U. of Minnesota Seeks to Share Expertise With Outsiders
By GOLDIE BLUMENSTYK
Concierge service is no longer just for classy hotels.
In a quest to make its expertise more available to local industries and civic organizations, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities has begun to quietly roll out the higher-education equivalent, in a program it calls the Front Door.
The service, a project of the university's newly created Academic and Corporate Relations Center, is designed to make the university more "transparent" to outsiders.
"What we wanted to do is bring down the walls," says R. Timothy Mulcahy, vice president for research.
As part of the new effort, the university has hired five "relationship managers" with expertise in areas like health care and engineering, each of whom has been assigned about 20 companies and organizations that are considered their accounts.
The managers learn about the research needs of their accounts. If the companies or organizations need research or other assistance from the university, the managers can help them identify appropriate people to take on the work, either as consultants or in sponsored-research.
Companies and other organizations not designated as accounts can also contact the Front Door office for help. Mr. Mulcahy says the staff members there will make sure inquiries get a clear and quick response. "We do not play phone tag with you," he says.
Since the university is part of the 20-member Midwest Research University Network, Front Door personnel will also draw upon faculty researchers at other institutions in the region.
The Front Door is just one example of the ways universities are trying to be more helpful in economic development and civic life.
In this case, the effort was partly prompted by a high-profile push from prominent corporate and community leaders in the region, who three years ago came together as the Itasca Project and identified several community issues that needed attention to keep the Twin Cities economically competitive.
The opaqueness of the university ranked high on the list, along with transportation and racial relations, says James R. Campbell, a retired banker who is chairman of the Itasca Project. (It's named after a state park.)
"It's a huge university, and there's all kinds of research going on up and down the halls," but companies do not have easy ways to learn about it, says Mr. Campbell.
He says the new structure suggests that the administrators got the message: "They've rewired the university to be significantly more responsive."
Mr. Mulcahy says the service seems to be striking a chord. The office has yet to even publicly announce the program, he says, and "we're already getting 10 calls a day."
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http://chronicle.com
Section: Money & Management
Volume 52, Issue 48, Page A23
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see also
http://breakthroughideas.umn.edu/page/OBD.jsp
The OBD page is at
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The specific contact person given abovefor Front Door is:
Lisa M Ingemansen
Title: Prin Ofc and Admin Specialist
Department: Research, Vice President for (office: Office of Business Development)
Dept Campus: UMN Twin Cities
College: Lib Arts-TC
College Campus: Twin Cities
Last Registered: Fall 2006
E-mail Address: ingem009@umn.edu
Internet ID: ingem009
Office Address: Office of Business Development
1000 Westgate Dr
Ste 160
St Paul, MN 55114
Campus Mail: Ofc of Business Dev
Room 1000 1000 Westgate Dr
2431
1000 Westgate Dr
St Paul, MN 55114
Office Phone: +1 612-626-3438