University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) is contributing to the C4 initiative by advancing faculty development, building regional innovation networks, and connecting students to hands-on opportunities across Oklahoma’s business and technology sectors. Through cross-disciplinary collaboration and shared knowledge platforms, UCO is enhancing its ability to prepare students for careers in a rapidly shifting economic landscape.

Northeast State Community College seeks to leverage the NSF EPIIC award to build institutional capacity to cultivate and sustain meaningful industry and community partnerships in support of the advanced manufacturing sector. The award will enable NeSCC to modify institutional processes and structures to improve coordination with external partners and increase alignment between College programs and advanced manufacturing workforce needs. EPIIC-supported strategies, including the adoption of a customer relationship management platform and redesign of curriculum advisory boards, are expected to result in increased responsiveness to industry needs and enable the College to become more fully engaged in the regional innovation ecosystem.

As a leader in career-focused learning, Champlain College will use the EPIIC investment to advance its workforce and industry partnerships across the state, preparing the emerging workforce for jobs in leading science and technology fields. The College will also receive training and support from NSF to build innovation capacity and secure future funding by tapping into regional ecosystems.

Central Washington University (CWU) is using the C4 project to deepen ties with regional industry, expand research engagement across disciplines, and enhance student learning through practical, workforce-connected experiences. CWU’s participation strengthens its capacity to contribute to Washington’s innovation ecosystem while fostering long-term partnerships that advance economic and technological growth.

Arkansas Tech University (ATU) plays a central role in rural economic development in central Arkansas, and through BUILD, aims to strengthen its institutional position within the statewide research ecosystem by expanding faculty-driven partnerships, enhancing research infrastructure, and advancing regional innovation capacity.

This partnership is focused on building the capacity of three PUIs to sustainably increase the number of partnerships to drive workforce development and research projects between faculty and students, industry, and IHEs.

Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology brings its mission of advancing equity in technical education to the EmpowerEd EPIIC cohort. With a student body primarily composed of first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students, the institute will use its EPIIC funding to deepen industry partnerships, align curricula with real-world workforce needs, and prepare students for careers in high-demand technology sectors. This work builds on the institute’s strength in hands-on technical training and commitment to bridging the gap between classroom learning and industry expectations.

With this EPIIC grant, UMD has set the following capacity-building goals for building sustainable collaborations with external partners:

• Consolidate various disparate research resources under one common umbrella to improve visibility and accessibility to all faculty and staff.

• Develop significant innovation partnership opportunities through increasing networking opportunities by incentivizing external partnerships, providing seed funding for external collaborative projects, and understanding barriers to collaboration from external partners.

These goals align directly with UMD’s Strategic Plan to advance UMD’s regional, national, and international reputation for high-quality and impactful research, scholarly, and creative activities , as well as advance UMD’s profile as an intentional and pivotal partner for Duluth, the Northland, and Minnesota.

The University of the Incarnate Word brings a strong foundation of community engagement and support for diverse student populations to the EMERGE Cohort. Through its participation in the EPIIC program, the university will expand its outreach and research development capacity while fostering regional partnerships in emerging technologies. Its efforts will focus on empowering historically underserved populations in South Texas by promoting social and economic mobility through innovation-driven training and collaboration.

Kettering University brings its long-standing strength in cooperative education and industry-aligned STEM training to the EMERGE Cohort. As part of the EPIIC program, Kettering is advancing faculty-industry partnerships to enhance regional innovation capacity and workforce development in emerging technologies. The university’s role focuses on building scalable models of engagement that connect research with practice, benefiting both students and external stakeholders.

Western Carolina University contributes its regional focus and inclusive mission to the EMERGE Cohort, helping expand innovation networks across the rural South. As part of the EPIIC initiative, WCU will build strategic partnerships with local stakeholders to support workforce resilience and innovation in emerging tech fields. With a commitment to serving first-generation and low-income students, WCU plays a vital role in ensuring that rural communities are included in the broader national innovation landscape.

This collaboration focuses on building our capacity for research projects between university faculty, industry partners, and community stakeholders, while simultaneously developing the regional workforce for these entities.

