82S11229 MMS-D
By: Dukes H.R. No. 196
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The Intellectual Entrepreneurship Consortium at The
University of Texas at Austin is reenvisioning the nature of higher
education in the 21st century; and
WHEREAS, Established by Dr. Richard Cherwitz of UT-Austin
some 15 years ago, Intellectual Entrepreneurship aims to provide a
structure for students to take charge of their educational
experience, promote diversity in higher education, foster learning
across disciplinary boundaries, and generate collaborations
between the academy and the greater community; and
WHEREAS, Originally based in the UT Office of Graduate
Studies, Intellectual Entrepreneurship has evolved into a
consortium composed of the Colleges of Communication, Liberal Arts,
Fine Arts, Natural Sciences, Education, and Pharmacy and the
Schools of Information, Law, Engineering, Public Affairs,
Business, and Social Work; to date, more than 5,000 students have
participated in IE initiatives; and
WHEREAS, These groundbreaking programs include the
Pre-Graduate School Internship, in which juniors and seniors who
are considering graduate school work with graduate student mentors
and community liaisons with graduate degrees to explore the
academic and nonacademic value of graduate study; this
award-winning program has served to increase diversity in graduate
education by facilitating the entrance of minority and
first-generation college students into graduate school; and
WHEREAS, The program Interpreting the Texas Past allows
graduate students to undertake projects, such as the collection of
oral histories and the creation of documentary films and exhibits,
that benefit Texas communities while helping the students to
develop a range of professional skills; for every dollar of
institutional funding devoted to ITP, the program generates nearly
five dollars of investment from external foundations and agencies;
and
WHEREAS, Action Seminars enable community groups to make
contracts with the university to study specific social issues;
these seminars could produce public policy proposals, corporate
partnerships, and funded and published research; and
WHEREAS, Instructional Incubators develop and deliver
courses--for both students and community members--designed to
address issues in the community; undergraduates, graduate
students, and faculty spend one semester of the academic year
designing a community-oriented course that they then teach during
the second semester; these courses create greater access to the
intellectual assets of the university and help bring together
academic and nonacademic forms of expertise; and
WHEREAS, These and myriad other IE initiatives are all aimed
at educating citizen-scholars, individuals who use their
intellectual capital as a lever for social good; the IE philosophy
replaces the older educational model of
"apprenticeship-certification-entitlement" with one of
"discovery-ownership-accountability" and encourages a dynamic
approach to engaging the world; at the same time, it seeks to build
interdisciplinary, collaborative ways for universities to work
with their communities to solve complex problems; and
WHEREAS, Through its commitment to maximizing the potential
of both the university and its students to advance knowledge while
also strengthening and enriching Texas communities, the
Intellectual Entrepreneurship Consortium is making a contribution
of immeasurable value to the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
Legislature, 1st Called Session, hereby honor the Intellectual
Entrepreneurship Consortium for its innovative leadership in the
realm of higher education and extend to all those associated with
its programs sincere best wishes for continued success; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Consortium as an
expression of high regard by the Texas House of Representatives.