levitra generico viagra vendita libera sildenafil 50 mg cialis kopen citrate de sildenafil compro sildenafil acheter cialis pharmacie cialis pharmacie viagra prescrizione comprar viagra pela internet levitra en pharmacie vendo cialis acheter cialis generic zithromax prix cialis indien cialis 10mg compro cialis viagra indien acquistare levitra sildenafil bestellen cialis venta libre prix de cialis kamagra pharmacie sildenafil rezeptfrei achete levitra disfunzione erettile rimedi viagra generique vardenafil bestellen cialis ordonnance levitra senza ricetta achat cialis generique cura impotenza pastilla levitra vendo viagra viagra vendita italia generique du viagra achat viagra costo viagra impotenza cure cialis meilleur prix generische viagra kamagra te koop prozac sans ordonnance accutane generique viagra donne viagra europe medicament levitra levitra rezeptfrei vente cialis viagra bestellen sildenafil venta libre acheter clomid en france cialis pharmacie prix comprar cialis generico acquisto viagra in contrassegno vardenafil generico viagra ohne rezept commander du cialis sildenafil precio cialis venta viagra te koop cialis en ligne viagra suisse levitra effet secondaire achat cialis en ligne trouver du levitra kamagra en france viagra italia commande levitra cialis generico sicuro commande viagra levitra te koop acquisto levitra acquista levitra compra viagra acheter tadalafil cialis receta cialis livraison rapide viagra recensioni levitra venta libre achat kamagra citrato di sildenafil kamagra rezeptfrei kamagra apcalis compro viagra cialis donne venta de levitra cialis sans prescription cialis te koop vente de cialis acheter du kamagra comprar levitra impuissance homme compro levitra comprar viagra generico acheter cialis sur internet cialis vente libre procurer du viagra sildenafil generique acheter viagra pas chere cialis svizzera prezzi levitra comprar sildenafil cialis ohne rezept acheter zyban cialis sur ordonnance acheter cialis moins cher acquistare cialis acquisto viagra italia cialis vente libre pastilla viagra medicament viagra cialis generico 10 mg propecia moins cher acheter kamagra france propecia generique tadalafil bestellen viagra svizzera receta viagra traitement impuissance levitra prix levitra sans ordonnance pilule viagra commander du viagra ordina levitra vente levitra sildenafil venta sildenafil kaufen cialis generique levitra donna viagra 100 mg cialis suisse levitra generique

Late last month, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts in the UK released an important report, The Connected University. You can read about the report and download it from this page.

A number of years ago, we tried to form the Universities Collaborative in Northeast Ohio. It never received the support or attention for the region’s business and philanthropic leadership that the Collaborative needed to thrive.

Is it time for the region to consider the idea again?

Last 5 posts by Ed Morrison

Random Posts

2 Responses to “The connected university”

  1. cozzy Says:

    Hi Ed,

    Could you shed some light on the second sentence of the second paragraph? The UC never received attention from business/leaders? Or the report did not give enough attention to the business/leaders? Any way you could provide more info on this attempt would be appreciated. Thanks!

    Cozzy

  2. Ed Morrison Says:

    First, a cautionary note: The politics of economic development in Cleveland are highly charged and somewhat polarized. So, you’re only getting one perspective. Others, I’m sure, take a different view.

    Some years ago, when I was at Case Western Reserve University, a group of us engaged in economic development at the universities within the region got together to explore how we could collaborate more effectively.

    In addition to Case Western Reserve University, our group included representatives from Cleveland State University, The University of Akron, Youngstown State University, Kent State University, and Lorain County Community College.

    We formed our group around the time that the Fund for the Economic Future was forming.

    Our idea was simple. Provide the Fund with a collaborative partner. By drawing together all of the economic development resources within the colleges and universities, the region can leverage an extraordinary depth of expertise.

    We also found that the professionals working within these colleges and universities knew each other and had a long history of working together.

    To provide our network with an effective advocate, we invited Steve Minter of Cleveland State University to head our group, which we named the Universities Collaborative.

    Steve managed to get all the presidents to line up behind the Collaborative.

    We got off on the wrong foot, however, with the Fund.

    One of the first projects that the Fund was interested in was a region-wide civic engagement project. We approached the Fund to be a partner in this process and the use a highly regarded method for bringing loosely connected people together: Appreciative Inquiry.

    Developed by David Cooperrider at Case Western Reserve University, Appreciative Inquiry has been used in a variety of different contexts to focus large groups on transformative, strategic outcomes.

    (Indeed, Appreciative Inquiry is a competitive strength in the region. Virtually all of the economic development professionals in the region know about this discipline, and many of us had been certified.)

    Rather than work with us as partners, the Fund decided that the Universities Collaborative should operate as a third party vendor to the Fund.

    To implement its complex regional ambitions, the Fund chose to follow a strict bidding process with a formal Request For Proposals. The Fund advised us that we were no different that a third party consulting firm in this process.

    At the time, a number of us objected to this process. To my mind, the Fund’s leadership fundamentally misunderstood the role of a region’s colleges and universities.

    These colleges and universities are partners, not vendors to the region’s foundations. Unlike a third-party consulting firm, the region’s colleges and universities have extensive investments in the region and extensive resources to devote to economic development.

    I suggested that the arm’s-length relationship on which the Fund insisted was inappropriate to the challenges ahead. As a practical matter, we were unable to consult closely with the Fund to design a new regional civic engagement process. From its perspective, the Fund could not favor one vendor over another.

    By taking a strict, formal approach, the Fund did not benefit from the thinking that could have emerged from a closer consultation.

    The Fund went on to pick a consulting firm out of Washington DC. This firm launched a $3 million initiative, called Voices and Choices, which largely failed.

    The Universities Collaborative soon dissolved. From what I can tell, the Fund still does not have an effective partnership with the region’s colleges and universities. That’s the sad outcome to the story.