CUMU Conference 2019

Session Information:
This session proposal is designed as a behind the scenes look on our College Policy Journal Series initiative has elevated our College’s role as a leader in providing key information for our state. This session will share insights into how this initiative was developed and has been expanded over the years - the call for proposal, budget and funding, writing and editing process, marketing plan, event coordination, training and preparation and more - and how this initiative has allowed our College to help inform the education conversation in Nevada.

Background on Initiative:
The College of Education, University of Nevada Las Vegas is committed to engaging in research and evaluation efforts that align with contemporary legislative issues. As part of a biennial legislative cycle, College faculty and graduate students complete intensive research and complete white papers on key education issues that will be discussed within the Nevada legislature. The individual papers are compiled into a journal and disseminated to a large range of stakeholders including legislators, education organizations, etc. with a focus on sharing timely, relevant, and critical information on specific education related issues. The College has produced three volumes of the Policy Issues in Nevada Education journal within three consecutive legislative sessions. The policy journal series has become a staple in the work of the College and has increasingly gained attention from legislators and key education stakeholders in Nevada and beyond.

In less than four years, StartUP FIU became Florida International University’s (FIU) platform for entrepreneurship, innovation and inclusion. This session will touch on important contexts that informed why we chose to be so different than most university incubators and economic development offices and of course, how we do what we do! For us, there were three major factors: 1) that the current technological revolution was changing everything, 2) that humans really hate change, and 3) that though everyone was focused on the next big company, we weren’t really sure how that was going to lift up the 20% of Miamians who lived in poverty, let alone the 50% who were one emergency away from homelessness, that informed our work. With the help of strategic philanthropy, an incredible team and design thinking, we were able to convince our leaders to let us take some risks. We will demonstrate how our three lines of business allows us to support faculty commercialization and student startups; serve as the innovation arm of the university by testing our new courses and co-curricular activities; and support equitable economic development through a series of grant-funded programs. Come learn the strategies and techniques we used to create real income stability for our food entrepreneurs, develop more equitable procurement practices for our local suppliers and help our students, faculty and community start and scale new technology companies.

The primary purpose of a commercial bank is to make loans, specifically, business loans. Making business loans stimulates the economy through growth and expansion, and creates jobs, important for economic prosperity. Marquette University recently established a new program in Commercial Banking to capitalize on the “applied” focus of business education at Marquette. Recognizing the importance of business loans, a curriculum was developed to educate students in the art of underwriting business loans. Because business loans create most of the revenue in a commercial bank, this becomes an important focus for the education of future bankers. With CUMU’s direction to strengthen the fabric of communities this program helps to align these goals with the urban areas served by both Marquette and Milwaukee. Students gain experience by analyzing “live” credits emerging from these communities. A loan fund of approximately $1,000,000 was established, through a local community bank and in conjunction with the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative (WWBIC), a not-for-profit micro-lender, for the sole purpose of extending credit to start-up small businesses within the communities served by the university. Students, in the program analyze these requests, present them to a credit committee of bankers, and extend loans to the local community businesses. The objective is to build a functioning portfolio, managed by the students, which supports the needs of the community and integrates the university with the broader objectives of Milwaukee, as well as the overall economy through job creation, in addition to creating jobs for students and talent for the industry.