The international need for universities to be regional leaders

Since 2005, OECD's Programme on Institutional Management of Higher Education (IMHE) has been conducting research on the connections between higher education institutions (HEIs) and their economic, social, and cultural development impacts in conjunction with local and regional governments. The reviews cover 29 regions in 19 countries across the world and culminated at the conference entitled "Higher Education in Cities and Regions - For stronger, cleaner and fairer regions."

Some of the take-aways/best practices that may be applicable to our grant proposal include:

• The need for HEIs to broaden their reach, making their services more accessible for under-represented/non-traditional students;
• Creating lifelong learning curricula with a focus beyond traditional "university credentials;"
• Follow students' progress after graduation in order to strengthen university collaboration with industry;
• Continually expand the concept of innovation by examining a region's "tangible assets and their needs, and link[ing] up with high quality research;"
• Understanding that innovation is not simply tech transfers and biotechnology advances, but also includes creative and cultural advances, "advancing vocational skills," as well as focusing on higher-degree skill sets;
• Supporting university leadership's connections to local firms; and
• Having the courage and initiative to progress in spite of current legislation, therefore being the impetus to change restrictive laws.

As we move forward in brainstorming, keeping these points in mind will, if anything, increase the collaborative spirit of our final proposal, in addition to deriving increased benefits for the region as a whole.