Western Washington University (WWU) is using its position within the Cascadia innovation corridor to expand institutional capacity for industry and NGO partnerships. Through the SUPER initiative, WWU will centralize partnership infrastructure, train faculty across STEM departments, and connect students to applied research experiences in areas like AI and biotechnology to strengthen both workforce readiness and regional innovation.

The NSF EPIIC award enables the Stack Family Center for Biopharmaceutical Education and Training (CBET) at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPHS) to expand its role as a regional hub for biotechnology workforce development and innovation. EPIIC funding supports CBET in strengthening partnerships with two- and four-year colleges, biotech startups, and small companies to create collaborative training programs, shared research opportunities, and seamless career pathways in biomanufacturing and bioprocessing.

With this support, CBET will enhance its existing talent pipeline—which spans from middle school STEM programs to graduate degrees and post-graduate fellowships—by developing new articulation agreements, industry-aligned micro-credentials, and internship networks designed to meet the needs of New York's growing bioeconomy. Additionally, EPIIC funding will help CBET maximize the use of its state-of-the-art facilities and expertise to provide technical training, contract research, and proof-of-concept support for emerging biotech companies. These efforts will directly address regional workforce shortages and position CBET as a key contributor to national bioindustrial innovation and capacity-building initiatives.

Ohio Wesleyan University is using its EPIIC funding to build the EmpowerEd framework, integrating practical STEM training with the strengths of a liberal arts education. Through structured internships and partnerships with corporate mentors in central Ohio, OWU aims to close the gap between academic preparation and job market readiness. Faculty will collaborate closely with students and industry leaders to ensure that graduates are not only technically capable but also equipped with the critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills that today’s STEM careers demand.

Weber State University (WSU) is part of a multi-institutional initiative funded under the National Science Foundation’s Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity (EPIIC) program. The project, titled "Collaborative Research: EPIIC - Cross-Continental Collaboration Coalition (C4)," aims to enhance research capacity, workforce alignment, and industry engagement through cross-institutional partnerships

Overarching Goals

The primary goals of WSU’s NSF EPIIC award include:

1. Building Regional Innovation Partnerships – Establishing and strengthening relationships between academia, industry, and government to drive regional economic development and technological innovation

2. Enhancing Research Capacity – Improving research infrastructure and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration among faculty and institutions to address complex scientific and engineering challenges

3. Aligning Academic Programs with Workforce Needs – Expanding student employment opportunities through direct engagement with industry partners, creating internship pipelines, and supporting skill development in high-demand areas such as aerospace, defense, and cybersecurity

4. Cybersecurity Compliance & Industry Readiness – Achieving Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2 to ensure WSU can securely engage with defense and aerospace industries, thereby increasing research funding opportunitie

5. Asset Mapping & Strategic Alignment – Conducting a comprehensive self-assessment to catalog WSU’s research assets, making them accessible to external partners and enhancing collaboration across the EPIIC cohort

6. Living Labs for Hands-On Learning – Creating hands-on research experiences for students through industry-sponsored projects that merge academic learning with practical, real-world problem-solving

This project unites Hawai‘i Pacific University, Paul Smith’s College, and the University of the Virgin Islands to address challenges faced by geographically isolated "islanded" communities.

The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is leveraging its EPIIC award to drive workforce development and entrepreneurial growth in Colorado’s Front Range, particularly among underserved and agricultural communities. Led by the Monfort College of Business, the largest NSF grant it has ever received, UNC is providing technical support to local startups, expanding advanced agriculture tech and biotech initiatives, and increasing training for both students and regional workers. As part of the EMERGE Cohort, UNC is helping create scalable, inclusive models of innovation that strengthen regional economies and empower historically marginalized populations.

Roanoke College's NSF EPIIC award has allowed the establishment of the Roanoke College EPIIC Initiative. The first and immediate goal of the Initiative is to equip our faculty, staff, and students with the resources, experience, terminology, and processes to initiate connections with the Roanoke region’s science, technology, engineering, math, and health (STEM-H) innovation ecosystem. The second and longer-term goal is to envision and implement pathways for the College to build capacity and efficiencies to convert these STEM-H connections into mutually informed durable partnerships as part of regional STEM-H infrastructure development.

