Deudores Comerciales y Otras Cuentas por Cobrar Corrientes/No Corrientes (continuación)

The Environmental Sciences Institute (ESI) is relatively young. Established in 1995, the Institute has been in existence for 10 years. In that short time, it has become the largest producer of Black doctorates in the environmental sciences in the United States. The Institute has a strong emphasis on research. All undergraduates are required to produce and present a senior thesis based on a research project. FAMU-5, a former

FAMU to interact with state, federal and international agencies. Some of these

organizations include the Center for Environmental Studies, Florida Sea Grant, Florida Institute of Oceanography, statewide committees, the Board of Regents (which he chaired at one point). One of his roles on the Board of Regents was to determine which courses (in environmental science) based on their content should be assigned to which category. He has also staffed the former Florida governor’s commission on environment science.

FAMU-5’s tenure at FAMU began as an Instructor for the first classes taught by the Institute in 1996. FAMU-5 had worked at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Knoxville, Tennessee as a Radiation Safety Officer. He was highly respected at Oak Ridge such so that he could be categorized as a “key scientist.” The DOE (Department of Energy) provided funds to Lockheed to run Oak Ridge. Various federal agencies were interested in supporting programs where there was a critical need for personnel. FAMU-5 was interested in promoting minorities in science. A mutual interest was held by FAMU. The university was aware of the high correlation between environmental hazardous areas (toxic waste sites, brownfields, etc.) in poor and minority neighborhoods and the low number of African American professionals in the environmental sciences field. DOE was also aware of this underrepresentation and sought African American expertise. The participation of FAMU-5 gave all members of the collaboration a sense of assurance that the program would be taught in a quality manner. When FAMU applied for the degree to the Board of Regents, it stressed the collaborative efforts between FAMU, DOE and Oak Ridge.

provided FAMU-5 “flex” time to teach the classes. He also had wide experience in supervising Ph.D. candidates as well as an excellent record in securing grants from the federal government and other agencies. Eventually he agreed to leave Oak Ridge and was selected as the Director of the Environmental Science Institute.

Under FAMU-5’s leadership, the program grew. Faculty were required to have a research portfolio. ESI fostered a culture to support a high quality educational program. This included 1) a right mix of academic programs, 2) offering a Ph.D. research level program, 3) supporting an environment for applying for funds. When FAMU-5 first came to ESI, there were a total of 3-4 applications for funding. When he left the department as a result of being promoted to Vice-President at FAMU, there was an average of 3-4 applications per professor.

In summary, it was federal Policy, motivated by a desire to increase diversity that led to the initiation of the Environmental Sciences Institute at FAMU. DOE’s goal of increasing the number of minorities in the field was supported by a network of agencies with similar objectives albeit different motives. In addition to federal policy, the creation of the Institute could not have occurred without the Linkages that existed at the

Networking level between the Department of Energy, Oakridge Laboratories, and FAMU. A formal agreement rose between the three entities that was used to encourage the Florida legislature to support the program and enact Policy. Finally, the stature of the key scientist, FAMU-5 encouraged the three entities to agree to the program. This falls under the theory or strategy of Leadership.

9.2.6 Administrator

FAMU-6 is a high level Administrator at FAMU who is phasing out of active duty. He spoke of development at the university overall as well as the development of the Environmental Sciences Institute. FAMU-6 stated that you need to have a fairly specific relationship over a period of years. He is concerned about a lack of long term commitment that prevents true development of a college program and expertise in the field. The College of Pharmacy program at FAMU is an example of a program that was nurtured and is now very productive with several Ph.D. specialties. Over time, the College of Pharmacy was able to recruit outstanding faculty which led to a high quality program.

As an example of how a relationship typically forms, FAMU-6 used the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). In December 1997, the former Administrator for NOAA invited HBCUs to Washington DC to help build their capacity so that NOAA could, in turn, diversify its agency. An African-American Under

Secretary of Commerce and a graduate of an HBCU, supported this policy. The NOAA Consortium comprised of HBCUs was formed. In 1998, a request was put in the federal budget for $5 million to fund environmental centers. It was not approved. In 1999 the request was submitted again with the same outcome. An administrator at the Education Partnership program suggested a dramatic increase in the request for funding with the understanding that HBCUs would compete for the funds. In 2000, the federal legislature approved $50 million for environmental centers with a competitive request for bid open to all universities. Four centers were approved and three of the four had HBCUs

Environmental Science. It was in the last category that funding was awarded to the Environmental Sciences Institute at FAMU. Policy or approval by the legislature was needed for the funding. Leadership was a critical component because it provided the persistence to enable the funding to become a reality.

9.3 Summary

Table 9.1 Strategy Responses from HBCU Interviews “Did Strategy Initiate the Program”

Did Networks/Clusters lead to initial S&T

development

Did Policy lead to initial S&T development?

Did Univ Leadership lead to initial S&T

development?

Did proximity lead to initial S&T development?

Did Demand lead to initial S&T development?

Respondents Linkages Policy Leadership Proximity Demand

FAMU-1 0 1 0 1 0 FAMU-2 0 1 1 0 0 FAMU-3 0 1 1 1 1 FAMU-4 0 0 1 0 0 FAMU-5 1 1 0 0 1 FAMU-6 0 1 1 0 0

FAMU is a large university with a developed and mature science program. It benefited from leadership with vision and initiative. Fortunately, many of the former President’s initatives were institutionalized such as evaluating faculty on research

portfolios. FAMU is a public university but it displayed entrepreneurial goals and actions towards fulfilling its goals. The concept and existence of the Industry Cluster is

indicative of private sector thinking. The inclusion of corporate involvement on a planning level also speaks to innovative action.

Policy was critical to the creation of many programs at FAMU. The motivation behind the policy varied from the desire to increase personnel in environmental sciences to the desire for diverse representation to the simple need for more research in certain

power to fight for programs and their development but also in the form of key scientists whose involvement created and/or expanded programs.

Table 9.2 Strategy Responses from HBCU Interviews “Did Strategy Expand the Program”

Did Networks / Clusters expand the program?

Did Policy expand the program?

Did univ leadership expand the program?

Did proximity expand the program?

Did Demand for S&T grads expand the

program?

Respondent Linkages Policy Leadership Proximity Demand

FAMU-1 1 1 0 0 0 FAMU-2 0 1 0 0 0 FAMU-3 0 0 1 0 1 FAMU-4 1 0 1 0 0 FAMU-5 1 0 1 0 0 FAMU-6 1 0 1 0 0

However, once programs were started the policy that created the programs often dropped out. Linkages developed over time and were critical to causing the program to expand. Councils formed to create networks, agencies found benefits from continuing to work together and the synergy from industry-university-corporate partnerships led to continued growth. Perhaps the most enduring legacy of President Humphries was that he had a platform of growth and he institutionalized growth measures in various

departments. The outreach required to do research led to linkages on a

networking/clustering level. The demand for students was used by the President to entice corporate involvement but it was not an integral component for growth; it was merely a tool to achieve university growth.