Calls for University "Entrepreneurship" at UT
Before his controversial hiring as a special adviser to the University of Texas System, Rick O’Donnell was a largely unknown quantity in the Austin higher education community. What could be determined through his available public writings, which questioned traditional models of academic research and accreditation, sparked an uproar that, in the words of House Higher Education Chairman Dan Branch, “shook the foundations of UT.”
O’Donnell’s ties to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which supports a set of reforms that have been criticized by the Association of American Universities — the nation’s elite group of research universities — set ...
Comments (26)
Austin Van Zant
http://www.utwatch.org/archives/ovetz/ovetzdissertation.html - "Entrepreneurialization, Resistance and the Crisis of the Universities: A Case Study of UT". Great, more of the same
JJ Baskin
On of the nation's leaders in higher education change is Dr Robert Zemsky. During the 2006 Spellings Commission on Higher Education, he noted: "If you want to change higher education, you challenge it. If you want headlines, you insult it."
A lot of the talk recently has been headlines. As we have seen in public education, top down mandates and micromanagement rarely have the outcomes desired. Challenge strategies for buy-in and re-engineering of the culture are far more effective, and that is what is so compelling about the EI program at UT. It is a framework for thinking differently with an eye on outcomes.
scooter22
I guess that this is the same entrepreneurial spirit that Gordon Gee instills in his student-athletes at Ohio State and the same spirit he expects from his coaches (Jim Tressel) who not only covered up the scandal for his players, but took one for the University that did the same. Sure! That's just what universities need!
Deone Wilhite
“Cherwitz is careful to point out that IE is neither a program nor a discipline. It is, rather, a philosophy — one that calls for a dismantling of the walls built up over time between academic disciplines, between graduates and undergraduates, and between the university and the surrounding community.”
Dr. Cherwtiz makes an excellent point and this is a thought-provokingt article overall. Entrepreneurship is a philosophy, one of creative thinking, spotting opportunities that others don’t, and dismantling the wall of the “things aren’t done that way” kind of thinking. In the business world, there would be no Apple, Facebook, Google, Dell, Microsoft, and other innovative companies if their founders didn’t have an “entrepreneurial mindset”.
Given, the challenges higher education is facing in terms of funding, undergraduate education, African American and Hispanic student recruitment and retention, recruitment and retention of lower middle class and working class White students, accusations of increasing irrelevancy, shifting demographics, research vs. teaching, curriculum, and a host of other issues, I believe the philosophy of “Intellectual Entrepreneurship” is and will be the source of innovation for higher education….IF higher education embraces it.
Shabab Siddiqui
As a current IE Pre-Graduate School Intern, I've been given the opportunity to explore a passion of mine (higher education) through the lens of departments, colleges, and programs different from mine. Most importantly, I am constantly soaking in valuable information from my other classes -- areas that I previously thought were irrelevant or unrelated to my passion. Maximizing our productivity will come from a combination of empowering specialists, but also understanding the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration and the power that it can bring.
Andrew Dell'Antonio
having worked with a number of undergraduate and graduate student "mentoring pairs" within Cherwitz's program, I can confirm that the ideal of entrepreneurship has contributed to considerable professional and personal focus for students at UT -- I wish it could be even more prominently encouraged.
James Parsons
To scooter22, with that logic, you have given the world basis to criticize the US because of some of the flaws in this country (which we would all admit - racism, etc), and disregard any valuor or courage that this country has shown for centuries. That is no different than criticizing Gee based upon the OSU football program. Not sure what university you went to, but you might have benefitted from IE in your own higher ed.
In response to the article, I am a huge fan of IE and Dr. Cherwitz, and what he does, in that he is doing exactly what higher ed needs to do to help its students get the most value out of their degrees - both in the intrinsic value of the degree and its marketability in the market place that we now find ourselves in. If you don't believe me, I challenge you to actually set aside your biases and preconceived notions, look at their postings, talk to their students (or watch their videos), see the excellence that it is selecting and grooming, and then talk to me about your own views on its value. I think the vast majority will come away from that sort of deep review and think, "man, I wish that had existed when I went to school," and, "wow, these students are going to really change the world" and be relieved.
Thank you to Dr. Cherwitz for what you do!! I know you spend countless hours making sure you have impact. jtp.