With this NSF support, Roanoke College EPIIC Fellows (selected faculty/staff) and EPIIC Scholars (selected students) are identifying the current state of foundational processes required to initiate and build regional partnerships. This information will position Roanoke College to partner more effectively with regional STEM-H organizations to better address regional workforce needs. In collaboration with our colleagues at Albion, Canisius, and NW Arkansas, we are generating a toolkit of materials relevant to partnership building (e.g., literature, definitions, processes, sample documents) that will support other smaller higher education institutions to build and sustain partnerships within their regional innovation ecosystems.

Looking longer-term, the Roanoke College EPIIC Initiative has begun to promote an institutional culture shift about partnership building by establishing a community of practice focused on partnerships both within and beyond the STEM-H innovation ecosystem. One of the core goals of both the Initiative and the community of practice is to identify and develop institutional policies, procedures, and resources that will sustain the partnership building efforts of the College beyond the support of the award.

The Connect Four cohort is a collaboration between Canisius University, Albion College, Roanoke College, and NorthWest Arkansas Community College. Our overarching goal is to build regional innovation partnerships to enhance workforce development. Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) and two-year institutions lack the resources and infrastructure to develop the partnerships needed to fully participate and drive broader change. Through collaboration Connect Four members seeks to overcome these challenges by:

1. Scaling up Capacity to develop and sustain external partnerships

2. Expanding our Connections to a wider network of external partners

3. Developing improved means of Communication with critical stakeholder groups

4. Converting of one-off interactions into models of sustainable and repeatable partnerships at scale

The Canisius Team is actively collaborating with local industry and government entities to build strong partnerships. These efforts include engagement with sectors such as healthcare, critical infrastructure, and advanced STEM research. The response has been tremendous, leading to Canisius-led workshops that educate the workforce and the identification of research opportunities that provide students with valuable experiential learning.

FDU’s goals for capacity-building and expanding partnerships fall into 4 broad categories: Collaborate, Advance, Facilitate and Empower.

• Goal 1: Create collaborative opportunities for engagement within FDU that increase interdisciplinary opportunities for funding with engagement industry partners.

• Goal 2: Advance FDUs visibility and ability to successfully engage with Industry Partners

• Goal 3: Facilitate the capacity and infrastructure of Grants and Sponsored Projects (GSP)

• Goal 4: Empower FDU faculty, staff and students with tools needed to obtain external funding.

Key activities during the three-year period include opportunities for seed grant funding, workshops and trainings, professional development support, research infrastructure enhancements, opportunities for collaboration with industry partners, and opportunities to enhance cross-institutional research capacity.

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) serves as a key driver of rural economic development in southeastern Arkansas, and through BUILD, will enhance its capacity to engage in Arkansas’ broader research ecosystem by building sustainable industry collaborations, supporting STEM workforce retention, and improving institutional support for research initiatives.

Montgomery College, a public two-year institution with a longstanding dedication to accessibility and equity, is leveraging its EPIIC award to strengthen STEM pathways for traditionally underrepresented students. The college will build deeper relationships with industry partners to align programs with workforce needs, while also enhancing faculty training in emerging technologies. Through EmpowerEd, Montgomery College will create scalable and inclusive models for STEM education that can serve as blueprints for other community colleges nationwide.

The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire aims to enhance its innovation capacity by strengthening connections with industry partners. This requires a cultural shift—both in how industry perceives the university and in how the university values external collaborations. By transforming these perspectives, UWEC will expand its external partnerships by increasing their number, deepening existing collaborations, and broadening engagement across the university.  The EPIIC grant supports this effort by mapping current STEM partnerships, identifying potential new collaborations, and recognizing opportunities to expand existing ones. Faculty Partnership Fellows in each STEM department play a key role in this process, acting as liaisons and advocating for the value of industry engagement in tenure and promotion decisions. Additionally, UWEC is streamlining collaboration with industry by establishing the Office of Corporate and Community Partnerships as a central access point and simplifying partnership agreements.

The RAISE project unites the University of Alaska Anchorage, Salisbury University, and Valdosta State University to develop AI-driven solutions to rural challenges.

Hawai‘i Pacific University (HPU) is leveraging its unique position within Hawai‘i’s islanded environment to strengthen its role in the state’s innovation and sustainability ecosystem. Through PARADISE, HPU is expanding research capacity, building industry-informed partnerships in areas such as marine science and renewable energy, and integrating indigenous knowledge into research to drive culturally grounded solutions to environmental and economic challenges.

