Building Research Centers of Excellence: Questions to answer

Corporate Relations Officers Worksheet:
Engagement in Center Development
Introduction: The Role of the Corporate Relations Officer in Center Development
As corporations and industry engages more with Universities for talent and innovation, the roles and
responsibilities of corporate relations offices are broadening across campuses. One area of strategic
interest to campus is the development of Centers of excellence which highlight the university-industry
partnership. Research Centers fulfill one of the missions of a university to serve society through relevant
research, innovation, continuing education, and providing a pipeline of talent to start ups and
established companies.
This worksheet is designed to inform a Corporate Relations Officer (CRO) about the process of Center
creation and management, and highlight opportunities for the CRO to partner with faculty and
companies by offering leadership, advice or just asking the right questions. All universities and all
Centers are unique so while this process description will help you plan and ask many important
questions, it is also important to acknowledge the fact that the process is not usually as linear as we
might like. Managing internal and external relationships will always be the hallmark skill of the best
CROs.
Center Definition
For the purposes of this document, a Center is an affiliated group of faculty and researchers that:
• come together in an organization focused around a topic
• produce the intellectual and human capital that derives some benefit, solves some problem,
and/or advances the state of the art for a university and society
• work in collaboration with private and/or public sector entities
Further definitions with regards to Centers are available 1
(see figure 2 for detailed Center cycle)
Impetus: The Starting Point and Mission of the Center
Questions to consider:
What is the purpose and funding model for the Center?
• What is the proposed purpose and mission of the Center?
o What are the Opportunities and Drivers for this new Center? Company Interest?
Funding Availability? Commitment by Faculty, Chair, Dean, Vice Provost/Chancellor for
Research?
1
FOOTNOTE From GA Tech paper:
Institute - an association organized to promote science and education. Institutes usually have an educational component and
many award their own degrees or certificates.
Consortium - a group of unaffiliated entities that contribute funding for and participate in research to solve a defined problem.
They are usually temporary groups assembled to collaborate on a specific research area with defined deliverables and shared
rights to those deliverables.

o Existing intellectual capital, resources, and external factors that create favorable
conditions for the Center?
o Consider formal process at university for creating a new Center (e.g. Why not within
existing department or Center?)
• Which of the five funding or sponsorship models below is driving the Center under
consideration? Each has different drivers and constituencies that will dictate the corporate
engagement.
• Funding models may evolve over time; you may operate under one model now, but have
another model as ultimate goal or as a “Plan B.” Below we cite an example of each:
o Philanthropic Gift: a family donates money for a focused cause
o University initiated: to feature strength, retain or recruit faculty
o Federal/Government award: partner with the USG to advance an area
o Economic Development Authority: workforce development
o Industry Driven: to create talent pipeline, build a brand association or access university
expertise not available in-house
Process Steps:
1) Engage Core Faculty & Industry
Goal: Identify and organize key constituents and leaders to help build success for a new initiative.
Center Organization:
• Who will lead or act as Director for the new Center?
• Where does the Center fit within the University? Which executive officer(s), Dean(s), and/or
other leaders need to be consulted as the structure of the Center is put together?
o Develop a stakeholder map to outline interests and goals for key players. The CRO is
often in the middle of managing and translating a variety of interests internal and
external.
• What content expertise is required of the Director? Which faculty members have the most well-
rounded set of expertise to offer? How about management expertise? Faculty and academic
leaders may overlook the importance of management expertise and leadership essential to a
successful Center.
Faculty Engagement:
• What other faculty will be
engaged to help support
the Center initiative?
• Other than the faculty
leading the Center, who
else will be critical to its
success? Consider
additional faculty from a
research perspective, how
they may impact the area
the Center covers, but also
assess their depth of
industry connections.
Figure 1: Cycle for corporate relations engagement in Center development
Corporate Relations
Engagement in Center
Development
Engage Core
Faculty & Industry
Build and
Implement
Launch
Sustain and
Steward
Evolve
Page: 2 Updated: July 17, 2014
NACRO Benchmarking Committee