Gary Beckman
As a graduate of UT (and now a member of the professoriate), I can attest to the impact of IE. My "Entrepreneurship in Music" courses are based on the IE philosophy and the impact of my teaching has been magnified by Dr. Cherwitz's efforts. Certainly, this is a great testament to the power of IE in the classroom, but the real impact lies in the students as they engage their community. I would urge all educators to consider how IE can catalyze their disciplines.
Michael Drapkin
Dr. Cherwitz was been a standard-bearer of the very reforms that our universities badly need. For too long, most areas of our universities have been the maintainers of the status quo rather than being the font of knowledge and innovation that was their original mandate.
In my area of specialization - music higher education - most colleges of music have been paralyzed by an accrediting process by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) that is pretty good at training our students to play well, but do little or nothing to address what they will do when they graduate or how they will add to our culture. Ironically, the problem with most university schools of music is in the faculty themselves - who live off of their self-aggrandizement as the producers of more unemployed musicians and crowing about the 1 or 2 students across their careers who actually achieve full-time employment in the field for which their curriculum is fashioned: to supply symphony orchestras with trained musicians, and sadly our students are asked to perform excerpts of symphony music in front of faculty juries for which they will never get to perform in their lifetime.
Dr. Cherwitz's role at breaking down the barriers to much more meaningful education is breathtaking, although, again, at his University of Texas at Austin, their school of music received a sizable donation from the Butlers, promptly renamed their school for them, and then used it to hire more clarinet teachers to supply more clarinet students to perform in their concert bands rather than using that funding to do something innovative and substantive to help the moribund classical music world they are apparently supplying. I say "apparently " because the only meaningful employment that concert band training can supply can only be found in U.S. military bands. If Douglas Dempster, Dean of the UT Austin College of FIne Arts, was asked whether the role of his school of music was to supply musicians to the nation's military bands, what would he say?
So while the work that Dr. Cherwitz is doing is groundbreaking, we have a long way to go, even in Dr. Cherwitz's own backyard. People fear what they don't understand, and that starts with faculty understanding of the notion of entrepreneurship, whether is it business, social or intellectual entrepreneurship. Several years ago, not long after we decided to move to Austin, I arranged with a major bank thousands of dollars to underwrite an entrepreneurship symposium at UT's school of music, and they never even returned my calls or messages.
Yesterday, I attended a recital/master class of a friend from a major symphony that was held at UT's school of music. While I enjoyed the excellent performances and the masterful teaching that took place in a public forum, it wasn't lost on me that this was attended by students that were wholly unprepared to use their applied field in the marketplace, and I lamented the parents of these students who were making huge financial sacrifices in order to send their student to a program that can't even prepare them in any way to earn a living in the field that dominates their dreams; the irony is not lost on me that the garbageman that just came by my home has a full time full year job 52 weeks a year with benefits and earns more than the vast majority of applied music students from our colleges of music will every hope to attain as performers.
How badly we need Rick Cherwitz's agenda and leadership!
Michael Drapkin
Founder and Dean
The Drapkin Institute for Music Entrepreneurship
Buck Goldstein
When much has been given, much is expected. This applies to our great universities whose combined endowment is over 250 billion dollars. The bill has come due and we have a responsibility to attack big problems, create jobs and generally have an impact on those things that are important to us as communities. Chancellor Thorp and I discuss all of this in our book cited in the well written article above.
Buck Goldstein
Earle Hager
Universities need to develop relationships with external organizations to support their key role of academics. Research, real world case studies enhance academics by providing discussion points of theory v. practice. These relationships are key to the very large group of students who will be job seeking after graduation. I worked with Dr. Zemsky and Mr. Kendis at the Higher Ed Finance Research Institute and Wharton Applied Research groups at Penn in the 70s where we studied the impact of student loans on graduate behavior. We also evaluated Dr. Silber's plan of income based student loan repayment. We developed computational models of the impact of student loans on long term behavior of graduates.
The very large bottom line is we need to make education affordable without cutting back on academics. Relationships with external organizations are key. Industry will focus on business and engineering, but there are opportunities with other programs in the university.
Making education affordable also includes helping pay for it on the back end.