Christopher Newport University (CNU) is leveraging its role as a primarily undergraduate institution in Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic region to expand student-centered, faculty-led partnerships in emerging technologies such as data science and artificial intelligence. Through EPIIC, CNU will foster sustainable collaborations with industry and higher education institutions to enhance research capacity, workforce development, and regional innovation.

SUNY Oswego is leveraging the C4 initiative to build interdisciplinary collaborations across its School of Business and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, aligning faculty research and student experiences with Central New York’s emerging innovation economy. Through the creation of the Center for Business Excellence and Transformation, Oswego is expanding its capacity to support entrepreneurship, clean energy research, and workforce readiness while connecting students directly to regional industry needs and opportunities.

The Schools of Engineering and Science at The College of New Jersey seek to use the NSF EPIIC award to increase the number, diversity, and depth of external partnerships. We aim to be viewed as true partners in the innovation ecosystem that exists in New Jersey. Furthermore, we aim to change the internal structures and attitudes surrounding external partnerships at TCNJ by creating boiler-plate documents to define partnerships and encouraging faculty to explore partnerships using incentives. We are supporting four faculty fellows to serve as EPIIC ambassadors; these fellows are pursuing a variety of partnerships and engagements in their research and courses.

NSF funding will allow the college to hire an Employer Engagement Specialist to strengthen and grow industry partnerships within our regional Advanced Manufacturing ecosystem and create professional development seminars for faculty on building effective partnerships. Additionally, the college will develop resources to more effectively engage employer partners in regular discussions about industry needs, guide industry partnerships, and explore registered apprenticeship programs. These initiatives align with TCC's strategic goals to enhance community partnerships and workforce development, ultimately increasing student enrollment and the number of credentialed workers in the region. 

Grand Valley State University (GVSU) plans to greatly expand and institutionalize our nascent Front Door capacity and capabilities in industry-engagement through achievement of the BICEP cohort’s objectives of 1) Operational Maturity, 2) Partner Management, and 3) Professional Development, to firmly establish the university reputation as a premier talent and technical solutions provider for the regional innovation ecosystem. The learnings from evolution of these processes will, in collaboration with the BICEP cohort, develop best practices and a blueprint for dissemination within the ERU community. We are intentional on creating new best practices to ignite the potential of regional, comprehensive universities for participation in innovation ecosystems and contribution to the economic vitality of their communities.

The University of Maine at Farmington aims to leverage the NSF EPIIC award to increase innovation capacity and training in biotechnology within the state of Maine.  Working with in-state and regional partners, such as The Roux Institute and biotechnology companies, we will develop new and innovative pathways to train students for biotech careers and build capacity to contribute to this expanding field.  We are also broadly interested in collaborative work to further develop novel educational pathways and career pipelines in emerging areas, through recruitment efforts, articulation agreements, micro-credentials, and internship opportunities.

California State University, Chico is participating in the C4 collaboration to expand regional innovation partnerships and strengthen research capacity across STEM and applied fields. By investing in industry-aligned curriculum development and faculty infrastructure, Chico State aims to enhance experiential learning for its students and respond more effectively to California’s evolving workforce demands.

This is a collaborative project in which the cohort institutions will work together grow industry partnerships, improve alignment of program curricula with industry needs, and enhance faculty skills and knowledge of emerging technologies.

BUILD is a collaboration between Arkansas Tech University (ATU) and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) to improve their institutional position to engage with Arkansas’ state-wide research ecosystem.

This collaborative aims to enhance research capacity in MSIs and PUIs by fostering industry partnerships, aligning curricula with workforce needs, and strengthening administrative capabilities for improved STEM education and innovation.

Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU), as a member of the BICEP cohort, will build capacity for the expansion and sustainability of comprehensive partnerships and increased sponsored applied research with regional companies. We seek to have regional companies think of the university as a partner of choice spanning a wide range of needs in solving their technical problems, implementing new technologies, developing their workforce, and anticipating sector changes.

Santa Clara University (SCU) aims to leverage the NSF EPIIC award to build capacity for comprehensive external partnerships that strengthen and increase resources for its academic programs and that lead to greater impact within its regional innovation ecosystem. Desired outcomes include a) to establish SCU as a differentiated academic partner in the region, offering deep technical expertise supporting use-inspired research and professional development in critical areas of interest, and b) to develop new initiatives and support collaborative work in a trusted, efficient and timely manner.

