Mississippi Universities Laying the Groundwork for Future Economic Development Opportunities By Dr. Tom Layzell
The image of universities as "ivory towers" out of touch with reality is one the Board of Trustees and the universities work to combat as they attempt to meet real-world economic development needs.
But in order to meet those needs, Mississippi universities need to continually monitor changing educational and economic conditions,  especially the ongoing elimination of the barriers of time and distance caused by technological change.  Where universities previously dealt with persons and groups in a limited geographic area, technology now permits them to interact routinely with people across the nation and around the world.
Technology is leveling the playing field and we no longer compete just with our neighboring states.  In fact, many of the battles are international.  Like other states, we are in a race to train and educate our present and future workforce to meet the challenges of the 21st century economy.  In that regard, Mississippi is a state to watch.
Among the reasons are the investments the Legislature has made in higher education in recent years.  The Legislature has provided significant increases in funding to the university system in the last two fiscal years.  The increases helped us address major priorities, including the need to recruit and retain faculty and staff and to enhance access to higher education.  The Critical Needs Teacher/Loan Scholarship program is a legislative initiative that both enhances access and meets an economic development need by attracting more students into the teaching profession.  In just two years, the program has shown dramatic growth with over 700 current participants.  Sound investments lead to sound returns, and the investments in higher education are paying off for our state.
Another new and significant initiative is the creation of Mississippi Technology, Inc. (MTI), a not-for-profit organization designed to generate higher paying jobs through a concentration on service and technology.  Our research universities are heavily involved in helping MTI define and achieve its objectives.  There is little doubt that technological change is a major, if not the major, instrument of economic development.  The creation of MTI is an attempt to utilize both public and private resources to insure that Mississippi is a competitor and not an observer in the race to realize the benefits of technological change.
The MTI Board, with the input of Mississippi's research universities has selected four technology focus areas to guide investment for research enhancement: communications/information, advanced materials, biosystems, and transportation.  The Board also approved a project related to technologies at the Stennis Space Center.  The project is part of a state/federal capacity partnership involving the Department of Defense and several Mississippi universities in the High Performance Visualization Center Initiative.  The project will create infrastructure - a "center without walls" that will enable researchers to access instrumentation, share data and computer resources, and access information in digital libraries.
All of these components work together to make the eight public universities a significant "economic engine" for the state.  But, the engine must be continually tuned to make sure it runs smoothly and effectively, and that it carries the state of Mississippi further and faster down the road of economic development and global competitiveness. Back (Tom Layzell is Commissioner of Higher Education)