Economic Development Grant for the Partnership Development Program

Introduction
The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education fosters opportunities through various grant programs for institutions to expand on existing partnerships or to create education and business partnerships to meet workforce needs. For businesses, it is imperative to the competitiveness of their company to stay on the leading edge of education and training for their employees. Employers who invest in education and training for their employees see significant improvements in morale, productivity and performance, as well as increased profits. The Partnership Recognition Program (PRP) recognizes outstanding partnerships that lead to significant contributions in furthering the education of Oklahoma’s workforce.

About the Program
The Partnership Recognition Program is designed to highlight successful partnerships and to further cultivate the higher learning environment through State Regents’ Economic Development Grants. Institutions involved in these partnerships provide $500 in other financial support and receive a matching $500 State Regents’ Economic Development Grant that is applied to one of the following:

The tuition of an employee of the business being recognized.
A paid internship for a current student of the institution to work at the business being recognized.
A faculty externship with the business being recognized.
Enhancement of the partnership with additional equipment, materials or supplies.

Submissions are provided by the institutions and reviewed by a committee of State Regents’ staff and the EDC Partnership Recognition Committee to ensure the integrity of the program. Only one partner summary is allowed per institution, with a maximum of 25 annual recognitions if each of the 25 public higher education institutions submits a partner to be recognized. Through outside sponsorship, the State Regents provide one plaque of recognition to honor the business partner and institution leaders for their outstanding partnership. They receive their plaque of recognition at a reception that is held in the spring of each year.

2012 Partnership Recognition Program
The 2012 Partnership Recognition Program will be April 24 at Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City (map and directions). The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012. Instructions, forms and other helpful information are available below.

Instructions for Online Registration (PDF, 101k)
Example of Summaries (PDF, 102k)
Example of Photos (PDF, 1.2m)

Information on past recipients is available at the links below.

2011 Recipients
2010 Recipients
2009 Recipients
2008 Recipients
2007 Recipients
2006 Recipients