• How can University leader’s best support the success of the Center?
Industry Engagement:
• How will the Center depend on corporate support and what is the ideal role for corporate
engagement?
• What is the value proposition from an industry partner’s perspective?
• Why is this Center the right place for companies to invest?
• What is the business case for investing at your university versus somewhere else internally or
externally? What do you want companies to say when they present this opportunity to their
SVP/CEO?
• What are the Center’s intellectual property (IP) policies? Is the focus of this Center intended to
be pre-competitive? Will there be any opportunities to acquire IP rights to technologies/devices
developed under the Center’s auspices?
• What specific benefits will companies get from participating in the Center?
• How many levels of participation are you offering? Can you manage different levels of
membership and is it worth a tiered benefit model or just same for all?
• What does success look like after x years (1, 3, 5)? What are the goals of the Center? What can a
company reasonably expect to get out of it this year? How soon will the value become clear?
Potential roles for Corporate Relations:
• SWOT analysis / benchmarking this Center versus similar ones (from a company perspective)
• Identify “friendly” potential corporate partner for dialogue about membership benefits for early
buy in.
• Match business objectives with University strengths. Find intersection of technology roadmap of
a company with research roadmap of faculty and Center.
• Articulate the value proposition the University offers, test it with industry partners. Iterate.
• As always, demonstrate responsiveness and facilitate timely interactions on campus to model
customer care and stewardship of corporate partners for Center leadership.
• Present findings to University and Center leadership to avail them of CRO expertise.
2) Build and Implement
Goal: Create a framework to meet Center vision that includes clear articulation and “role” of corporate
partners.
Initial Resources:
• What management structure and resources are required to make the Center function?
• What infrastructure does the Center need to meet Center objectives and fulfill industry
deliverables (space, equipment, expertise, marketing, web and staff including, Associate
Director(s), support staff?
• Gap analysis relating to purpose and mission and impact on resource needs: Are there any gaps
in your expertise in order for you to make an impact or to claim that you cover a specific area
large enough to be of interest? Do you need to bring in additional faculty members from your
university or consider faculty experts at other universities to make the Center highly relevant?

• SWOT to understand needs and initial resources.
• Are internal financial resources available and committed to initially launch the Center until other
sources are identified and secured?
• Where will long term funding for Center come from? Support from University, companies,
other?
• Any State or economic developments funding opportunities to bring into Center to obtain
additional funding? Consider STEM out-reach to high schools, support for creating jobs in the
state (as long as these initiatives are part of resources made available). However, don’t let
possibility of additional resources detract from purpose; for an industry-driven program,
outreach activities will only be of interest if they align with member companies’ technical
training requirements.
• What is the operating budget needed for the Center short term/long term? Budget and
resources/funds available may influence size of membership fee and/or number of corporate
members required.
Structure: Center Organization
• Management structure: How should the Center be managed? University lead or both industry
and faculty on same board? Advisory Board? Who has the final decision authority? Needs to be
clear (e.g. if industry makes recommendations but university has final say, or if you are equal
partners, etc.)
• Even if Center Director is from the university, industry will insist on driving the agenda when it
comes to deciding on what research to fund. Neither industry nor Federal agencies are
interested in funding faculty pet projects.
• Leadership: Duties and responsibilities. Length of terms, process for appointing a new leader?
• How are individual research thrusts/groups of researchers managed? How does that structure
interact with the other boards/leaders of the Center?
• What is the business model? Membership cost in dollars and in time? Tiered or same benefits?
• Management of industry relations once the Center is running -- will Director have primary
responsibility to maintain relationships? Will CR office manage in collaboration with Center
faculty/staff? Either way, a deep relationship with a company is the key to success: who is best
for building an alliance for the Center?
• Are there opportunities for collaboration with other Centers at the university that will provide
mutual benefit and allow you to leverage and/or maximize resources?
• What interim benchmarks have been established to chart progress in achieving long term goals
and objectives?
• Location, meeting frequency and logistics: Meeting held at University, same or alter locations,
virtual participation an important aspect or not?
• What is the time period companies will commit to (e.g. annual fee minimum three years)?
• When most details are in place you can begin developing an agreement with your contracts
office (will base work on existing similar Centers and tweak to what’s unique). This agreement
template will handle membership, fee structure, IP terms etc.
• What is the process for recruiting new faculty into the Center? How will the Center handle
faculty who under-perform in their work at the Center? Important to define early on as industry
will not want any connection with faculty who are unresponsive to their needs.
Advisory Board:
• How do you create a good advisory board?
• What is the right mix of corporate members?

