How to Partner With a University as a Small Business
Discover how higher ed–employer partnerships can reshape recruitment and retention for small businesses, fostering a more skilled and adaptable workforce.
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As companies across all industries experience recruitment and retention troubles, businesses are seeking ways to proactively connect with and improve the workforce. One such strategy is forging partnerships with local higher education institutions, including colleges and universities.
A reported 81% of business leaders believe aligning academic curricula with job requirements can effectively address skill mismatches experienced by employers. However, the mutual benefits of a higher ed–employer partnership go far beyond filling skill gaps.
“Small businesses that are able to establish partnerships with a university in their area should take advantage of the opportunity,” said Kathryn Starke, Founder and CEO of Creative Minds Publications. “Not only can you establish your company’s presence and your credibility with a well-respected university, but you get to connect with creative, bright, and innovative talent who want to learn about business while helping improve and impact your own.”
Why small businesses should partner with local universities
Through a collaborative effort, higher education–employer partnerships can create a more reliable workforce that is properly trained to suit the needs of businesses while helping students fulfill academic requirements and build their skills before they even graduate.
First and foremost, small businesses can access eager and talented entry-level talent at a low cost by collaborating with universities to offer career experiences for academic credit. For instance, Starke said her Virginia-based company has partnered with the University of Richmond to offer internships and gain experience in their field of choice.
“I have so many interns to thank for a variety of innovative ideas, social media marketing plans, events, and book launches over the past 10 years,” Starke told CO—. “Through our partnership, students have received high marks in various courses and have gone on to have their own successful jobs in marketing, publishing, and journalism using the same skills they learned in my company.”
Universities are also rich in resources, including cutting-edge research and technological advancements, said Sam Kunda, Managing Partner at Change Frontier.
“For small businesses, this is an invaluable resource for innovation and staying ahead of the curve,” Kunda added.
Today’s interns are tomorrow’s professionals. Kamil Rejent, Survicate
How to create a successful university partnership
There are numerous ways a small business can partner with a local higher education institution, including:
- Establishing internship programs for recent or soon-to-be graduates.
- Participating in university career fairs.
- Working with students to conduct research for your business.
- Offering guest lectures or workshops at the university.
- Sponsoring university events or student organizations.
- Providing professional development courses for university staff and students.
- Establishing mentorship programs where your experienced employees mentor university students.
No matter which path you choose, establishing a partnership with a university requires strong relationship-building skills and a significant investment of time and resources. Here’s how to position your business for success.
Define your outcome
Begin a partnership with a university by defining the mutual results you want to achieve and how the partnership can help you get there.
“Clearly understand what both the business and the university stand to gain from the partnership,” said Kunda, whose company partnered with Aston University MBA students to analyze and improve its five-year strategic plan. “This understanding will guide the collaboration toward success.”
Assign team members to oversee the partnership
To ensure a productive partnership, assign a dedicated internal employee or team to supervise and coordinate the collaboration. Your company representative should know the correct point(s) of contact at the university and understand who to contact about any changes, questions, or concerns about any programs your business is involved in.
Look ahead to the long-term benefits of your university partnership
Kamil Rejent, whose survey software company Survicate has engaged with numerous local universities, advised small businesses to be prepared to invest time and resources into nurturing university relationships. He also recommended approaching your partnership with enthusiasm and an open mind about the long-term advantages your small business can gain.
“The benefits of such partnerships may not always be immediate; however, these interactions are crucial for brand exposure and establishing a presence within the community,” Rejent added. “Today’s interns are tomorrow’s professionals.”
CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.
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Why you should partner with a University for early-stage innovation
I wrote a short post recently about visiting iSchool at the University of Washington to look for cutting-edge technology for a client. That post got a lot of views. and a lot of people reached out to me privately to ask about collaborating with Universities on innovation.
I have been on all three sides of this innovation equation: (1) as a University researcher working with corporations on specific projects, (2) as a University innovation officer helping companies locate and commercialize University research, and (3) as a Corporate innovation executive initiating projects with University researchers to bring exotic new technologies into company product lines. All three roles stretched me in new and exciting directions. benefiting me, the Universities, and the Companies.
In this article, I’ll tell you why you should consider partnering with Universities and how easy it can be to get started.
Any anyone can partner with a University on innovation. Corporations, Not-for-profits, and Local/State/National Government organizations are all welcome.
The challenge of innovating effectively..
Most companies are full of very smart and motivated people who know how to refine prototypes into scalable commercial products. The challenge with innovation is that “you don’t know what you don’t know” – and creating those first viable prototypes can sometimes seem impossible. especially when you need expertise outside your company’s current skillset.
A fast and effective way to build new prototypes is to engage with University researchers and their students. Here’s how I explain it to my clients:
The 4 reasons to partner with Universities on innovation:
- You can explore and understand cutting-edge technologies before investing in new employees or physical infrastructure
- You can tap into multiple university research areas to accelerate and broaden product research and development efforts
- You can usually find multiple University faculty members who are already engaged actively in addressing the next set of “big problems” in your industry
- Most University researchers publish their results publicly, so you can locate subject matter experts quickly with a little searching on the Internet
Where to start? Sponsor a Capstone Project
Your company can easily spend $10,000-$20,000 USD on a single market analysis. Why not spend that on building a cutting-edge technology prototype?
Capstone projects are often a requirement for graduation from many University science and engineering programs. Capstone is designed to give students experience solving real, substantial problems by the application of concepts spanning multiple topic areas of their major. Capstone projects are carried out by teams of students over one to three academic quarters. guided by one or more faculty members who are experts in the field (and really understand the nuances of the new technologies being investigated).
Your role as a Capstone project sponsor
Most Universities allow companies (and not-for-profits, and Government organizations) to sponsor Capstone projects. As a sponsor, you define a real-world problems to solve and a designated company employee mentors a team of talented senior students as they develop a prototype solution. The mentor guides the team to a deep understanding of the problem and meets with them regularly as they progress towards a solution. The students benefit from learning how to define project objectives and deliverables and deliver a solution to you subject to the agreed functional requirements and constraints.
Build a virtuous cycle of innovation for your organization
As a Capstone sponsor, you can kick-off a virtuous cycle for your company, your University partner, and the project students. Everyone wins. especially you, because you will:
- Gain new perspectives on your most challenging innovation problems
- Assess student talent with the potential to recruit the best into your company
- Provide professional development to employees who mentor Capstone projects
- Get the opportunity to connect deeply with University faculty and staff whose research areas can offer you paths for future innovation
- Get a non-exclusive commercial license to Capstone project intellectual property developed by the University researchers and the Capstone project students
About the intellectual property co-created by Capstone projects
As with all open innovation projects (defined as projects where two or more entities participate in IP creation) you won’t automatically get exclusive ownership of all the IP created by a Capstone project. This is usually not a problem. I’ve run a number of open innovation projects and there are many mutually acceptable ways of achieving the necessary innovation, and the level of IP ownership, your company might want. It’s all in how you scope and structure the work.
And remember, most Universities have no incentive to try to build a competing product based on your joint work. Universities are in the business of pushing back the boundaries of knowledge. not competing commercially against partners.
Please reach out to me if you want to learn more
Please reach out to me (Dr. Ken Urquhart) if you want to discuss corporate innovation or how to get connected to the right universities to meet your innovation needs.
If you think the University of Washington might be a great place to start, you can reach out to Dr. Phil Fawcett, the UW iSchool Capstone manager.
https://www.uschamber.com/co/start/strategy/small-business-university-partnershipshttps://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-you-should-partner-university-early-stage-ken-urquhart-phd
