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Cayuga Community College becoming more and more business savvy
The college announced in mid December '07 that its growing focus in entrepreneurship got a financial boost from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a national organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship, that provided $78,000 in grant money for college faculty and administration.
"It's a very interesting project," said college business professor Thomas Paczkowski, newly named the Fred L. Emerson Foundation Endowed Chair in Enterprise and Innovation. "It comes at a good time in the college's history. We are now able to give faculty the chance to study areas that are important to them. With the opportunities of this outside funding, they can explore areas of interest to them and the community."
The announcement comes as CCC and five other central New York higher education institutions have teamed-up to bring the region various projects that foster economic and social entrepreneurship. Led by Syracuse University, the institutions have received from the Kauffman Foundation, based out of Kansas City, Mo., $3 million for their five-year "Enitiative."
Paczkowski received a two-year $20,000 "e-professor" grant through which he will create, among other things, an entrepreneurship task force that would foster - what else? - entrepreneurship at the college and community. While the task force is still in development, Paczkowski hopes that organization will, "help us infuse the spirit of entrepreneurship, not only at the college, but also at the public schools," he said.
Additionally, the grant money will help fund the activities of the task force, fund research and provide a stipend. He is also working on for-credit and credit-free courses and projects for students interested in learning about entrepreneurship. While curricula is currently awaiting administrative approval, Paczkowski hopes that the courses will be offered for the fall '08 semester.
Six professors and administrators were also awarded two-year $10,000 to $12,000 grants for projects in entrepreneurship. They range from creating an operations manual to owning, managing and securing funding for a high-quality child care center, establishing a student-managed independent record label, and developing a Wine Institute focused on the Finger Lakes wine industry.
"For us to get this grant opportunity, I think, speaks extremely well to the faculty and staff at the college," said Paczkowski. "It shows that their ideas coalesce with the Foundation's ideas for economic and social development."
All of the grants require a 5-to-1 funding match, he said. $418,500 in matching funds was secured mainly from the Emerson Foundation, the Stardust Foundation of Central New York and New York State though the office of State Senator Michael Nozzolio.
During the summer of '06, Paczkowski, with the support of then-college President Dennis Golladay and Vice President Philip Gover, researched entrepreneurship opportunities and how they could be applicable to Cayuga Community College. More than a year later, CCC is seeing the result of that initiative.
Financial successes
Several Cayuga Community College faculty members and administrators were awarded $10,000 to $12,000 from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation with matching funds coming from Emerson Foundation, the Stardust Foundation of Central New York and New York State through the office of Senator Michael Nozzolio. Plans for grant-funded projects include:
- Patricia Gridley, associate professor of early childhood, will work with students to create a handbook for owning, managing, and securing funding for a high-quality child care center; a workshop series based at the college's on-campus preschool will augment the manual.
- Steven Keeler, professor of broadcasting and telecommunications, will develop a music business practicum in which students will manage an independent record label and music publishing enterprise, from auditioning local talent, to recording, producing, marketing and distribution.
- Nancy Kramer, professor of art, will engage Cayuga's art and design students in analyzing the operation and funding of arts organizations. The class will then design and produce advertising and promotional campaigns for the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn.
- Michael Pacelli, assistant professor of biology, and William Prosser, assistant professor of business and economics, will develop a Wine Institute focused on the Finger Lakes wine industry, with a laboratory, kitchen, climate-controlled wine storage area, and classes in nutrition, conservation and agronomy.
- Philip Gover, vice president of academic and student affairs, and Deborah Moeckel, associate vice president of academic and student affairs, will research successful entrepreneurial approaches by community colleges and their partners across the country and compile a report on best practices in this emerging field.
— Provided by Cayuga Community College's Publications Office
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