Colorado's higher education innovations Friday, October 15, 2004 Here's an interesting innovation from Colorado. Increasingly, in a knowledge economy driven by brainpower, a state's higher education system will determine its economic future. Many state systems are rife with politics and inflexible. Turf battles choke innovation and slow our adaptation to new global realities. In that context, Colorado's higher education initiative looks promising. Under a new statute, public colleges and universities must negotiate a performance contract with the State. This appraoch will enable Colorado to align the interests and resources of its colleges and universities more clearly. One hopeful outcome: more standardized core courses, so that students have more flexibility in transferring credits. Also important: a clearer understanding of how each institution will focus. For example, Colorado State University will be developing targets in four areas: Building partnerships that support CSU's role as a public research university; Developing "super-clusters" of research like in areas of agricultural science and biomedical sciences; Expanding student diversity; and Improving financial stability by raising more grants and private funding for research and securing enough tuition to accommodate academic needs. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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