Objectives and Process
The objective of the five-year extension process is to reaffirm the institution’s commitment to economic engagement, to ensure that their Growth and Improvement Plan and their economic engagement enterprise is consistent with current conditions and goals, and to ensure that the IEP designation continues to serve as a mark of excellence that distinguishes IEP universities.
Additionally, completing this process will provide you and other leaders at your institution with new artifacts and tools related to your economic engagement goals and successes. You will be able to use these in communicating with internal and external stakeholders regarding the value of these efforts and initiatives. Before undertaking this effort, consider the key goals that you have for strengthening economic engagement and building key partnerships, both within and outside of the institution. Your review process should, first and foremost, serve the goals of your institution and community.
The process for pursuing the extension is as follows:
- Gather data:
- A synthesis of all annual reflection memos that have been completed (APLU will provide them), highlighting key learnings or patterns/themes over the course of the five years since the designation.
- Data about changes in the regional economic ecosystem – for example, changes in the key industry clusters, economic challenges facing the industry, etc.
- Information and evidence (evidence can include project summaries, press releases, or comments from external stakeholders) about how the institution has responded to the ecosystem’s needs, as well as information about internal institutional changes that may have shifted priorities, altered the institution’s economic strengths and opportunities, etc.
- Information about how the institution has participated in the IEP designee community of practice and how it has benefited.
- Develop a short (3 to 5 slide or 2-page) presentation or summary that you can share with internal and external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders might include the President, the Vice President for Research, the Director of Government Relations, etc. External stakeholders might include the local economic development and regional planning agency, the business association, or other key strategic partners. This is an opportunity to focus on the core elements of your institution’s economic engagement and communicate the value of these to key supporters and stakeholders. Your brief presentation or summary should reflect the following:
- Significant changes in the regional economic ecosystem since the designation was received
- Information about the institution’s economic engagement performance since designation. For example, you could include some of the following kinds of information:
- Talent: alignment of degree and certificate programs with growth and evolution of industry needs
- Innovation: new research areas or partnerships responding to the needs of the regional economic clusters or public sector challenges
- Place: new initiatives to improve the regional quality of life and work with local public and nonprofit community.
- Proposed changes to the institution’s Growth and Improvement Plan that might better respond to current conditions
- Gather stakeholder feedback: Present the information to a group (at least 6) of key internal (3) and external (3) stakeholders. Ask them to validate the data you have collected about changes to the ecosystem and ask for suggestions regarding how the university’s engagement efforts should respond to those changes. Consider how what you’ve learned should affect your growth and improvement plan. Ask at least one key internal stakeholder and one key external stakeholder to write a letter of support including data validation and their suggestions.
- Fill out the extension application and attach the presentation, summary, or other information presented to stakeholders.
A review panel will assess the extension application against a rubric that ensures that the institution has maintained its commitment to economic engagement over the past five years, has appropriately used data to assess its progress, and has a solid plan for deepening that engagement in the coming five years.
The process described above can do a lot more for you and your institution’s economic engagement efforts than simply help you secure your IEP designation extension. Taking stock and sharing learnings with key stakeholders will undoubtedly lead to new ideas and strategies that will help you strengthen outcomes and build relationships for long-term success. It’s important to undertake the process focused on the opportunity to improve and grow rather than a compliance mindset. The choices you make related to data and the stakeholders you include can help significantly in shaping the process so that it is most beneficial to you.
Questions regarding the IEP 5-Year Extension Application? Contact the APLU IEP team at iep@aplu.org
Learn more about the IEP 5-Year Extension Application by reviewing the document found here.
IEP 5-Year Extension
Objectives and Process
The objective of the five-year extension process is to reaffirm the institution’s commitment to economic engagement, to ensure that their Growth and Improvement Plan and their economic engagement enterprise is consistent with current conditions and goals, and to ensure that the IEP designation continues to serve as a mark of excellence that distinguishes IEP universities.
Additionally, completing this process will provide you and other leaders at your institution with new artifacts and tools related to your economic engagement goals and successes. You will be able to use these in communicating with internal and external stakeholders regarding the value of these efforts and initiatives. Before undertaking this effort, consider the key goals that you have for strengthening economic engagement and building key partnerships, both within and outside of the institution. Your review process should, first and foremost, serve the goals of your institution and community.
The process for pursuing the extension is as follows:
- Gather data:
- A synthesis of all annual reflection memos that have been completed (APLU will provide them), highlighting key learnings or patterns/themes over the course of the five years since the designation.
- Data about changes in the regional economic ecosystem – for example, changes in the key industry clusters, economic challenges facing the industry, etc.
- Information and evidence (evidence can include project summaries, press releases, or comments from external stakeholders) about how the institution has responded to the ecosystem’s needs, as well as information about internal institutional changes that may have shifted priorities, altered the institution’s economic strengths and opportunities, etc.
- Information about how the institution has participated in the IEP designee community of practice and how it has benefited.
- Develop a short (3 to 5 slide or 2-page) presentation or summary that you can share with internal and external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders might include the President, the Vice President for Research, the Director of Government Relations, etc. External stakeholders might include the local economic development and regional planning agency, the business association, or other key strategic partners. This is an opportunity to focus on the core elements of your institution’s economic engagement and communicate the value of these to key supporters and stakeholders. Your brief presentation or summary should reflect the following:
- Significant changes in the regional economic ecosystem since the designation was received
- Information about the institution’s economic engagement performance since designation. For example, you could include some of the following kinds of information:
- Talent: alignment of degree and certificate programs with growth and evolution of industry needs
- Innovation: new research areas or partnerships responding to the needs of the regional economic clusters or public sector challenges
- Place: new initiatives to improve the regional quality of life and work with local public and nonprofit community.
- Proposed changes to the institution’s Growth and Improvement Plan that might better respond to current conditions
- Gather stakeholder feedback: Present the information to a group (at least 6) of key internal (3) and external (3) stakeholders. Ask them to validate the data you have collected about changes to the ecosystem and ask for suggestions regarding how the university’s engagement efforts should respond to those changes. Consider how what you’ve learned should affect your growth and improvement plan. Ask at least one key internal stakeholder and one key external stakeholder to write a letter of support including data validation and their suggestions.
- Fill out the extension application and attach the presentation, summary, or other information presented to stakeholders.
A review panel will assess the extension application against a rubric that ensures that the institution has maintained its commitment to economic engagement over the past five years, has appropriately used data to assess its progress, and has a solid plan for deepening that engagement in the coming five years.
The process described above can do a lot more for you and your institution’s economic engagement efforts than simply help you secure your IEP designation extension. Taking stock and sharing learnings with key stakeholders will undoubtedly lead to new ideas and strategies that will help you strengthen outcomes and build relationships for long-term success. It’s important to undertake the process focused on the opportunity to improve and grow rather than a compliance mindset. The choices you make related to data and the stakeholders you include can help significantly in shaping the process so that it is most beneficial to you.
Questions regarding the IEP 5-Year Extension Application? Contact the APLU IEP team at iep@aplu.org
Learn more about the IEP 5-Year Extension Application by reviewing the document found here.