• How do you get the right level of people to sit on the Board? Do you know what they want from
the Center personally and as a representative of their company? Is their access, suitability, and
motivation a good fit?
• What is the extent and limit of the Board’s authority? (e.g. policy? voting on what gets funded in
the Center?)
• How might the Board play a role in recruiting new corporate partners?
• What mix of Board members will best serve the overall strategic objectives of the Center?
• What expectations do you have of Board members and how will you ensure and manage Board
member accountability?
• Terms must be established. Rule of thumb is generally 3 years at a time, with one or two
renewals.
• Consider establishing bylaws.
Corporate members:
• Identify target companies needed for Center / the right mix of players for content and for
financial sustainability e.g. 3 large members or 1 large and two smaller members etc.
• What role will industry partners play in the Center’s governance?
• Fine-tune and present the value proposition and meet with companies to convince them to join
and obtain detailed feedback.
• Iterative process if feedback negative: price too high / value does not justify / can’t commit for
multiple years.
• Can a portion of a company’s membership fee come from in-kind contributions? If so, what is
the cap?
• Can a company use existing sponsored research projects as a credit to a portion of the
participation fee?
Overall:
• What are metrics for success?
• What are the metrics for short and long term goals? Is the Center addressing a task that can be
completed at one point or is problem so big that it will always be justified to have a Center?
• How will success be measured for the Center? e.g. licenses, IP, sponsored research, membership
growth, renewals, impact on society (define how measure impact). Remember that new
research projects “generated on the side” by Center member companies but conducted outside
the Center may be one of the major benefits.
• What products will the Center produce to brand, promote or determine the value it delivers?
• Use current corporate partnerships as well as conduct new business intelligence research, to
analyze potential company participation: potential members by industry segment, by value
chain, competitors, etc. with goal to create synergistic mix
• Help determine what is needed for the Center to be successful
• Get faculty to consider all aspects of the process and set correct expectations
• Help with identifying companies and the value proposition
• Present to companies, getting acceptance, and signing a letter of intent or agreement
• Assist with membership agreements
• Help establish the initial advisory board (recommend members, contact, even sit on board if
CRO has been deeply involved in Center creation)

• At a minimum be part of Center meetings with companies, to create additional meetings for
companies while on campus to grow the relationship
• Assist with developing the implementation plan and kickoff of the Center
• Coordinate with sponsored projects office and technology transfer group as appropriate.
• Communicate attainment of goals and ROI
Evaluate and Modify:
• Survey members and advisory Board for feedback annually
• Make review of progress part of every advisory board meeting
• Review feedback and discuss with Advisory Board and decide on changes
• How and who will keep track of monitoring new and emerging research?
3) Launch
Goal: Gain support of major partners prior to announcement; give them opportunity to provide
comments and secure buy-in, get them on the record for support, make them partners.
Pre-launch:
• When is the right time to launch to have impact and recruit more members?
• Do we have the right marketing materials?
• Have all the stakeholders been involved?
• Corporate visits with Key Center Leadership to gauge interest and incorporate corporate partner
interest. Get ‘weigh in to buy in’ from partners both internal and external
• Private event – Workshop or seminar to share content of the Center
• What might a “grand” opening look like?
Launch:
• Large event - invitations and media announcements. Consider targeting conferences, journals,
or any other structure which are most likely to contain the type of corporate representatives
you wish to engage, this is a very good way to reach the right audience. Funds may be required
to reach target audience, and consulting a good communications person will be essential.
• Advisory Board / Partner meeting
• Highlight student projects and posters to feature content and talent
• Prepare prospect plan
• Which corporate prospects should get extra communication and invitations?
• Coordinate who will contact and follow up (Center Director, CRO, Dean, etc.)
• Finalize any agreements.
o Some federally funded Centers like I/UCRCs have agreements that may be non-
negotiable. These agreements can serve as templates for other Centers.
o When terms are negotiable, it may take 6 – 18 months to finalize negotiations between
the legal departments of the university and the company (especially in an industry
where IP is important).
o Research funding through a Center may have special and favorable terms such as low
overhead/indirect cost recovery (ICR) but also require that all research findings must be
shared with all members. However, research funded through the Center may only be
the tip of the iceberg, research funding “generated on the side”, perhaps from
discussions with individual faculty during Center meetings, may represent the main

