AICU head challenges Ocean State ‘brain drain’

THE ASSOCIATION for private universities in Rhode Island received a $17,000 grant to develop an internship program for college students to combat “brain drain.” Pictured from left, are participants Mike Heinoneum and Greg Harvey, along with John Robitaille, head of Johnson & Wales University’s entrepreneurship center, Daniel P. Egan, president of the Rhode Island Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, Patricia Mulcahey, associate director of AICU, and David M. Mitchell, dean of JWU’s College of Business. /
THE ASSOCIATION for private universities in Rhode Island received a $17,000 grant to develop an internship program for college students to combat “brain drain.” Pictured from left, are participants Mike Heinoneum and Greg Harvey, along with John Robitaille, head of Johnson & Wales University’s entrepreneurship center, Daniel P. Egan, president of the Rhode Island Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, Patricia Mulcahey, associate director of AICU, and David M. Mitchell, dean of JWU’s College of Business. /

Daniel P. Egan, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Island, is challenging the notion of a “brain drain” and says more college graduates than previously thought are willing to settle in the Ocean State after graduation.
Egan and his associates at AICU studied the state’s purported brain-drain crisis as part of the work they’ve done to establish Dormcubator, a six-week summertime program to encourage college graduates to stay in Rhode Island. The program was recently awarded a $17,500 grant from the Implementation Providence Innovation Council.
Dormcubator was one of seven projects awarded a total of $110,000 in IPIC grants during a May 25 presentation ceremony held at the Cuisinart Culinary Center for Excellence at the Harborside Campus of Johnson & Wales University in Providence.
The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce started IPIC in 2007 as a way to spur development of the Knowledge Economy in Rhode Island, an effort to strengthen and grow such sectors as health care, technology, alternative energy, research and design. To date, IPIC has awarded $300,000 to 20 projects in 2009 and 2010, in addition to the recent grants. Major funding co-sponsors are the city of Providence and The Rhode Island Foundation.
Laurie White, president of the Chamber, told Providence Business News after the event that the idea of fostering a Knowledge Economy by supporting innovative startups is not unique to Rhode Island. “People are using this strategy all over the United States,” she said.
And other states are spending more money on it. White provided information on the Ohio Third Frontier, created in 2002 as a commitment to create new technology jobs in that state under a $2.3 billion initiative. Despite the recession, Ohio voters recently approved a $700 million, bipartisan extension of the economic-development initiative. Egan explained that his association first founded a program called bRIdge, to “provide students with a rich experience and opportunity to think of Rhode Island as a post-graduate option,” he said. More than 10,000 students from all over the state – about 15 percent of the state’s college population – were surveyed to find out what it would take for them to become permanent Rhode Island residents.
What they need, he said, are opportunities to become embedded and engaged in the state and once that happens, they need employment. “The more connections a student has with the state, the more likely he or she is to stay,” he said.
The surveys, in fact, showed that there is not a brain drain, Egan said, but the clear potential for a “a brain gain.” Nearly one-third of students surveyed at both public and private colleges and universities intend to stay in Rhode Island, while one in five from private institutions alone will remain in the Ocean State after graduation, according to Egan.
“We are setting out to debunk the myth of a brain drain in Rhode Island,” he said. “It all comes down to communication.” Once local students are made aware of what the state has to offer beyond the confines of their campuses, they are likely to stay here, Egan said.
The survey results led to the creation of Dormcubator. The six-week program, starting in June, will see 12 students from 10 colleges in the state housed at Johnson & Wales, where they will work at paid internships and gain academic credit. The interns, in their junior year of college, will work with career representatives, government officials and local entrepreneurs.&#8226

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  1. I don’t think you can under state how important this is to the state of RI. Education is key to getting our great state back up and running at full speed. What we need now is a better educated workforce to help match talent with need in the larger economy. Companies will come here and stay here if they believe they have access to a good labor talent pool. Start up companies need the assurance that they can recruit good people from the local population. This is the correct model for this state to follow.