Original Story: freep.com
Wayne State University’s College of Engineering is receiving $25 million from an alumnus to promote entrepreneurship in Detroit, officials announced Thursday.
The gift from James Anderson, president and CEO of Urban Science in Detroit and his wife, Patricia Anderson, is believed to be the largest gift ever to the university’s engineering program. Anderson, who graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the engineering college in 1966 and 1970, founded in 1977 his auto retail consulting firm, which now has 19 offices with 850 employees.
Anderson told the Free Press he hopes the gift for students and faculty can help encourage entrepreneurship that can help Detroit grow. The Ferris Engineering Degree Program is a leading program with excellent records of achievement in research and public service.
“Wayne State..had all of the great ingredients to create the success that I’ve enjoyed since graduation,” he said. “There is a community of aspiring entrepreneurs that want the opportunity.”
Anderson “wants to encourage students to have a similar path to success that he was able to have based on his education at Wayne State,” said Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson. “He was able to take his knowledge and start up a company and employ a lot of people that’s contributing to the local economy.”
“Innovation and entrepreneurship has got to be a major component of Detroit’s comeback,” Wilson told the Free Press. “One time, it was the automobile, but I don’t think Detroit will be a leader moving forward with just the automobile industry. They will have to be able to innovate and find other sources. Entrepreneurship is one of those avenues.”
The $25 million will establish the James and Patricia Anderson Engineering Ventures Institute, which will be part of the College of Engineering.
“The institute will encourage faculty to envision commercial applications for new technology, secure patents and establish new companies,” said Wayne State University in a release. “The institute will also provide mentors to aspiring student entrepreneurs and teach best practices in research innovation, technology transfer and commercialization.”
Showing posts with label Wayne State University. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wayne State University. Show all posts
05 November 2014
30 June 2014
ADVOCATES SOUGHT INNOVATION WHEN MAKING UNIVERSITIES SCHOOL AUTHORIZERS
Original Story: freep.com
As Michigan’s charter law was put together two decades ago, those drafting it faced a problem: Who should be responsible for authorizing charter schools and keeping an eye on them?
It could have been the Michigan Department of Education, but legislators, representatives from then-Gov. John Engler’s office and others working on the law didn’t want to tie up the schools in a traditional education bureaucracy.
That led to the state’s 13public universities. With 10 of the 13 boards running the schools featuring board members handpicked by Engler, the move was made to make those schools the backbone of the charter system.
Engler “knew he had appointed the board members, so he knew he would have influence,” said Jim Goenner, an early CMU hire who became the director of CMU’s charter school office. Goenner, now president/CEO of the National Charter Schools Institute, said he believes the universities are doing a good job running the charter school system.
Western Michigan University and Michigan Technological University are the only state universities with an appointed board that do not have charter schools.
In the late 1990s, a faculty committee looked at whether Western Michigan should start schools. The recommendation was that WMU become involved only in charter schools that had the support of existing traditional public schools, WMU spokeswoman Cheryl Roland said. The university did get involved in planning for one middle school, but it never opened — and the university has not pursued doing another one.
Michigan Technological University never pursued charters in part because it does not have a teaching college.
The three Michigan public universities with elected boards — University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University — don’t have any charters.
At U-M, the decision not to charter schools is simple, said longtime board member Andrea Fischer Newman.
“We’re not in the K-12 charter school business,” she said.
Longtime officials at MSU couldn’t remember any formal discussion of chartering schools by MSU’s board.
But Wayne State jumped in early — opening its own public school in 1993, even before the charter law took effect. It was turned over to Detroit Public Schools in 2002. WSU officials said at the time they wanted to partner with DPS, not compete with it for students. Today, Wayne State has no charters.
Twenty years after the law took effect, Dan DeGrow, former Republican Senate majority leader, said he still likes having universities involved. He believes the charter system is a mixed bag now and would like to see the law require more connection to the universities’ schools of education, which train teachers.
“I would require any charter authorizer to be heavily involved in setting curriculum, hiring staff and making decisions (for the charter school).
“If they had more involvement, then if things went wrong, it would be embarrassing for the universities and perhaps they would act sooner to fix or close the schools.”
As Michigan’s charter law was put together two decades ago, those drafting it faced a problem: Who should be responsible for authorizing charter schools and keeping an eye on them?
It could have been the Michigan Department of Education, but legislators, representatives from then-Gov. John Engler’s office and others working on the law didn’t want to tie up the schools in a traditional education bureaucracy.
That led to the state’s 13public universities. With 10 of the 13 boards running the schools featuring board members handpicked by Engler, the move was made to make those schools the backbone of the charter system.
Engler “knew he had appointed the board members, so he knew he would have influence,” said Jim Goenner, an early CMU hire who became the director of CMU’s charter school office. Goenner, now president/CEO of the National Charter Schools Institute, said he believes the universities are doing a good job running the charter school system.