funding from a company to the university. Be prepared to handle negotiations for this
company exclusive research.
• Discuss post launch plan - plan (several steps) ahead: Have a clear purpose and outcomes for
each meeting. What are the decisions that need to be taken this meeting, the action items
before next meeting, additional next steps.
• Joint press releases from university and corporate partner (as appropriate)
• Faculty reception / networking lunch with partners and prospective partners
• Have website ready. You always need to have a website targeted at companies explaining “why
should I join?”
• Ensure intra-university issues are resolved: faculty involvement, faculty and administrative (F&A)
or indirect costs (IDC) splits are resolved.
• Have other membership documents in place, such as prospectus, marketing/recruiting slide
decks, terms, etc.
General media tips:
• Marketing membership to LinkedIn groups by industry or trade association.
• Leverage other social media.
• Engage broad campus constituency.
• Where applicable: national media, trade groups.
• Have industry people provide significant amount of quotes for releases (things like: University is
easy to work with, Pioneering research, exciting, value-add for us, etc.---sounds better coming
from them.
• Clarify role of CR at early stage in order to set expectations and avoid communication errors. Put
in in writing.
• CRO may in many cases be prime contact person between company and the Center and as such
assumes a stewardship role throughout the process (clarify where faculty is primary contact,
where CR may be, if there is a transition).
• How many corporate champions are needed to secure the Center? Is there a “Plan B?”
Corporate Relations will monitor “recruitment” status of companies leading up to initial phase
and assess whether Center is on target or not. CR helps determine critical mass of companies
needed going into launch. Plays a role in managing expectations between the Center and actual
company (prospect) potential.
• Is there a need to revisit engagement levels? How many more companies need to come onboard
and how will this affect any inaugural event (focus on celebrating existing member’s versus
inviting more to join the effort)? Need for additional outreach?
• Keep a tab of prospects, continuously updating list – communicate goals and engagement with
other constituents in university; identify partners who are willing to “sell” the Center.
• CR will play a role in maintaining communication with committed corporations and determining
the role of industry in initial celebration of the Center. Determine speakers and any joint
communication material. In liaison with alumni relations, determine VIP guests from selected
companies.
• Through communication with colleagues in field – determine best practices regarding
inauguration event – the do’s and don’ts.
• Identify the “so what” – what is the message here? What are we selling in terms of university –
industry collaboration/Center of excellence? Why should media care? Society at large? What is
it in it for companies? CR helps manage expectations: what is Center selling v/s what are

