Montana Education/Business Partnerships

In the next 10 years, our state is facing a crisis. Many of the key people who provide the infrastructure for Montana will be retiring. Who are they?

"The investment he and his family have made at the University of Montana has been instrumental in moving our program into its current position as one of the nation’s top pharmacy programs." Dave Forbes, dean of the College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences.

Our mission is to provide a media arts curriculum for middle school and high school students ranging in age from 12 – 18 years. Our mandate focuses on the rural regions of the country, areas that have a lack of arts programming and quality job opportunities.

In 2001, Karen and Klein Gilhousen gave $5 million to establish the Gilhousen Telecommunications Endowed Chair and Gilhousen Scholarships for the electrical and computer engineering department. Gilhousen is the cofounder and vice president of the Fortune 500 company Qualcomm, Inc., and he holds 63 U.S. patents.

An anonymous donation combined with proceeds from last week’s fund-raising ball produced $77,000 to cover those admission costs, said Shelley McKamey, museum director. Subsidies will also be offered to help schools pay travel expenses, with preference going to distant schools.

Another example is Stanford University’s Technology Ventures Program, which focuses on high-technology entrepreneurship education. Throughout the nine-month fellowship, students get to work with 20 or more entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in class. They also pair up with mentors from companies where they’ll work over the summer. This helps students better understand the company’s business objectives and allows them to develop an early relationship with potential employers.

Helping with the project are RMEF, the Boone and Crockett Club and the Pope and Young Club, hunting-related conservation organizations.

“What we lack is any sort of coordination,” said Dave Gibson, associate commissioner for economic development and outreach, during a presentation at the January Board of Regents meeting. “If we don’t get our system together, we’re just going to flat-out lose to other people who are getting it together.”

Shared Leadership for a Stronger Montana Economy began in September 2003 when the Montana Board of Regents committed to find new ways for the Montana University System to take a more direct leadership role in the state’s economic development.

A.J. Doherty, a UM junior in communications who interned at Disney, couldn’t agree more. "Working for the company, I put higher expectations on myself," he said. "I think an internship is vital. It gives you a chance to learn more about yourself."