Marquette Earns 3M Grant to Address Challenges of
Outsourcing and the World Economy

Released: August 9, 2004

MILWAUKEE – Marquette University today announced a $50,000 Vision Grant, awarded by the 3M Foundation, to develop curriculum aimed at increasing student preparedness to compete in a world economy marked by outsourcing of U.S. jobs.

The grant, one of only five awarded to private U.S. colleges and universities by 3M, will provide necessary funding to pursue an educational response to the challenges of offshore outsourcing. Dr. George F. Corliss, of Marquette's College of Engineering, and Dr. Kate Kaiser and Dr. Monica Adya, of the College of Business Administration, authored the proposal for a comprehensive response to the changing landscape of the business world.

Dr. Corliss commented, “We must take a different approach to preparing our students to meet these new challenges, but we also must make sure that they are able to seize the opportunities the world market presents. The issue of outsourcing is not as simple as our politicians would have us believe. In fact, it is quite complex, and this grant will help Marquette develop new ways of building on our foundation as a Catholic, Jesuit university to prepare our students to be competitive in the decades to come.”

Marquette University will match the grant funds 100% in order to begin a curriculum review and launch new outreach activities. Specifically, Marquette plans to form an industrial advisory board of regional firms to determine business needs that will lead to targeted curriculum changes to meet those needs. Marquette will also host an Outsourcing Forum for industry and academic organizations to share information and develop partnership opportunities. Marquette will lead efforts to initiate a partnership with select universities in Asia to learn about societal, economic, and cultural impacts of outsourcing from an international perspective.

The 3M Vision Grant is designed to foster innovation in private colleges by supporting new, academically-based initiatives that connect students with their communities to solve problems. 3M officials were on campus at Marquette to present the first installment of the award.

Ken Smith, plant manager of 3M Touch Systems in Milwaukee, commented, “This is a way for us to support students who want to understand the new economy and gain the skills they'll need to succeed in it. We are proud to encourage programs like this at Marquette that will truly prepare tomorrow's leaders to succeed in the world market.”