companies looking for? Identify faculty/Director or corporate sponsor who can speak to topic
and broadcast video on website.
• CRO collaborates with communications colleagues to develop media kit, including press
releases, brochure (if applicable) and social media. In cases where CR plays the role of liaison
between company and Center, will be responsible for assessing whether certain corporate
contact is appropriate to provide quote or video recording.
• CRO advises on everything related to stewardship for the inaugural launch. Company
recognition, photographs taken, gifts, documents of official recognition, gifts in connection with
speaker engagements etc.
• Is there a role for CRO on the advisory board? Perhaps not, but a CR representative should sit in
on meetings to understand the direction and connections that might be made. This can benefit
both the Center by identifying new potential members and other help deepen existing campus
partnerships.
4) Sustain and Steward
Goal: Enable pipeline for continued industry engagement with the Center.
A Center is a talent and technology pipeline between the university and a company/Center member.
• How will the Center sustain itself and steward the corporate partnerships?
• How do internships, directed research funding beyond Center membership, and corporate
leadership play in the future of a Center of excellence?
• What is the intersection of the research roadmap of the faculty/Center and the technology
roadmap of the company sponsor? For sustainability, pivots in faculty research aims may be
required to attract new or renewed support. Keeping the lights on in the lab through applied or
more commercial-oriented research may be necessary.
• What is the ideal relationship sought between students and corporate sponsors of the Center?
Internships, scholarships, fellowships, co-ops, design projects, mentors are all great
opportunities to meet and recruit talent. All these can be designed into a valuable proposition.
• What is the timeline for the relationship (may vary from company to company)? Timeline for the
goals of the Center? When do goals get revisited or revised? A study looking at I/UCRCs found
that the average time is 18 months from first meeting with a company until they have paid their
dues.
• What is the return on investment or return on engagement for the corporate partner? Survey
members, calibrate annually. Gap analysis, unmet needs to stay relevant. These are tactics of a
Stewardship plan for the Center with its partner(s).
• Support from Department or School: How can the Center count on marketing and
communication products e.g. brochures, websites, communications, and events support from a
central authority to insure quality, branding, and reliability of service across the school?
• Staffing: Who will own the relationship once the company becomes a member of the Center -
the CRO or the staff of the Center? Who should lead the stewardship of the relationship and to
what extent? How will the Center be aware of the University’s goals and plans for the corporate
partners beyond the concerns of the Center? Regardless of ownership both Corporate Relations
and Center staff are needed to properly steward. Stewardship plan should include potential
avenues for growing the relationship beyond the Center.
• Who takes the lead on recruiting companies: Corporate Relations or the Center staff? Any
change in goals for number of corporate members needed or desired?

• Have you defined a target audience and/or prospect pool based upon industry needs and
interests, current research partnerships, projections of future industry needs, etc.? CRO,
prospect research, and Center staff as a team.
• What products will the Center produce to brand, promote or determine the value it delivers?
Stewardship of the corporate sponsors should fit seamlessly in the branding and promotion of
the Center and reflect the value being created across all partners and society.
• Industrial participation that isn’t well functioning: Can you exclude corporate members if they
don't meet certain criteria/expectations? What are these criteria?
• Corporate Relations should develop messaging around student engagement, i.e. fine-tune these
engagement points to maximize corporate interest in supporting the Center.
• Corporate Relations should develop a strategic plan and demonstrate ROI to seek to grow
partner involvement through good stewardship of current support and engagement.
Corporate Relations lead or assist the Center staff in tailoring the recruiting message to secure
new involvement.
5) Evolve
Goal: 1) To gather qualitative and quantitative information to realign initial Center vision to new
company needs and desired outcomes and 2) to integrate this information into new action plan for
Center.
• What improvements or shifts should be undertaken to the Center that benefit engaged parties?
• To whom is the Center dependent to continue operations?
• How to evaluate the success and relevance of the Center?
• How to collect feedback from industry?
• How do you conduct the assessment process? Is it part of the overall structure or of a particular
section?
• From whom do you collect feedback? Industry? Faculty? Center administration? Other
stakeholders?
• When/How do you collect feedback? Through surveys? From anecdotal conversations? At
Center meetings?
• What is the process for making improvements?
• If a component doesn’t work, is there an exit strategy (for larger issues/projects)? Who decides?
What is the role of industry in the decision?
• Is there a plan to notify stakeholders of changes?
• How do you deal with a life-span/life-cycle of a Center or projects within a Center?
• When and how do you begin re-structuring the Center to extend, continue, or renew its life?
• What are the new areas of research important to industry?
• How do you sustain or increase the financial investment of founding industrial partners?
• How and when do you set a sunset date for a Center or a project?
• How do you set appropriate expectations, or manage appropriate successes?
• How do you integrate an evaluation process in each step of the development of a Center?
• How will the Center leadership be evaluated and by whom?
• Annual review: Should the Center continue or is major redesign required?