Aisha Crumbine
I'm all for this! After teaching (middle school) for ten years, I realize more than ever that kids learn best with they can both design and experience the real world application of the knowledge and skills. It sounds like Cherwitz is seeking to reverse what many know but haven't been willing to do anything about: the trend that some of the most ineffective teaching happens at the university level. Cheers to UT for having the courage to be different--to be better--in a time where mediocrity seems to be widely acceptable.
keith mcdowell
Richard Cherwitz and others like him in the university community are at the forefront in redefinition and evolution of the mission and role of universities in the twenty-first century - a mission and role that focuses on engagement. Unfortunately, that change is almost invisible to the general public. For example, unnoticed by some, faculty members are rapidly embracing the change, even though die-hards exist. As a former vice president for research at two universities and the former vice chancellor for research and technology transfer at UT System, I've had younger faculty demand to see the Office of Technology Commercialization and be clearly informed that a functioning systems exists before they would accept a position at the given university. I have a new blog at goforthandinnovate.blogspot.com dedicated to documenting the changes.
But to be clear, there are forces and people who want to muddy the waters. We should ignore Rich O'donnell and others at the Texas Public Policy Foundation as their writings are based on flawed analysis of bad, usually erroneous, data and come with a political agenda - none of which is good for creating a healthy innovation, entrepreneurial, or commercialization environment in Texas.
I applaud Professor Cherwitz for his efforts and Reeve Hamilton for providing us balanced and informative reporting on the true state of the entrepreneurial spirit arising in universities.
Robert Chernow
As the Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), I'm a big supporter of the philosophy espoused in Intellectual Entrepreneurship. We have had a cross campus entrepreneurship program for the last 5 years and we now have over 30% of our students participating, across all disciplines. We believe the results, particularly in graduating students better prepared to face the challenges inherent in a global marketplace, have more than justified our efforts (which were not originally embraced by everyone).
Phuong Tran
As a student when the IE program was in its developmental stages, I recognized the importance of the IE philosophy and jumped on the opportunity to help and learn. As a natural sciences and communication duel major, I wanted to find something to meld my right and left sides of my brain. At the time, a budding new industry of health information technology was blooming and I was able to jump in after graduating UT. Today, if it wasn't for the entrepreneurial philosophy, I wouldn't have gone to grad school and taken my career to where it is today. I'm able to combine policy, consulting, medicine/science, and communication in my life which wouldn't be possible if I had stuck to a traditional job path based on my academics. It is only when we collaborate with other schools of thought that innovation can happen and students can explore new options!
James Parsons
What the other comments ought to also show is how important Dr. Cherwitz is to the success of this effort - for his particular insights and his specific way of leading. I know he would not want the focus to include too much of himself, since he is humble, but UT-Austin and other programs that want to see success would be wise to also take stock of the people leading their efforts to ensure that they take a little bit of "Cherwitz" and add it to the recipe.
Many years ago in a program I was involved in, the organization developed a very effective and nationally recognized program. When the national and state affiliates tried to replicate it, it failed. They all looked at the recipe and said, "we did just what you did, why did it fail?" Well, they didn't exactly replicate it - they failed to take into account some little observed ingredients that didn't seem that important (collaboration) - but made all the difference of success and failure.
It doesn't take a lot of time to pick up on a critical reason for IE's effectiveness is Cherwitz himself. He is effective at working with the administration, with faculty, with students, with community leaders and gets them all to want to help and be involved. If you talk to the students of Dr. Cherwitz, they are truly incredible individuals who he identified, groomed, and sent on their way - to change the world. Dr. Cherwitz' talent is probably best analogized to Mack Brown's own talent of recruitment and coaching.
While the model is definitely a winner and must be developed in higher ed across the map, I just want to play up that it (whether we analogize to a cookbook, or a playbook) is only as good as the leader (Chef or coach) who puts it into play. UT-Austin and other universities would be equally wise to see how Dr. Cherwitz coaches and learn from that as well. IE is as much about him as the "wishbone offense" was about Emory Bellard.
Brittany Aguilar
This is a tremendous idea that UT is taking the lead on. I've personally seen many brilliant students struggle because they didn't understand how their educations impacted the larger world. By integrating an entrepreneurial approach to education, IE helps these students take their education to the next level.
At a time when the job market is down, teaching students to think in entrepreneurial ways is one of the best things we can do for them because they will always have the tools to think independently and control their own fate.
As a recent graduate of UT, I wish I had been exposed to entrepreneurship earlier in my educational career. Let's hope that more students take advantage of this opportunity.
