About 350 business and government leaders joined scholars and educators at Alabama State University in Montgomery this week to explore economic innovation and international business opportunities.
The conference, “Entrepreneurship: The Globalization of the New South,” succeeded in attracting disparate leaders to devise strategies for meeting common goals: encouraging economic development in local communities and moving HBCUs toward globalization through entrepreneurship and the STEM disciplines.
The participants who convened at ASU included academic officials and nonprofit executives addressing such eclectic topics from “how to” sessions on starting a business, obtaining grants and capital for novice entrepreneurs. Business executives chose to highlight best practices for financial management and building alliances.
College professors and administrators spent sessions specifically focused on advancing STEM education [science, technology, engineering, math] and academic courses on globalization.
ASU President William Harris said the event was envisioned as “the first of a series of conferences that are part of our strategy of becoming a global university that stresses international relations as well as innovation.” Other aspects of that strategy include upcoming exchange visits between ASU and Asian countries, including China, India and South Korea, involving both academic and corporate representatives from the area.
Dr. Leonard L. Haynes III, senior director for institutional services in the Office of Postsecondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education, said that as federal Title III recipients, HBCUs should meet the challenge “to be more global in expediting their mission and to encourage students to think more broadly.”
“HBCUs should look at the activities they support and make sure they include activities that relate to internationalizing the curriculum,” he said.
