Actual degree programs focused on economic development are surprisingly rare, with standout programs at Georgia Tech and the University of Southern Mississippi as two examples. There are hybrids: The University of Northern Iowa has combined a degree program with an economic development research and think tank called the Institute for Decision Making. Dr. John Lombard, director of the Center for Real Estate and Economic Development and assistant professor in the department of Urban Studies and Public Administration at Old Dominion University, points out that economic development may be the most interdisciplinary study around.
   "There are various tangential programs, housed in schools of urban studies, public policy, architecture and planning, and real estate. It reflects the multidisciplinary component of economic development. Universities are structured in different fashions – some have an office of economic development that is part of the

The $80-million Innovation Research Park@ODU will be located in the 75-acre (30-hectare) mixed-use University Village in Norfolk, Va. Announced in November 2005, the park "offers an avenue for the university’s research platforms to develop in new directions, such as our world-renowned modeling and simulation program addressing homeland security, transportation logistics and medical imaging," said Old Dominion University President Roseann Runte.

administration, or an extension or outreach program. Then there's that whole cadre of organizations that are the small business development centers, and then the university economic development centers funded by the Economic Development Administration. Then centers like mine that are part of the academic side of university. We do outreach and research. And we're building an R&D incubator on campus." That would be the US$80-million Innovation Research Park@ODU.
   How many others follow suit and put some academic skin in the game? Lombard says a lot of urban universities come by such activity naturally as a result of trying to improve their immediate environment: Yale in New Haven, Conn., and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles are the most immediate examples. Meanwhile, the University of Buffalo has a research park, as does the University of Kentucky with its Coldstream Park. And state universities in Oklahoma and Nebraska have extensive campuses with well-developed infrastructure for churning out businesses.
   Thomas E. McClure, director of federal and state relations for the office of regional affairs at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C., also serves as executive director of the University Economic Development Association, whose membership numbers about 150. He says that as states rebound from the economic downturn, most are looking to partner with universities to do so.
   "At Western Carolina, we're trying to focus economic development initiatives on the needs of our region," he says. "We don't have a degree program, but we do have a bachelor's and master's degree in entrepreneurship, recognized by a national association as one of the best in the country." McClure also lauds his school's engineering program, where a rapid prototyping center has worked with some 80 companies over the past two years.
   Projects the UEDA recognized at its recent conference highlight a host of programs around the country, among them the Center for Industrial Effectiveness at the State University of New York at Buffalo; the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program and Electrotechnology Applications Center; the Regional Economic Development Center at the University of Memphis and the Center for Industrial Research and Service, operated by the Iowa State University Extension since 1963.
   McClure sees promise in forging better partnerships between universities and community colleges, of which there are 59 in North Carolina. "We have articulation agreements, and are developing a seamless transition from community colleges to a senior university, if they have that two-year degree," he says, not unlike many states. And Western is putting its skin in the game too, developing its Millennial Campus (modeled after a development at North Carolina State in Raleigh), which started with the acquisition of 350 acres (142 hectares) a couple years ago. Formerly owned by families that either farmed it for crops or timber, it will now give rise to industry partnerships and perhaps new colleges, with a focus on the healthcare sector.
   "We see an opportunity to create a real-world environment, conducive to graduates staying here rather than graduating and moving to the urban areas," he says. "But we have to create new economy-type jobs that create opportunities for these folks."