A method that can choose which alternative sources of revenue that institutions should pilot
A corporate subscription in which industry partners pay a fee to receive a comprehensive range of services from tertiary institutions
Pilot selection
A method that can choose which alternative sources of revenue that institutions should pilot
Outline of the problem
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Although their budgets are often tight, tertiary institutions can explore a variety of avenues to attract revenue. For example, individuals or organizations can rent their space, equipment, or resources. Institutions can invest in entrepreneurs as well as offer consulting services, research services, career advancement programs, subscriptions, and many other services.
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Tertiary institutions need to decide in which of these opportunities they should invest at least enough funds to pilot and to evaluate
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These decisions are challenging: The return on investment is hard to predict, especially before the initiatives are piloted.
Outline of a solution
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First, institutions should itemize all the initiatives they could explore to attract revenue—perhaps derived from automated and systematic analyses of the annual reports that other institutions produce.
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Second, arrange a suitable taskforce to uncover inexpensive activities the institution could initiate to forge some progress on each initiative—such as a survey to assess interest.
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Third, instruct this taskforce to predict the outcomes of these inexpensive activities, such as the percentage of participants who express interest in each initiative.
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Fourth, after the outcomes of these inexpensive activities are reported, prompt this taskforce to assess each initiative on several measures—such as estimated return on investment, compatibility with existing strengths, cost to develop a minimum viable product, and overall viability.
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Finally, for each initiative, calculate the weighted average on this measure of overall viability. That is, to calculate this average, attach more weight to the ratings of some members compared to the ratings of other members. Specifically, and most importantly, this weight should depend on the extent to which these members predicted the previous outcomes accurately.
The nexus model
A corporate subscription in which industry partners pay a fee to receive a comprehensive range of services from tertiary institutions
Outline of the problem
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In recent years, the goals and challenges that tertiary institutions need to manage has escalated.
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For example, at most universities, researchers not only need to publish research and to attract income but must also translate their research into resources and programs that benefit society. Similarly, universities have become increasingly reliant on industry partners to fund research
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Yet, many tertiary institutions have needed to accommodate escalating demands amidst tighter budgets.
Outline of a solution
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One novel subscription model could attract greater engagement and revenue from industry partners and, thus, address many of these challenges.
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Specifically, industry partners would pay a subscription fee to utilize the services of students and scholars at the tertiary institution.
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For example, industry partners could access a register of students or staff who would like to volunteer or seek employment.
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Second, industry partners could access the resources that tertiary institutions develop to support their students and staff—such as online programs that enhance mental health, innovation, leadership, and marketing
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Third, industry partners could access a database of student assignments that could benefit their organization—such as a market analysis—and then invite students to apply this assignment to their business or operations.
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Fourth, to facilitate networking, tertiary institutions could apply a range of methods that identify industry partners that report complementary needs as well as capabilities and should thus collaborate
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Fifth, and perhaps most importantly, tertiary institutions could more readily translate their research into resources or programs that might benefit their industry partners. This arrangement also enables researchers to translate their research into practice more effectively.
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Over time, tertiary institutions could utilize the capabilities of their staff to develop many other services as well.
Contributors
To seek advice or engage specialists on these initiatives, contact the contributors of this page
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Pilot selection
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The nexus model