By D.A. Barber

Good Help is Hard to Find
As the Arizona tech business sector mushrooms, the lines between science and business will blur, requiring new ways of thinking about everything from marketing to employee benefits to work schedules. One main focus is the biotech industry. The International Genomics Consortium and the UA's effort to build the $60 million Institute for Biomedical Science and Biotechnology are laying the groundwork for future high-tech expansion. Arizona's pursuit of biotech will serve as a learning model for years to come for potential synergies between other state business sectors and the University.

Arizona's high-tech "cluster"development will need an adequately trained work force to fuel future growth, and UA is doing just that.

"If the future of Arizona's economy is going to rely on the development of high technology industry, providing work force to support this industry is of foremost importance," wrote Randall Richardson, former vice president for undergraduate education in an introduction to September's 17-page report: "Work Force Development: The Educator Development Plan (EDP). "

"What we're trying to do is to recognize how important science and math education is in the K-12 system, both in an information-rich work environment and a technically-rich work environment. People need math and science education just to work in it," says Richardson.

"We also need people who major in it so they can be the kind of work force that will help us be a national leader in biotech."

"It's going to be the growth industry of the future, offering high-paying jobs, and utilizing the strength of the university," said Gerald J. Swanson, a UA economics professor, at the annual UA economic outlook forecast luncheon in December 2002.

"The potential is there for (biotech) to be huge," noted Marshall Vest, director of economic and business research in the Eller College of Business and Public Administration, at the forecast luncheon. "But every other state is going after biotech. Are we willing to invest in the infrastructure to attract the people, attract the research?"

And while Arizona chases its high-tech dreams, the economic opportunities involve solving existing education problems in order to sustain future growth. This was reinforced by the "Arizona Statewide Economic Study 2002," released in July by the Arizona Department of Commerce (ADC), which warned of competitive disadvantages in education, infrastructure and capital access. The study promised statewide meetings to solicit opinions on the economy to produce a 10-year action plan for curing some of Arizona's economic ills. The study further determined that the biotech and health care industries together rank second – behind software – as the state's leading business growth opportunity. This includes businesses that spin off from research efforts including high-tech instruments, engineering research and testing.

Like the biotech model, private companies will be forming more partnerships with the three state universities to take advantage of their research resources and technology transfer.

But the ADC study found that the state's biggest problem is that the education level is "not only below average but also near the bottom of all states. "

"Investments made in science and technology – from higher education to industry research and development – are the most critical factors in deciding the fates of regional economies, notes a September 2002 Milken Institute study. " What it says to us is that technology is still the most important element in determining regional economic success," says Ross DeVol, director of regional and demographic studies for the Institute, and author of the report.

The study, "State Technology and Science Index: Comparing and Contrasting California," ranked Arizona 14th based on five categories: research and development inputs; risk capital and entrepreneurial Infrastructure; human capital investment; technology concentration and dynamism; and, most importantly, technology and science work force.

Teach it and They will Come: The UA Plan
The UA knows that to maintain growth as a high-tech Anew economy, a strong science and math education is key.

With such research pointing toward the lack of a technologically capable work force, the UA's September 2002 business plan, AWork Force Development: The Educator Development Plan (EDP), was designed to address critical shortages in Arizona by training new secondary and elementary math, agricultural and science teachers to Aincrease the technical aptitude of the work force of the state.

"That's the business plan that was put together for our TRIF –  or Proposition 301 – efforts in teacher preparation, says Richardson.

Proposition 301, which resulted in TRIF was passed by state voters in November 2000 to fund education programs over a 20-year period. But each initiative within the program is mandated to be self-sufficient in five years.

The EDP plan for work force development over the next five years includes new science preparation courses, an additional 150 trained elementary math and science teachers, and 40 additional agricultural sciences teachers.

The budget is estimated to be about $800,000 per year for faculty, technical staff, fellowships and scholarships, internships, tutoring, equipment and operations.

UA already prepares the largest number of science and math education teachers in the state university system and is the only university to prepare agricultural science teachers.

UA supports math teachers in the K-12 system through the "Mathematics Recruitment and Retention Center"and during the first year of EDP hired a number of UA students to tutor K-12 math students.

"Part of that is just to help students in the K-12 system to do better in math, which we know is one of the single best predictions of success at the University,"says Richardson.

"The thing that's kind of exciting about it is that it gives students in math classes an opportunity to get a first-hand experience at what teaching is like because mathematics teacher preparation at the high school level is done at the College of Science and it's hard to recruit students into teaching who are mathematicians because they're thinking of other career options.

With the EDP's strategy, the new program will Amaximize the economic potential of education educators for better economic outcomes by motivating K-12 students toward career paths in science, technology and math at an early age. It’'s hoped these students will become the future technicians, scientists and engineers the state will need to pursue its future growth as a high-tech Anew economy.

New Collaborations
EDP will allow better collaborations among the UA Colleges of Education, Science, Agriculture and Life Sciences. A key part of the plan is establishing partnerships with key industries that Aboth crosscut and link all these education programs.

"We're interested in partnering with industry in teacher development and some of the ideas we've had include 'executive-as-teacher' and technically training teachers within industry," says Richardson.

"By funding EDP today the future work force needs of these companies can be orchestrated perfectly as if custom designed to meet the demands of Arizona's future bioeconomy,"notes the EDP plan.

The TRIF money has actually boosted existing programs, including the ATeach for Tucson program in the College of Education and the 3-year-old science teacher preparation program in the College of Science.

"It’'s a better program now because the Proposition 301 money is used to support scholarships to get our best science majors into this program, says Debra Tomaneck, director of the College of Science teacher prep program.

"What we’'ve done is develop a program just for people who are interested in math and science but don’'t necessarily want to go through the College of Education," says Richardson.

"It allows instructors with degrees in science teaching to teach in the College of Science," says Tomaneck.

"So science majors can stay in their science majors and take additional courses with us to become certified to teach the high school level."

"Often times a student had to decide whether they we're going to be in education or science, and now we’'re allowing them to be in the College of Science and part way along decide they really want to be a teacher," adds Richardson.

"I already have data that the students we're getting in this program are of a high caliber. They are academically high achievers and we have higher numbers in this program than we had in the science education program in the College of Education, " says Tomaneck.

"There's something about keeping a science degree that's appealing to science majors."

The EDP collaborations also include school districts starving for math, and science teachers who are ready for UA math and science students and graduates to teach. The Teach for Tucson program within the College of Education sends about 30 students a year to local schools, both elementary and secondary.

"We work with seven school districts in the greater Tucson area and the program is field-based, in other words the entire program is taught out in the field districts," says Robert Hendricks, associate dean of the College of Education and director of the Teach for Tucson program.

"There are actually two divisions of Teach for Tucson. One is an elementary cohort and the other is a secondary cohort," says Hendricks.

"The 301 money helps support the elementary cohort."

If the EDP works as planned, during the next five years UA will begin teaching the teachers to teach math and science in a way that will draw the brightest and the best back into what was once consider a "pure" exploration of knowledge, but has grown into the backbone of the new economy.

"As part of work force development, the teachers we're training are focusing on areas of mathematics and science," says Hendricks.

"We're the infrastructure," says Richardson. "We'll see what happens in the next five years."