Enhancing economic engagement

UND seeks to join network of peer universities committed to serving economic needs of their communities

UND is pursuing a major national designation, with the goal of enhancing the university’s economic engagement across the region and state.

In applying for the Innovation & Economic Prosperity Program (IEP) designation, the university seeks to collaborate with a network of peer institutions and increase partnerships with on and off-campus stakeholders. The designation is awarded by the American Association of Public Land Grand Universities (APLU), a consortium of more than 250 public research universities across the United States and Canada.

The campus-wide initiative aligns with all core values of the UND LEADS Strategic Plan, said Jason Jensen, professor of Political Science and Public Administration, and co-leader of UND’s IEP implementation team.

“IEP really touches all areas of LEADS – service, research, teaching and workforce development,” he said. “It’s connected in terms of the people involved and the documentation and data our group is using.”

Joining Jensen in leading the IEP implementation effort is Cortnee Jensen, executive director of Strategic Partnerships. The pair is assisted by a team comprising the following UND faculty and staff members.

• Rob Carolin, chief of staff, Office of the President
• Anna Clark, director of Strategy & Planning for Academic Affairs
• Tiffany Ford, director, Center for Business Engagement & Development
• Renee Shelton, associate vice president of Corporate & Foundation Relations
• Amy Whitney, director, Center for Innovation
• Ryan Zerr, associate vice president for Strategic Planning, and department chair of Mathematics

A major component of the IEP application is a rigorous self-study, which the team will submit to the APLU for review upon completion.

“There are a few different emphases,” said Jason Jensen. “One is to figure out what we’re currently doing in terms of innovation and economic outreach. In other words, how is UND reaching out to our external environment and boosting the economy through industry partnerships and working with government?”

The study is in its inventory stage, which means it is gathering data on UND’s economic impact in the region. The next stage will be conducting an internal stakeholder survey among faculty and staff.

The survey will pose two questions, according to Jensen. They are, what is important in terms of economic prosperity and engagement? And how is UND’s performance in these areas?

UND sought to obtain this designation in part because of advice of state policymakers, said Cortnee Jensen, who previously worked for the North Dakota Department of Commerce.

“This process is us saying, ‘we’ve heard the feedback that higher education needs to be more engaged with industry and our community and be more responsive to those needs,’” she said. “That was reinforced for us through our UND LEADS strategic planning process. Part of the movement forward is this designation.”

Receiving the designation would give UND more access to state and federal grants to help carry out the IEP’s objectives, Cortnee Jensen said. She added that the opportunity to network and collaborate with other APLU members would be a valuable resource for UND.

Jason Jensen opined that in pursuing the designation, UND will receive constructive feedback from the APLU.

“The designation itself is a badge of honor,” he said. “It is a tangible outcome, but that’s not the real benefit. The real benefit is going through the process of assessment and evaluation, which leads to improvements. We will find out what our strengths and shortcomings are and arrive at recommendations that will hopefully lead to constructive changes for the university.”