Western Michigan University and Michigan Technological University are the only state universities with an appointed board that do not have charter schools.
In the late 1990s, a faculty committee looked at whether Western Michigan should start schools. The recommendation was that WMU become involved only in charter schools that had the support of existing traditional public schools, WMU spokeswoman Cheryl Roland said. The university did get involved in planning for one middle school, but it never opened — and the university has not pursued doing another one.
Michigan Technological University never pursued charters in part because it does not have a teaching college.
The three Michigan public universities with elected boards — University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University — don’t have any charters.
At U-M, the decision not to charter schools is simple, said longtime board member Andrea Fischer Newman.
“We’re not in the K-12 charter school business,” she said.
Longtime officials at MSU couldn’t remember any formal discussion of chartering schools by MSU’s board.
But Wayne State jumped in early — opening its own public school in 1993, even before the charter law took effect. It was turned over to Detroit Public Schools in 2002. WSU officials said at the time they wanted to partner with DPS, not compete with it for students. Today, Wayne State has no charters.
Twenty years after the law took effect, Dan DeGrow, former Republican Senate majority leader, said he still likes having universities involved. He believes the charter system is a mixed bag now and would like to see the law require more connection to the universities’ schools of education, which train teachers.
“I would require any charter authorizer to be heavily involved in setting curriculum, hiring staff and making decisions (for the charter school).
“If they had more involvement, then if things went wrong, it would be embarrassing for the universities and perhaps they would act sooner to fix or close the schools.”
05 August 2010
Granholm may be Candidate for Wayne State University Head
The Detroit Free Press
Gov. Jennifer Granholm is rumored as a possible candidate for president of Wayne State University.
And WSU Board of Governors chairman Richard Bernstein thinks she’d be a “fabulous” choice.
“Personally, I really like her, I think she represents a great skill set that would make an excellent president of Wayne State,” Bernstein said, stressing that he did not speak for the board.
He emphasized that the board has not yet created a search committee to choose a new president from a national search. That probably will happen in September; an interim president first will be named.
Wayne State president Jay Noren leaves Friday after two years heading the 35,000-student school in Detroit. Granholm leaves office Jan. 1 after eight years as governor under term limits.
University board member Debbie Dingell said she’s heard Granholm’s name as a possible candidate from “15 or 20 people” in the past few weeks. She said when she told Granholm of the buzz on Monday the governor was surprised.
“Enough people have suggested to me her name will come up,” Dingell said. She added, “I’m totally neutral; I want to see who’s out there.”
Bernstein said he’s heard Granholm and former congressman David Bonior mentioned as possible candidates for the WSU presidency. He said he has not talked to either.
Bernstein said Granholm is empathetic, compassionate, a consensus builder, and would be a terrific fund-raiser, with knowledge of Lansing politics and a state budget that supplies WSU with 65% of its revenue.
He said those attributes that would be a good fit with Wayne State’s mission to make a college education available to urban students who could not attend other universities because they hold jobs or are part-time students.
“She understands the process at a Michigan college is just as important the outcome,” Bernstein said of Granholm. “You have to be able to work with a lot of constituency groups. It’s important to work with all kinds of people.”
And WSU Board of Governors chairman Richard Bernstein thinks she’d be a “fabulous” choice.
“Personally, I really like her, I think she represents a great skill set that would make an excellent president of Wayne State,” Bernstein said, stressing that he did not speak for the board.
He emphasized that the board has not yet created a search committee to choose a new president from a national search. That probably will happen in September; an interim president first will be named.
Wayne State president Jay Noren leaves Friday after two years heading the 35,000-student school in Detroit. Granholm leaves office Jan. 1 after eight years as governor under term limits.
University board member Debbie Dingell said she’s heard Granholm’s name as a possible candidate from “15 or 20 people” in the past few weeks. She said when she told Granholm of the buzz on Monday the governor was surprised.
“Enough people have suggested to me her name will come up,” Dingell said. She added, “I’m totally neutral; I want to see who’s out there.”
Bernstein said he’s heard Granholm and former congressman David Bonior mentioned as possible candidates for the WSU presidency. He said he has not talked to either.
Bernstein said Granholm is empathetic, compassionate, a consensus builder, and would be a terrific fund-raiser, with knowledge of Lansing politics and a state budget that supplies WSU with 65% of its revenue.
He said those attributes that would be a good fit with Wayne State’s mission to make a college education available to urban students who could not attend other universities because they hold jobs or are part-time students.
“She understands the process at a Michigan college is just as important the outcome,” Bernstein said of Granholm. “You have to be able to work with a lot of constituency groups. It’s important to work with all kinds of people.”
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