CAMPUSES, COMPANIES COZY UP

Abstract from The Wall Street Journal article published 7/11/07

The future of Corporate/College partnerships holds great potential, as evidenced by a story in the Wall Street Journal about the physical relocation of corporations into the university campus setting. These partnerships provide valuable benefits for both sides, but also create a few concerns that are yet to be resolved.

The issues surrounding the physical presence of corporations on campus have taken a front seat in the debate as companies such as Express Scripts Inc, an $18 billion pharmacy benefits manager, and BMW have relocated headquarters and research facilities to the University of Missouri and Clemson University, respectively.

The universities benefit from the corporate funded construction of modern buildings that create synergistic research initiatives, gain access to state of the art facilities, and improve the surrounding community and economy by creating jobs for graduates. The corporations gain access to top researchers and students, the ability to develop continuing education courses, and tax credits.

Some of the major concerns of this type of a relationship include the potential creation of bias in academic research, differing organization structures and operating rules, and incompatibilities of goals that create inefficiencies in communication and interaction.

In any case, these partnerships have established a new paradigm for interaction between universities and companies that potentially can benefit the community at large. There is still much to learn from the observation of these relationships over time as they add to the model for the future of corporate/college partnerships in the years to come.

The full article is available for WSJ subscribers, here.