Education

Last week dozens of educators, entrepreneurs and civic leaders gathered for brainstorming session hosted by NOCHE to explore how the region could do more to develop and educate entrepreneurs. I meant to write about the conversation last week, but got distracted by other matters. Jack Ricchiuto led the conversation and emphasized the need to start some small experiments. As he noted, every big deal started out as a small experiment.

Participants identified several small experiments that could get rolling, including:

• Introducing more entrepreneurship curriculum into middle school and high schools as is being done at E-Prep.
• Creating internships for faculty at early stage companies.
• Offer field trips to the Youngstown Business Incubator and other NEOinc incubators.

NOCHE will be highlighting some of these ideas and many others in the future and I will provide a link to a more detailed report on this effort as soon as it's available.

What do you think needs to be done for the region to do a better job of teaching entrepreneurship?

The Akron Beacon Journal editorial board takes a look at what it will take to reshape our university system in Northeast Ohio in the wake of talk of a merger of CSU-UofA. It's worth reading the whole editorial here.

Below is the opening graph:

Eric Fingerhut doesn't want to talk about a ''merger'' of the University of Akron and Cleveland State University. The chancellor of the state Board of Regents cautions that the concept invites misunderstandings, defensiveness, hostility. He wants Northeast Ohio to think hard about restructuring, reorganizing or reshaping the landscape of higher education with the goal of creating something stronger academically and economically.

And here is the last graph:

A Northeast Ohio struggling to navigate an essential economic transition must take advantage of the opportunity, resisting the impulse to be parochial, especially in Cleveland, if truth be told. Fingerhut rightly wishes to examine the value of pulling together what would be one of the largest public universities in the country. The challenge is to engage in a thoughtful, open-minded examination, one with a particular eye on ensuring a more vibrant regional economy in 10, 15, 20 years and beyond.

Credit the Akron Beacon Journal for taking a deeper look into what's behind the rumblings about a merger between CSU and the UofA.

If you care at all about the future of higher education in Northeast Ohio, you should read both of these stories. The first is based primarily on an interview with UofA president Luis Proenza and the second takes a look at how both Cleveland and Akron would like to be home to at least some of the operations of the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine and Pharmacy now in Rootstown in Portage County.

Years ago I heard Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic say that NEOUCOM was located in Rootstown because the region couldn't settle on a destination so it compromised by putting it in the middle of the region. NEOUCOM is an outstanding institution, but because of its remote location it doesn't have the profile or impact it could. Thirty plus years after its creation, leaders are exploring how best to maximize this regional asset. This process will test how far Northeast Ohio has come at becoming a region. As I've noted before, regionalism doesn't make hard decisions go away. But it should mean that people involved in the decision-making process trust each other and the process enough to have confidence that the outcome will be best for the region.

As Chancellor Eric Fingerhut said to the ABJ:

''These are important conversations. There are many approaches, and . . . we have been and are continuing to look at all of them.''

''Everyone has to be excited and move forward together,'' Fingerhut added. ''Ultimately, out of those conversations will be a shared vision, and it will be a combination of everyone's ideas.''

The story in this morning's Plain Dealer regarding the exploration of a possible merger between Cleveland State University and the University of Akron has spawned a very lively conversation on Cleveland.com.

Here's just one comment from Cleveland.com:

I think this is a fantastic idea!! We need to start thinking like a region, not simply as separate cities. Akron and Cleveland each have their pros and cons. If we work together, we can really improve our situation on a national/global scale.

This undoubtedly will be one of the issues examined by the state Commission looking at the region's state universities. Mergers -- whether of businesses, cities or universities -- are delicate and difficult. And the landscape is littered with failed mergers -- AOL-TimeWarner anyone? Of course, not all mergers collapse or there wouldn't be so many.

In an interview with the Akron Beacon Journal, University of Akron President Luis Proenza indicated talk of a looming merger are premature, but he noted the importance of developing a world-class public research university in Northeast Ohio.

Asked whether a merger of Northeast Ohio universities is a way to create that premier institution, Proenza said, ''That's one way to get there, but there would be many different ways.''

Here's a potential set of criteria to look at when considering merging organizations.

The Akron Beacon Journal recently took a deeper look into efforts by local school districts to prepare students for college. For example, the Canton school district takes the extra step of busing high school students to Pennsylvania so that they can have a second shot at taking the ACT.

As Larry Ringler's look at Black Monday highlighted, the region's economic future is linked to the educational attainment of our residents.

For the first time, the Ohio Department of the Education is highlighting how each district does at preparing students for college. Tracking this information is essential to creating a culture that supports education and recognizes the connection between educational attainment and economic prospperity.

As an ABJ editorial noted:

The hope is that publicizing data on ACT and SAT test scores, Advanced Placement and post-secondary enrollment and honors diplomas will help raise academic ambition. College enrollment and graduation are vital to Ohio's transition to a high-skill, knowledge-based economy.