• Under what conditions does a Center close or transition?
• The role of the CR professional throughout the process is:
o To be the eyes and ears of the participants,
o Understand expectations and needs,
o Work with faculty to bring data (qualitative and quantitative) to the evaluation or formal
review.
Evaluate and Modify:
• Is there a new or evolving structure? Are there metrics for evaluating this?
Sunset or Redesign
• Has Center accomplished its goal?
• Is there a major change affecting the rationale, the research and/or available funding?
• How is the funding mechanism going to change moving forward?
• How does this affect the operations of the Center?
• Is it possible to transition from government/federal funding to private funding?
• What does this funding transition look like?
• Who is a decision authority with regard to change in the formal structure of the Center?
• How/when do you communicate with industry partners about the changes?
• Will there be a significant change in leadership and/or governing structure of the Center?
• Evaluate and modify as needed, including consideration of dissolution as warranted.
Online Resources and References
NSF Engineering Research Centers (ERC) Best Practices Manual (see Chapter 5): http://erc-
assoc.org/best_practices/best-practices-manual
Research Center Manual: Starting and Operating a Georgia Tech Research Center
http://industry.gatech.edu/researchers/sponsored-research/start-a-research-center/
“The purple book” – by Denis Gray: Considered the bible for IUCRC’s, it’s a good reference for Industry
University collaborations. There is an addendum to this which is also available online.
http://www.ncsu.edu/iucrc/PurpleBook.htm
NCSU has done many detailed studies (they lead the IUCRC evaluation program), available here:
http://www.ncsu.edu/iucrc/

Images on Figure 1: Cycle for corporate relations engagement in Center development
http://fdjardine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Galileo_Launch1.jpg
http://www.pinkjooz.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/mobile-phone-evolution.jpg
http://michaelhyatt.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/iStock_000005370498Small.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Cary_Quad_and_Spitzer_Court,_Purdue_Univer
sity.png
http://sustainabilityninja.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/feature-images/government-industry-
sustainability.jpg

2013-14 NACRO Benchmarking Committee
Authors:
Brent Burns
Mona Ellerbrock
Anne O’Donnell
Olof Westerstahl
Contributors:
Karen Anell
Joslyn Biever
Michael Bivens
J.C. Brinker
Beth Colledge
Leslie Edwards
Sarah Edwards
Brad Fravel
David Lipari
Terri Marts
Shannon McKeen
John McLaughlin
Terry Pearl
Jan Resch
Velinda Reyes
Tom Richardson
Gillian Stewart
Cynthia Sundell
Frances Yuan
Michigan Technological University
University of California Davis
UC San Diego (committee co-chair)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Boston University
University of Minnesota
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Old Dominion University
Pennsylvania State University
University of California Santa Barbara
Louisiana State University
Indiana University
University of Illinois
University of Pittsburgh
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Michigan
NYU Langone Medical Center
University of South Florida
University of Texas - Pan American
Rutgers University (committee co-chair)
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Georgia Institute of Technology
Princeton University

Figure 2: Detailed cycle for Center development

Building Research Centers of Excellence: Questions to answer

Recomendados

Recomendados

Mais conteúdo relacionado

Mais procurados

Mais procurados (20)

Semelhante a Building Research Centers of Excellence: Questions to answer

Semelhante a Building Research Centers of Excellence: Questions to answer (20)

Último

Último (20)

Building Research Centers of Excellence: Questions to answer