AAU has joined a new effort designed to maximize the effectiveness and economic impact of community and technical colleges that are partners in the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines program.
Authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the NSF Regional Innovation Engines program is providing millions of dollars of funding to 10 teams around the nation with the goal of turbocharging regional economies through place-based research and innovation in emerging technologies, such as semiconductors, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing. (For example, Arizona State University is the lead in the Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine along with the University of Utah as partner.) Community colleges will play a crucial role in achieving the goals of the Regional Innovation Engines program as they help train the next generation of the skilled technical workforce and enable Americans to access good-paying jobs created through NSF’s investments in the innovation economy.
To further maximize the impact of community colleges, the NSF is partnering with the nonpartisan think tank New America to launch the Accelerator for Community Colleges in the Innovation Economy program that will “provide community colleges engaging with NSF Engines with a community of practice, technical assistance, best practices, research insights and recognition, capacity-building funding, and broader support structures to support institutional policy, programmatic, and practice innovations necessary to maximize their impact across the innovation ecosystems being fostered by NSF Engines.”
AAU is joining a Partners Council for the Accelerators program, which will work with New America to develop and disseminate strategies that will maximize partnerships between community colleges and America’s leading research universities. The council includes leaders “from membership associations representing higher education, industry, governors, mayors, local officials, workforce boards, K-12 policy leaders, community and economic development organizations, and science societies.” AAU Deputy Vice President for Institutional Policy Emily Miller is representing AAU on the Partners Council. As New America noted, the effort “will strengthen community colleges and NSF Engines and help ensure that the CHIPS Act and similar investments achieve shared prosperity in the new economy.”
Kritika Agarwal is senior editorial officer at AAU.