federal data from the National Science Foundation. Obligations were $25.3 billion in FY 2007, an increase of 11.1 percent from FY 2003 totals. The aggregate annual inflation rate for the country was nearly 12.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

BioConnect of Greater Charlotte, a new networking group for Charlotte, N.C.-area workers in life-science-related fields, held its inaugural meeting earlier this month.



The North Carolina Biotechnology Center has hired Yonnie Butler as business development director of its business and technology development unit.

BioConnect of Greater Charlotte, a new networking group for Charlotte, N.C.-area workers in life-science-related fields, held its inaugural meeting earlier this month.