Scope of Advisory Group #9:
UC Role in Economic Development
Universities, including UC, are increasingly being asked to be active participants in economic development efforts. Pressure for more active involvement comes from state and local government, from industry segments, and from many other local and regional constituencies of the University. As a result, universities are providing a wide range of services and programs--technical assistance programs, incubators, research parks, workforce training, manufacturing extension services, economic research--in support of regional development efforts. While these activities frequently enjoy high visibility in the community and are important aspects of the university's relation with industry, they often are only tangentially related to the traditional roles of the university and their results frequently do not meet the expectations of either the university or the community. It is clear that universities can do many things. It is much less clear what the university should do and under what circumstances.
Advisory Group #9 will discuss what are appropriate economic activities for UC to be involved in and will prepare recommendations to guide UC as it faces pressures from both within and without to be more active in economic development.
Participants in Advisory Group #9:
UC Role in Economic Development
Mary L. Walshok (Chair)
Dean, University Extension
UCSD
Gary Matkin (Specialist)
Associate Dean, University Extension
UCB
Larry Baack
President, Bay Area Economic Forum
San Francisco, CA
Mark Coburn
Director, Office of Sponsored Projects
UCSC
Octavia Diener
President, Densmore Engines
Fresno, CA
Robert C. Dynes
Chancellor
UCSD
Valentin Fikovsky
Associate Director, Office of Technology
Transfer
UCOP
Siegfried S. Hecker
Lab Director
LANL
Charles Kennel
Executive Vice Chancellor
UCLA
Archie Kleingartner
Special Assistant to the Chancellor
UCLA
Jerry Mandel
Vice Chancellor for Development
and University Relations
UCI
Karena McKinley
Acting Director for Industrial
Partnerships and Commercialization
LLNL
David Mowery
Deputy Director, Consortium
on Competitiveness and Cooperation
UCB
William Otterson
Director, CONNECT
UCSD
Larry N. Vanderhoef
Chancellor
UCD
Eugene Wong
Professor, Electronic Engineering
and Computer Sciences
UCB
Report of Advisory Group #9:
UC Role in Economic Development
Basic Principles:
The university must adjust (by leading) to the astonishing new and increasingly collaborative ways of creating, inter-relating, disseminating and applying knowledge. It must provide leadership, not only in terms of economic development but, in terms of the entire spectrum of human activities to which knowledge is relevant.
A fundamental mission of the university in a knowledge-based society where research is such a vital resource for the entire spectrum of human activities is to serve society across all of its research and teaching programs, not just in science, technology and business.
UC needs to do a better job of reporting its diverse contributions to regional economies and develop more diverse "user friendly" metrics of its impact on the state, e.g., new jobs, graduates, policy, public forums, economic growth, etc.
UC "culture" needs to embrace the various ways in which community/economic interactions "enrich" the student educational experience and facilitate research activities.
Concerns and Challenges:
1. We need to build better metrics of job/tax ripple/social effects of UC research and teaching, rather than simply reporting the income from licensing and patents or spin-off companies.
2. We should evaluate the clinical (medicine) faculty model for its replication in other parts of the campus.
3. We need network models of effectively managing expectations as we are too fragmented intellectually.
4. We need to get the University to embrace the intellectually interesting regional issues and the University's connection to them by better connecting business relations/support units to campus.
5. UC needs to identify the multiple dimensions of economic development and demonstrate how we contribute.
6. We must address the faculty's desire for payoffs and incentives.
7. UC conflict of interest policy has a chilling effect on general economic development.
8. The character and distribution of UC economic benefits statewide is unclear to the general public.
9. We need to better handle our shared governance culture and the management of the industry interface.
10. We need to balance UC mission activities and new economic development challenges and effectively manage the expectations of the community and our campuses.
Opportunities:
1. To play convening role/coordinating role in economic development.
2. To develop broader metrics of our contributions to economic development.
3. To serve the public by helping the state stay competitive.
4. To help start-ups and thereby build support/constituency for university research.
5. To become an "attractive center" (intellectual, business) of innovation.
6. To attract talented individuals to our regions.
7. To become a place for discussion of difficult issues (clearing house.)
8. To exploit the synergy between diverse institutions throughout California.
9. To demonstrate the University's important role in economic development, since economic development represents a) an interesting intellectual challenge to the University; b) opportunities to expand continuing professional education; c) opportunities to attract new research from industry and d) potential financial gain for the University (broadly conceived, including philanthropy research.)
Specific Recommendations:
1. Within twelve months, each UC campus should identify and affirm where it can play a specific role in assisting its regional economy in achieving its social, economic and global aspirations.
2. Within eighteen months, each campus should develop a process for seeking public input on where the campus can be most effective in addressing regional economic development needs in terms of specific areas, industries or sectors and on specific issues such as job creation, workforce education, regional planning, K-12 education.
3. Within twenty-four months, each UC campus should have in place the metrics and organizational structures to implement and measure both the internal and external contributions of activities focused on regional well-being and global competitiveness.
4. OP should pull all these inputs and plans together and compose a report to the state.
Comments on the Report of Advisory Group #9:
UC Role in Economic Development
The following recommendations were offered by
~ Siegfried S. Hecker
Laboratory Director
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Basic Principles:
Principle 1. "I accept the first sentence since it is the one we crafted at the retreat. However, the second sentence must be stronger with reference to economic development. I suggest: It must provide the leadership for knowledge-based economic development in California and in the regions surrounding its campuses. Moreover, it should also provide leadership over the entire spectrum of human activities to which knowledge is relevant."
Principle 2. "I would reword the second principle of the draft.
In a knowledge-based society, research is vital to the entire spectrum of human activities. The University must serve society across all of its research and teaching programs. The broad range of research activities at the University complements the science, technology and business activities for the benefit of economic development."
Principle 3. "I would change the emphasis on principle 3 somewhat."
The University must develop better metrics to measure its impact on the economic development of the state. Progress against such metrics (which could be fashioned in a user-friendly way; i.e., new jobs, graduates, policy, public forums, dollars, etc.), featuring the diverse contributions to regional economic development should be communicated effectively and widely."
Principle 4. "I would rework principle 4 in the draft.
University - industry partnerships must be designed to benefit economic development and to enrich the educational and research experiences of students and faculty."
Specific Recommendations:
1. "The Office of the President issue a policy statement on the university's role in economic development. Such a statement must indicate at least the following: The University of California recognizes the strong, catalytic role it can play in knowledge-based economic development in California. The Office of the President encourages each of its campuses to develop economic development initiatives that help communities and businesses in their regions, while concurrently enriching the educational and research experiences of its students and faculty.
"I believe that the other four recommendations are acceptable."
