Rural Innovation Council Six-month Progress Report Impressive

By DAN SULLIVAN
ONEONTA

As we all know, six months can fly by startlingly quickly. It can be difficult to achieve concrete objectives in so short a time span, but the newly formed Rural Innovation Council has managed to make significant gains in its first half-year of existence. On Wednesday, September 27, SUNY Oneonta President Alberto Cardelle hosted the RIC membership on campus to go over the achievements of the group to date. And, immediately following the report, he invited attendees to a breakout session to look for more opportunities to collaborate and innovate. So much for taking a breather!

The RIC was conceived jointly by SUNY Oneonta President Cardelle and his counterpart at Hartwick College, Darren Reisberg. As newly-inaugurated leaders of their institutions, both saw the need for relevant, deep connection to the community outside the traditional academic relationship. The RIC was launched in March of this year, and it has drawn together a diverse, creative group of stakeholders from across Otsego County. These individuals have populated the six stakeholder groups defined by the RIC: K-12 Education; Public Officials; Businesses; Healthcare; Human Services, and Colleges and Universities.

In the short span of six months, the groups have conceptualized and begun to implement initiatives designed to improve outcomes for county residents in several areas. These initiatives include STEP, a Springbrook program for efficient and effective training and education; the One-Hart nursing program, a SUNY-Hartwick collaboration designed to streamline nursing education; community development and planning internships, which will help rural communities in budgeting and land use planning; the Rural Education Collaborative, aimed at improving student enrichment, teacher training, and career development; and an energy and entrepreneurship program, looking to bring electronics manufacturing back to Central New York.

With these and several other projects launched and in varying stages of implementation, the group wasted no time in discussing a new round of ideas. For a very productive 45 minutes, these ideas were floated and discussed and recorded. A list of these was not available at press time, but will be soon.

So, how was the RIC able in such a short time to have a measurable impact? Much credit must go to the vision and energy of Presidents Cardelle and Reisberg and their staffs, notably Danielle McMullen, Dr. Cardelle’s chief of staff. The other key element in the group’s success is its organization. Ideas and plans flow in two directions within the three-tiered structure. The Core Committees consist of community leaders from key anchor institutions across Otsego County, such as Bassett Healthcare Network, the Community Foundation of Otsego County, the two colleges, and Springbrook, to name a few. Next are the steering groups that help shape ideas into feasible initiatives and projects to pass on to the working groups, who then refine the projects into actionable programs.

The organization is fluid and flexible, and so far it’s working well. As Dr. Cardelle put it in remarks last week, “We are creating a space in which the community can come together and, through collaboration and synergy, make good things happen for us all.”

So far, so good!