“Everything is connected ... no one thing can change by itself.”
— Paul Hawken —

the roundtable

The Higher Education Roundtable was formed by the North Dakota Legislature in 1999 to increase the state’s economic development and improve the quality of life of North Dakotans. It was composed of state officials and members of the public and higher education sectors, including President Kupchella.

The goal of the Roundtable was to work together to build a preferred future for North Dakota that would foster growth of the declining population and region — in short, to re-invent the state via economic development.

Individual campuses were encouraged to forge partnerships and to find new revenue sources to supplement state appropriations, and they were allowed more budgeting flexibility. UND developed new partnerships with public and private sectors and began to commercialize University research.

Throughout the nation, governors and economic development authorities are focusing on universities as drivers for economic development. The Roundtable encouraged the University to link research, development, and commercialization to the core teaching and learning mission.

UND has received six State Center of Excellence for Economic Development awards. They helped fund the construction of the National Center for Hydrogen Technology and the University Research Foundation’s facility for Life Sciences and Advanced Technologies. The Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center was also funded through a combination of state and private support. The awards are supporting
two Unmanned Aerial Systems programs in the

John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences and the biomedical devices program in the School of Engineering and Mines. All are expected to generate high-paying jobs.

The Center for Innovation hosts business start-ups in the Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center and the Norman Skalicky Tech Incubator; these facilities also provide labs for UND’s entrepreneurship program. In the spring of 2008, 19 companies, employing 130 people, populated the business incubators.

The Energy & Environmental Research Center’s National Center for Hydrogen Technology was completed in 2007. The 15,000-square-foot facility includes new laboratory and demonstration space, which will augment the EERC’s hydrogen-related growth and result in 50 to 100 new technical jobs.

Kupchella Gov Hoeven

Gov. John Hoeven has been a strong promoter of entrepreneurial efforts within North Dakota’s colleges and universities, particularly through the Centers of Excellence for Economic Development program.

Sen. Kent Conrad examines samples of JB-100, a replacement for petroleum-based jet fuel produced from soybean and canola oil. This invention is one of the outcomes of UND’s SUNRISE (Sustainable Energy Research, Infrastructure, and Supporting Education) initiative, a team of investigators studying problems related to developing sustainable energy processes and the potential for local resources and industry to meet these needs.

Nevada investor and UND benefactor James Ray (left) chats with Chuck Kupchella at the groundbreaking for the Hilton Garden Inn on campus in May 2002. Among Mr. Ray’s multiple million-dollar gifts to UND were funds to purchase aircraft and flight training equipment and to establish endowments for scholarships and the entrepreneurship program. The construction of the hotel was another example of the University working with private enterprise to create new opportunities for both.

2000

March: President Kupchella receives the Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater, Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

April: The Kupchellas go on the Alumni Association Presidential Inaugural Reunion Tour, visiting alums all over the state and nation .... the UND hockey team comes from behind to defeat Boston College 4-2 and capture the NCAA Division I title for the seventh time.

July: President Kupchella and UND faculty visit China to sign an agreement with the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology College of Management.

September: UND reports a final fall semester enrollment of 11,031 .... UND dedicates the Barnes & Noble Bookstore building, the first structure in University Village.

November: The Kupchellas, members of North Dakota’s congressional delegation, and other local and state officials accompany UND’s national champion hockey team to visit President Bill Clinton in the White House.

The University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND 58202

Tel: 701-777-2011 Toll Free: 1-800-CALL-UND