Paul Hobby
It was my privilege to be part of the Commission of 125 process, and that report can certainly speak for itself, but the delicate part in trying to allow (or force) universities to evolve as the nature of knowledege changes, is that research universities are one of our few remaining global advantages. They operate in a virtuous cycle of success or failure, attracting talent and research dollars, or they erode in like fashion. Texas can lead in horizontal experimentation, and by blending teaching and research closer together, but Texas cannot force higher education to change. We just don't have that kind of throw weight in the higher education business. The will always be a few eloquent, quoteable, spoiled professors that glow with academic arrogance, but most of our leadership in public higher ed do "get it" with respect to productivity. Let's remember that they increasingly have to operate in the private philanthropic markets, and top down, sound bite-driven public policy will prevent them the chance to do what leaders must -- control the rate of change so that important constituencies aren't alienated.
Paul Hobby
It was my privilege to be part of the Commission of 125 process, and that report can certainly speak for itself, but the delicate part in trying to allow (or force) universities to evolve as the nature of knowledge changes, is that research universities are one of our few remaining global advantages. They operate in a virtuous cycle of success or failure, attracting talent and research dollars, or they erode in like fashion. Texas can lead in horizontal experimentation, and by blending teaching and research closer together, but Texas cannot force higher education to change. We just don't have that kind of throw weight in the higher education business. The will always be a few eloquent, quoteable, spoiled professors that glow with academic arrogance, but most of our leadership in public higher ed do "get it" with respect to productivity. Let's remember that they increasingly have to operate in the private philanthropic markets, and top down, sound bite-driven public policy will prevent them the chance to do what leaders must -- control the rate of change so that important constituencies aren't alienated.
Jason Nolasco
Ten years ago at UT, it was rare to see science and engineering students being led toward any other path except a Big Institution job. As someone who has always "played for their dinner" in true entrepreneur fashion, I've always found this mindset restricting and closed-minded. The negative connotations associated with entrepreneurship mixed with academics are as familiar as they are inaccurate. It'll water down the science! It's impractical! On and on. I'm thrilled that's changing.
I applaud Richard Cherwitz and others working at the university (such as the new 1SemesterStartup program spearheaded by Bob Metcalfe, UT's new Professor of Innovation) for acting on the bigger picture: the future is in cross-silo specialists who can interface efficiently to other human resources. Graphic Designer Accountants. Computer Science Authors. Engineer Politicians. These are tomorrow's stars.
Graduating students without some sense of how to make their own job is outdated. The giant opportunities in this world aren't delegated from the top down and the University should reflect that.
John Angus Campbell
Classical liberal education in its inception was education for citizenship and practical life. Cherwitz and his UT Colleagues have reinvented liberal education for our time. By taking the challenges of specific cases and questions as their foundation they direct their students to fields of specialized learning necessary to make reasoned situated judgments of consequence for the common good. The UT Center for Intellectual Entrepreneurship is a model of how continuity in the core philosophic and cultural aim of education can be successfully recaptured through principled innovation.
John Angus Campbell
Professor Emeritus
Department of Communication
University of Memphis
James Parsons
One thing I would also encourage Mr. Hobby (see comment above) to also take into account, is that the higher ed is going to change from the way universities have been able to run - because of the economics, and that change will be forced on the universities by new market forces. The question for higher ed is where does it change to - and who manages that change. I think Mr. Hobby notes these changes - referencing the loss of state/government funding at many universities including UT, and the increased need for philanthropy to fill the void. However, Mr. Hobby misses a change that is being forced on students - a much higher tuition rate that is becoming unsupportable by the market place for students to take on such debt.
When I went to UT-Austin as an undergrad, the cost of tuition was $500 a semester (1991). It is about $5000 a semester now from what I am told. While I graduated in a job low, the new graduates of college are looking at an uncertain period of job instability with unemployment "falling" to 8.8 percent (with high debt). What jobs are created in the new term are expected to be paying less. Many students may have parents less able to pay for college if the parent's retirement is down because of the market. A model that higher ed has generated where students at a state school may come out with $40k in debt only for tuition alone, maybe an additional $60k in living expenses, and unable to find jobs when they graduate - will affect higher ed.