BICEP is a team of four universities with the shared goal of collaboratively building their institutional capacity and knowledge for growing external partnerships that advance key technologies within their innovation ecosystems.

The Building Opportunities for Outstanding Skills Training in Advanced Manufacturing for Southeastern Two-Year Colleges project addresses the urgent need for a skilled workforce in advanced manufacturing within the Southeastern United States.

PSC will launch an Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI) to integrate research, enterprise, and innovation into student learning and faculty engagement initiatives. A cabinet level position will be created to direct OSI and provide a direct line to institutional leadership and decision making on research development and opportunities for the college. Building on a successful multi-million dollar research institute at PSC, additional research and learning institutes will be launched focused on forestry, culinary arts and adventure hospitality and resiliency (i.e., disaster management response in relation to environmental change). Research administration capacity in OSI will be evaluated by an outside evaluator and recommendations made to strategically improve execution of research activities for PSC, including operationalization of the research institutes on campus. 

Ivy Tech Community College seeks to utilize the NSF EPIIC award to establish a Business & Industry Leadership Team (BILT) within its Advanced Automation and Robotics Technology and Industrial Technology programs. This collaboration between industry partners and faculty will ensure timely updates on technological advancements and workplace changes, enabling the programs to better anticipate future workforce needs and proactively adjust curricula. Additionally, the initiative will develop career pathways that include both general STEM courses and industry-specific coursework, complemented by industry visits that offer hands-on learning experiences for students in each career path. The program will also provide valuable information for K-14 schools to guide students in their career planning.

The “Connect Four” project brings together Albion College, Canisius University, Northwest Arkansas Community College, and Roanoke College, each well positioned to advance innovation in relevant regional ecosystems.

This collaborative project aims to enhance innovation capacity among PUIs by fostering collaboration, best practices, and workforce access for underrepresented students in STEM, within a regional ecosystem.

The NSF EPIIC award allows William Rainey Harper College (Harper) to implement strategic and thoughtful employer engagement and workforce development practices. With the support of a proactive cohort, Harper aims to create a scalable and replicable plan for transitioning academic programs from traditional advisory models to the BILT (Business and Industry Leadership Team) framework. The project team will leverage insights gained from implementing BILT to establish best practices, training, and processes, setting a new standard for the College. Harper’s EPIIC award specifically supports the creation of a Semiconductor Repair Technician program, supporting the “Manufacturing Corridor” of Chicago in implementing semiconductor manufacturing in response to the CHIPS Act of 2022. By fostering deeper engagement with employer partners in curriculum development, Harper will not only cultivate a highly qualified workforce to meet regional demand for innovative technologies, but will also create valuable experiential learning opportunities for students through internships, apprenticeships, and more. These opportunities will be curated through BILT meetings, with employer partners recognizing community colleges as effective collaborators, thus establishing a foundation of trust. Additionally, Harper plans to implement a centralized system for tracking employer outreach and engagement using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. This system will streamline communication efforts while enabling strategic analysis of data to optimize employer engagement and resource allocation.

Lawrence Technological University (LTU) is leveraging its 3-Year NSF EPIIC award to expand and enhance the vitality of sustained industry partnerships, research, and collaboration, and to increase LTU’s impact on the region’s innovation ecosystem as part of its newly formed Research and Economic Development organization. We are working closely with our BICEP Cohort to achieve the grant objectives of improving Operational Maturity, conducting Faculty Professional Development, and increasing Industry Partner Engagement. In collaboration with the BICEP Cohort, we will develop a blueprint of Best Practices that can be used as a guidebook for increasing regional innovation ecosystem impact for emerging research universities.

Spartanburg Community College (SCC) will utilize the NSF-EPIIC award to cultivate, grow, and sustain relationships with business and industry leaders in the regional advanced manufacturing industry. Project activities include hiring a Director of Manufacturing Partnerships to build and sustain industry relationships, implementing professional development for faculty and staff related to strengthening industry partnerships, and integrating data from credit and noncredit programming into data systems and dashboards. As a result of the BOOST project, SCC will develop relationships with manufacturing partners, gather competitive intelligence to analyze industry workforce development needs, and develop data-informed solutions, including the implementation of new and enhanced credit and noncredit programs that align with industry workforce needs.

