Industry and Higher Education

It is suggested that the value of projected cuts in UK higher education spending should be redirected to fund start-up entrepreneurial universities as part of a strategy for knowledge-based economic growth. Two specific elements of academic entrepreneurial redesign are outlined: the Professor of Practice, linking university and industry through half-time roles in each, and the Novum Trivium tripartite undergraduate degree, including a speciality subject, entrepreneurship education and a foreign language. A far-reaching response to resolve the economic crisis by hastening the foundation of university start-ups and their development into new clusters is envisioned.

The development of, and adherence to, performance standards is imperative for success in today's competitive global market. This is as true for academic programmes in higher education as it is for the manufacturing and service sectors. Just like their counterparts in business and industry, it is important that graduate career preparation programmes are subject to an external validation process that can substantiate whether or not they are indeed following applicable standards. In this paper the authors discuss the current status of accreditation for graduate programmes designed to prepare tomorrow's leaders in the student services profession and argue for the development of a new certification system based on the standards established by the US Council for the Advancement of Standards (CAS).

Entrepreneurial start-ups have left an indelible impression on much of the USA's recent economic history. As hotbeds for technological innovation, university research laboratories create groundbreaking innovations that have been at the heart of many successful start-ups. However, powerful ideas do not necessarily beget successful companies: great ideas must be identified, acquired and developed into successful businesses using a unique blend of skills. Venture capital funds exist to perform this valuable – and lucrative – role. Some venture capitalists scour the campuses of major research universities in search of the next big idea, but the process is not as straightforward as discovering an inventor at a laboratory bench. A range of practical, personal and legal hurdles must be cleared before an idea can begin to transform into the core of a new company. With these common hurdles in mind, interviews with 94 geographically and commercially diverse venture capitalists were conducted to achieve a better understanding of the relationship between the academic and venture capital communities: what motivates the various stakeholders, which are the most pressing problems facing university–venture capital relations and what can be done to improve the process for everyone involved? While many factors influence start-up success, five main areas emerged for universities looking to improve the university–investor interface: understanding investor motivations, supporting entrepreneurs, streamlining bureaucracy, improving access and visibility and fostering a culture of innovation on campus.

The growth of technological institutions in India has been exponential and supply has exceeded demand in the job market. Against this background, it is a social responsibility of universities to provide alternative career options for engineering graduates. To encourage entrepreneurship careers among engineering graduates, the Visvesvarayya Technological University (VTU) in India introduced a compulsory course on ‘Management and Entrepreneurship’ for all engineering students in their pre-final year. This paper reports on a study undertaken to identify the entrepreneurial competencies and self-employment intentions of these pre-final year students so that appropriate training could be provided in their final year. An Entrepreneurial Competencies Index (ECI) and a Self-Employment Intentions Index (SEI) were developed and, by mapping the ECI with the SEI, prospective entrepreneurs were identified as those who scored high in both competencies and intention. Using correlation coefficients and chi-square tests of relationships, it is shown that demographics have little influence on entrepreneurial competencies. The results of the study enable entrepreneurship educators to identify specific training needs and thus to design a competency-based curriculum for entrepreneurship education.

The pedagogy relevant to work-integrated learning (WIL) has formed a significant component of most educational processes and has become a necessity for the public relations industry in South Africa. Properly planned, designed and monitored programmes expose students to professional culture and workplace practice. This paper outlines the pedagogy underpinning WIL and uses a qualitative approach to reveal communication challenges experienced by students in the workplace. In addition, the paper highlights the ability of the students to reflect on their work experiences and to integrate those experiences with their academic lessons. The author concludes that students thrive on challenges in the public relations industry and that the capabilities they develop as a consequence can be used effectively to enhance their work performance.

An effective and efficient public sector is largely dependent on employees who accept the responsibility for providing high-quality public services. It can be argued that public management students, as future employees in the public sector, need to be educated for responsible citizenship. Higher education institutions in South Africa are expected to promote social and economic development, and service learning can serve as a catalyst for developing responsible citizenship among public management students. This article investigates how service learning, as an experiential form of learning which has its roots in community service, meets community needs, enhances teaching and learning and contributes towards responsible citizenship. The extent to which service learning in public management as a discipline has been adopted by universities of technology in South Africa is also explored. It is argued that while public management students are expected to engage in experiential learning in the public sector, community-based learning should be included as a compulsory component of experiential learning. The authors suggest that service learning can make a significant contribution to socially responsible citizenship, an important value underpinning any public servant.