The books on his desk speak volumes.
“Strategic Partnerships: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Joint Ventures and Alliances,” one says. “Successful Project Management,” another is titled.
For James Clements, acting vice president of economic and community outreach at Towson, the books are practically a job description.
“We had somebody here from another University earlier today,” Clements said on Tuesday. “They said to me, ‘Hey, its unbelievable that you guys have formed the kind of partnerships that you had.’”
In the last eight months, Clements has led an overhaul of the Division of Economic & Community Outreach, combining 10 units and spearheading the development of several new initiatives.
“It gives the community a bridge into the campus, and it gives us a bridge into the community as well,” Clements said.
His office on the third floor of the Administration building is the entry point.
“Look outside,” Clements said, pointing to York Road. “There are a million needs for collegiate experience out there.”
Clements entered the position at the end of January by evaluating the division’s resources and considering they could be streamlined. The division is now in the midst of reorganization.
“Some of this stuff has been going on for a while, but no one was communicating,” he said. “We’re trying to get our arms around all of it.”
Clements said the Towson partnerships should help students in a variety of ways, including making the value of a degree even higher.
Clements explained opportunities for internships, research projects and jobs will increase as more businesses and community organizations become aware of the University.
Homeland security center in the works
Building on the work of several units at the University, Towson will officially launch a center for homeland security later this school year.
“Towson University is quickly becoming a leader in securing the homeland,” a handout said in April.
Clements said the work is “very inter-disciplinary.” The units contributing their experience include the Center for Applied Information Technology, Center for Geographic Information Sciences, College of Liberal Arts, Department of Chemistry, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, and Regional Economic Studies Institute.
“You put it all together and it’s an impressive package,” Clements said.
On Monday, the University announced the appointment of Allan Berg as director of information assurance and infrastructure protection programs.
In the newly created position, Berg will help develop the University’s homeland security center.
“First and foremost Towson has the talent on the campus to do the work,” Berg said.
He also pointed out the University’s location near federal agencies. He compared Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. to a butterfly, with the states as wings and the capital as the body.
“If anything affects one of those two wings, it immediately affects the whole entity,” he said. “So we have a heightened responsibility to get involved.”
Earlier this week the University posted two job listings for director positions that will report to Clements.
Clements also plans to hire a director of economic and workforce development, and a director of online and extended education. The University posted the job listings this week.
Leadership group sets up shop at TU
Towson’s outreach efforts received a boost over the summer when Leadership—Baltimore County, an organization that “prepares talented people to take on leadership positions,” partnered with the University.
The group relocated to offices in the York Terrace building in August.
“I’ve had a lot of people say ‘Wow, that’s really good for Towson,’” Clements recalled.
Students or faculty members will be sent to the organization’s monthly leadership seminar.
The group is the “first piece” of a larger leadership initiative at Towson. In the near future, Clements hopes to establish a Metropolitan Leadership Studies Institute at the University.
TU plans to establish business incubator
Economic outreach is a key component of the University’s efforts. Towson plans to establish an international business incubator sometime during the school year.
“It would be the first international incubator in the state,” Clements said.
A couple of private companies have offered start-up money for the project, and Baltimore County officials are excited about the prospects, Clements said. The state of Maryland will begin a feasibility study for the project soon.
While at San Jose State University, President Robert Caret established four incubators.
Caret’s leadership spurs partnership emphasis
The new emphasis on economic and community partnerships comes as Caret works to develop Towson into “Maryland’s Metropolitan University.”
“There’s a greater push now to expand, to grow, to form partnerships," Clements said.
Caret is scheduled for a presentation about Towson’s partnerships at the Coalition for Urban & Metropolitan Universities conference in New York City next month.
Several of the action items Caret introduced last week relate to a “partnerships philosophy.”
The draft plan calls for Towson to “develop local and state agency partnerships that target nurses, teachers, and health professions,” “expand business partnerships and double the number of internships,” and “enhance our efforts of working with the local school K-12 systems.”
When asked to envision Towson’s partnerships in 2010, Clements responded quickly.
“I see us serving as a very well-respected economic and workforce engine for the state. [Businesses] will view us differently and the community will view us even better than they do now,” he said.
University improves ties with businesses
An event held this week served as an example of the University’s strengthened ties with area businesses.
Towson is a primary sponsor of the Masters of Maryland, a series of events designed to raise awareness of groups who use technologies to achieve business breakthroughs. An economic development secretary spoke at an event Tuesday evening.
Clements said businesses have called and asked to meet with the University to discuss partnership opportunities.
The partnership philosophy is trickling down to academic departments, as well.
Clements said he is always on the lookout for “win-win partnerships.” He noted that Towson’s student, faculty and staff number is about 20,000.
“We have a responsibility to the community,” he said. “We should be out there making a difference.”
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