higher ed

Michigan State University (MSU) launched Spartan Innovations, a newly formed subsidiary of the MSU Foundation, to help its faculty and students form spin-off companies based on technology developed at the university. To achieve this goal, it will provide five key resources to increase the MSU startups including:

Northeast Ohio's Lorain County Community College (LCCC) plans to bring its unique approach to entrepreneur assistance to other parts of the country with support from the Kauffman Foundation. On Thursday, LCCC announced a $1 million grant from Kauffman would help establish pilot versions of the community college's Innovation Fund in three U.S. communities. The current Innovation Fund provides entrepreneurship education, mentoring and early stage funding for the region's startups. The nationwide effort, dubbed Innovation Fund America, will select its three new communities in the next few months. Read the press release...

New Hampshire's University System and Community College System recently committed to increasing the number of science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates 50 percent by 2020, and then doubling that number by 2025. Currently, the two systems together graduate about 1,120 STEM students each year. Specific steps include the creation of new transfer pathways, cross-institutional sharing of facilities, staff and faculty and partnerships with the state's employers.

Massachusetts House leaders introduced a bill earlier this week calling for funding to support R&D at universities and research centers, manufacturing grants and workforce training, and a venture capital mentoring program for startups. The measure is touted as a jobs bill to stimulate the state's sluggish recovery by focusing on high-growth sectors of the economy.

While touting broad support from lawmakers for his 2012 legislative agenda during the regular session, Gov. Bob McDonnell also expressed concern about several economic development and education initiatives left out of the 2012-14 biennial budget passed by lawmakers during a special session that ended last month. Just in time for the deadline, Gov. McDonnell submitted $43.9 million in budget amendments, which include restoring funds for research, life sciences and teacher recruitment.

A new $15 million pilot program at the University of Michigan (UM) hopes to make a big impact in the research world by letting professors follow their instincts and allow breakthroughs to happen more naturally. Under the MCubed initiative, three researchers from different disciplines agree to work together or "cube" on a high-risk, high-reward idea. They also receive funding to hire students or a postdoctoral researcher. The university expects to fund research in the exploratory phase that could eventually lead to larger traditional grants.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad announced the first major initiative of the Governor's STEM Advisory Council, a public-private partnership of six regional STEM network hubs to promote STEM education and economic development. Each of the hubs will be housed at one of the state's universities or community colleges, and will coordinate local programs with businesses, nonprofits and other institutions in their regions. The six winning hub applications are available online and lay out the hubs' individual approaches to elevating the quality of STEM education and matching efforts with the needs of local employers.

Proposals introduced in Florida and Ohio would have changed the funding model for universities that meet certain benchmarks to elevate their standing for research and innovation. Both proposals ultimately were rejected, however. In Ohio, the state's plan for enterprise universities is on hold, and in Florida Gov. Rick Scott recently vetoed a bill to establish preeminent universities.

Only 11 percent of business executives believe the U.S. educational system prepares workers for today’s economy according to a recent survey by ConvergeUS — Preparing America’s 21^st Century Workforce: the Business Sector Weighs in on Educational Gaps & Common Core State Standards. In the report, ConvergeUS surveyed almost 300 business executives on their attitudes regarding the current state of the U.S. workforce. The most significant trend was the overall lack of confidence by business executives in the U.S. education system, approximately 33 percent of business executive believe that the U.S. does a poor job of preparing workers.

U.S. community colleges are in dire need of an overhaul, according to a report issued by the 21st Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges. Currently, fewer than half (46 percent) of all student who enter community college with the goal of earning a degree or certificate achieve that goal. About 60 percent of students entering community college after high school must take developmental education classes to prepare for college-level work. Also, community college students are frequently unable to make smooth transitions into four-year institutions or the job market after graduation.