The C4 project is an interdisciplinary endeavor among five primarily undergraduate, four-year institutions, to address the multifaceted challenges encountered in higher education today. while recognizing the pivotal role of industry collaboration.

Members of this EPIIC Project share a common vision to EMERGE as recognized partners in research and development (R&D), translation of research into practice, and talent development in emerging technology fields.

As a liberal arts institution with a strong foundation in STEM, Hobart and William Smith Colleges are using their EPIIC award to integrate liberal arts thinking with technical skills demanded by the 21st-century workforce. Faculty leaders are spearheading collaborative efforts to enhance curricula with input from industry and government partners, ensuring that students are equipped with both critical soft skills and practical, technical expertise. Through EmpowerEd, HWS will advance innovation capacity across the region and contribute to building a more agile and inclusive STEM workforce.

Albion College is using the Connect Four initiative to deepen faculty-industry collaboration, expand its regional innovation footprint, and provide students with real-world experiential learning opportunities that directly support workforce development. By establishing administrative support structures and aligning classroom learning with industry needs, Albion is strengthening its capacity to build repeatable, scalable partnerships across Michigan’s regional ecosystem.

This collaboration will enhance workforce partnerships, address skills gaps, and promote innovation in emerging technologies through collaborations with community colleges and industry under the NSF EPIIC initiative.

WICRP is a collaborative initiative between Hampton University and Georgia Piedmont Technical College and aims to enhance the ability of both institutions to form external partnerships that boost academic and innovative growth.

The collaborative project aims to broaden the participation of two-year institutions of higher education in emerging technology programs by increasing the capacity and infrastructure to grow and sustain strong regional partnerships.

This is a collaborative project across the following institutions: The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UWEC).

The LIGHT UP Collaborative aims to establish a community of practice to develop and enhance a research and innovation ecosystem that capitalizes on external partnerships to shape the STEM talent pipeline and workforce development.

UVI will establish roles to foster community-industry relations and address environmental legacies from past industrial activities. The first objective is to enhance research-based partnership development by assigning a Partnership Coordinator that is responsible of organizing theme-based events. In addition,  UVI will encourage collaboration by inviting teams to submit proposals for developing use-inspired research projects. The second objective is to enhance collaboration skills in interdisciplinary teams of faculty and students. The proposed activities include developing a curriculum for advanced partnership development, providing training through workshops and seminars, and cultivating extramural partnerships. Lastly, the third objective is to establish and launch an Interdisciplinary Partnership Development Seed Grant Fund.

Valdosta State University will launch a Regional Partnership Incubator in South Georgia to develop a partner relationship management system, strengthen regional connections, and explore AI-driven solutions.

The University of Alaska Anchorage will establish an Alaska AI Solutions Consortium, integrating existing AI efforts, gathering community feedback, and advancing research through a mini-grant program.

Salisbury University will focus on creating a partnership inventory and research specialization for the Delmarva Peninsula’s rural areas, feeding into “AI for ALL” workshops and incentivizing faculty participation in use-inspired AI research.

West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) is leveraging the SUPER initiative to develop institutional infrastructure that supports long-term, scalable partnerships with industry and non-governmental organizations; by focusing on applied research and faculty development, WTAMU will expand student engagement in key technology fields and contribute to economic growth in the Texas Panhandle region.

This project is a collaborative initiative involving the University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez, West Texas A&M University, and Western Washington University.

University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez is advancing its role as an emerging minority-serving institution by strengthening internal systems for building and sustaining industry and NGO partnerships. Through the SUPER initiative, UPRM will implement customized strategies to support faculty training, enhance institutional frameworks, and connect students to real-world research experiences in high-growth sectors such as semiconductors and biotechnology.

Northwest Arkansas Community College is advancing its role as a key player in regional economic development by using the Connect Four project to create sustainable pathways between academic training and industry needs in the rapidly growing Northwest Arkansas innovation corridor. Through expanded faculty engagement, administrative infrastructure, and strategic outreach, NWACC is equipping students, including nontraditional learners, with the skills, connections, and experiences necessary to thrive in high-demand STEM fields.