More students may opt to go to community colleges like Austin Community College (ACC) that has developed apprentice type job training in particular industries to train students for a waiting job - at a much lower cost than UT-Austin. The model that assume everyone needs a higher ed degree from a university, and particularly those that get a liberal arts degree - are more likely than in the decades before, to not find a job with that degree - only to be faced with more graduate school as the only option. However, in this day and age, many MBA students (even from UT-Austin), law students (even from UT Law) and other graduate programs find that such degrees are not even a certainty of a job in this day and age, and might add on another $100k in debt to an existing $100k in debt from undergrad. Without the ability to declare bankruptcy on student debts (like prior generations), the model MUST change.
For higher ed to believe the current model is sustainable is foolish. Change is coming - the question for higher ed is this: will they be steering the raft through the white water, or will they be going uncontrolled where the river will go - maybe to a fall. I think higher ed would be wise to learn a lesson from the home mortgage industry that built its own model on projected 10% growth a year ... forever. How did that work out? Higher ed will likely contract because of the current cost model. The model that Mr. Hobby is trying to hold onto is failing - it will change. Unless you are going to be direct with students and say, "hey, your $40k at a state school is not to get you a job on graduation but to support our research," I think more students will require more return for their investment.
I think Cherwitz' model is the hope for such circumstances and must be adopted. It provides students with real world applicational ability for problem solving and helps them network and develop mentor relationships - a must in the new world order. Since most universities will stoically stick to the old model, for those willing to innovate, they will have a competitive advantage with students who MUST ensure that when they graduate, they have a job, and one that will pay the debt off. For those programs that see the practical value of IE in how it trains students to be in the world, while also retaining the academic excellence in the problem solving model, they will be leading in higher ed.
Question for higher ed is this - are you going to stick with your Corona type-writer - or do you understand the value of the new laptop. IE is the laptop of the future.
Hadass Sheffer
IE was one of the first programs that made humanities grads and PhDs feel relevant to the world outside academe and empowered to engage in their communities in ways that have tangible outcomes for the communities and the students. Bravo. And now the same appeal is drawing in first-generation students. Other universities should take heed or be left behind: 21st Century students are becoming savvier about demanding such outcomes for their education.
Kendra Crispin
This article could not be more timely in its subject. I wish that this kind of thinking had been more widespread when I was an undergraduate and a grad student. Part of the problem I see with the current structure of higher education is that it doesn't make room for those of us who want to study subjects that, while they really interest us, aren't what we want to do with our lives. Some of us just want the chance to learn from experts in that field. That is why my BA is in psychology and history; I was going to take enough courses in both anyway, and UT-Austin had Dr. David Buss on its faculty – and I'd been fascinated by his work in evolutionary psychology for years before college. The level of creative thinking promoted by people like Dr. Richard Cherwitz needs to get more widespread in the career service centers as well; there was still too much emphasis on more traditional tracks regarding how your degree related to future work.
Another issue is in the nature of college itself. I was unschooled until college, which was my first experience with formal education. When I compare my experiences in school with workplace ones, I find an alarming gap between them. I find myself very concerned for friends who feel the need to go back to graduate school when they can't find work with their bachelor's. I think there is a fundamental misalignment in the kind of thinking higher education currently encourages and how the rest of the world actually works. Being encumbered with debt is not good for anyone, and starting life with loads of student loans might be setting people up for unnecessary stress. I suspect that the model that college works off of currently is partially in grade education, so eventually I hope to see this type of creative thinking penetrate the secondary schools. After all, something has to change if USA students are to become leaders in math, science and engineering...
Jeff Shieh
The Pre-Grad Internship course allowed me to learn about applying to graduate business programs. One of the best parts about the course was meeting with other aspiring students interested in a variety of fields and topics.
After graduation, I hope to establish something similar to Intellectual Entrepreneurship in Houston to help encourage innovation, initiative, and creative thinking.
Orlando Taylor
Drs. Cherwitz, O'Donnell, Gee, Crow and Thorp have it right!!! Taxpayers, benefactors, and governments among others are rightly expecting--and increasingly demanding--universities and colleges to be more than diploma mills that produce graduates who have little commitment to the public good. Because of the vast explosion of knowledge in our country and the world, as well as the complexity associated with understanding and addressing many, if not most, human issues and concerns, higher education institutions must absolutely reorganize themselves around themes, ideas and centers of knowledge.
The Intellectual Entrepreneurship concept achieves two significant goals--(1) it produces graduates who understand their value in making our communities better places in which to live and (2) its graduates acquire an education that values the blurring of borders between and within traditional disciplines and institutional structures! This should be a model for all of higher education--undergraduate, graduate and professional!