In Consideration of Other University Centers...

In developing the UC grant application, it would be extremely helpful to gain a better understanding of what other universities have accomplished at their centers. In this blog post, I summarize the work of the University Center at Cornell University.

The University Center at Cornell focuses on providing technical assistance and applied research to increase higher-paying job opportunities in distressed and other regions throughout the entire state of New York. To implement the various activities conducted by the university center, Cornell capitalizes on its resources and incorporates multiple agencies/partners into their programming. There appear to be three core partners in the university center initiative. The Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) provides “research-based information”. Cornell’s Community and Rural Development Institute (CaRDI) provides technical assistance, and the Cornell Center for Technology, Enterprise and Commercialization (CCTEC) provides support in all aspects of commercializing new technologies.

Interestingly, projects seem to be county-based, meaning that economic development projects are established based on individual county needs. The UC appears to have at least one project in each county in the state. Activities are generally categorized as the following types of projects: technology-led economic development, distressed communities, community-based technical assistance, and economic development outreach. Just some of the recent activities implemented include: conducting research on the feasibility of expanding local food production to a larger consumer market, providing workforce development training in the agroforestry field, assessing the training needs of low-skilled and underpaid workers, facilitate the flow of capital into technology-led economic development projects and learning how to develop the biodiesel fuel industry. To learn more check out their newsletter or website.

There appears to be at least one University Center in most states. As of 2001, there were two centers in Maryland: the Rural Development Center at the University of Maryland on the Eastern Shore and at Towson University in Baltimore. Each center serves a different geographic region. Towson University appears to serve Baltimore City and Western Maryland, including Garret, Alleghany and Washington Counties and the University of Maryland focuses their efforts in the nine counties on the Eastern Shore. According to their website, Towson University offers the following: “labor market analyses, cluster analyses, business surveys, asset inventory studies, commercial/residential ratio evaluations, feasibility studies, economic impact studies, fiscal impact studies and workforce development assistance.” The University of Maryland’s center focuses on agriculture and natural resources.

It seems to me that in developing our application, we should not try to compete with the existing University Center’s in the State. We should also be cautious about providing dual services.