The UMD – Morgan State Center for Economic Development
The School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (MAPP) at the University of Maryland, College Park was recently designated as a University Center by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). This is a joint designation in partnership with the School of Architecture and Planning at Morgan State University.
What is a University Center?
University Centers are programs housed within universities that leverage their unique resources (faculty, students, libraries, research facilities, etc.) to support the creation of regional economic ecosystems. These economic ecosystems link together three core components:
- a highly skilled and networked talent pool
- well established and connected innovation infrastructure
- research and science support systems
University Centers typically engage with regional partners to provide technical assistance, applied research and/or information dissemination that foster innovation and regional collaboration. The end goals of University Centers are job creation, accelerated innovation, high growth entrepreneurship, and talent pool development. Additionally, EDA encourages university centers to focus their efforts in ways that support the growth of Regional Innovation Clusters (RIC’s), and that help areas experiencing economic distress to connect to new opportunities.
EDA’s University Center Page