NACCE & Michelson 20MM Expand Intellectual Property Curriculum to Community Colleges

Boston, MA, September 20, 2017 --(PR.com)-- The National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), and the Michelson 20MM Foundation have announced an innovative program to provide intellectual property (IP) curriculum through community colleges across the country. The program is supported by renowned spinal surgeon Dr. Gary K. Michelson, founder of Michelson 20MM.

Starting today, six community colleges, plus lead college, Santa Monica College, will participate in the IP curriculum program made possible through a partnership of NACCE, the nation’s leading organization focused on promoting entrepreneurship through community colleges, and Michelson 20MM, which supports and invests in leading-edge entrepreneurs, technologies and initiatives with the potential to improve postsecondary access, affordability and efficacy.

The initiative provides free course materials that touch on the basics of patents, trademarks, copyright, and trade secrets for entrepreneurs at the undergraduate level. NACCE and Michelson 20MM have selected Santa Monica College (SMC) to lead the development of a master syllabus and a course cartridge comprised of 38 digital course modules to help support additional participating faculty. The course cartridge is supported by a variety of learning management systems (LMSs), including Canvas.

SMC introduced the IP content in its Business courses during the summer of 2017, and will be mentoring the participating community colleges starting this fall. The colleges will adapt these materials for their respective courses. The six colleges selected for the program include: Butte College, Oroville, CA; College of Marin, Kentfield, CA; Glendale Community College, Glendale, CA; Lorain County Community College, Elyria, OH; Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, CA; and CUNY Queensborough Community College, Bayside, NY.

The curriculum is based on Michelson 20MM’s free textbook, The Intangible Advantage: Understanding Intellectual Property in the New Economy. Additional institutions will be selected to add the most pertinent IP content into a range of their existing courses including business, entrepreneurship, design, and more.

IP curriculum covers the essentials of patents, trademarks, copyright and trade secrets. IP comprises 45 percent of the country’s total GDP today and represents 80 percent of the market value of all publicly traded companies in the United States.

“The modular format gave me the flexibility to easily adopt the appropriate level of depth for each area of IP, whether it was for business law or my introduction to business class,” said Sal Veas, chairman of SMC’s Business Department.

“We are pleased and honored to be part of this exciting and vital new program,” said NACCE President and CEO Rebecca Corbin, Ed.D. “Michelson 20MM has worked diligently to advance intellectual property curriculum. Understanding the basics of intellectual property and its value and role in science, business and arts professions is a vital component in the education of the many would-be entrepreneurs studying at community colleges.”

“Community colleges are the launch pad for tomorrow’s entrepreneurs,” said Dr. Gary K. Michelson, founder of Michelson 20MM. “Nearly half of all college graduates start at a community college. It is therefore critical that we provide intellectual property education at community colleges. These are the breeding grounds for our future creators and innovators, and are where many of our small businesses are born. It’s up to us to make sure these students have access to the knowledge necessary to succeed.”

About Michelson 20 MM Foundation
For the last six years, Michelson 20MM has worked at the leading edge of education technology supporting the country’s most innovative startups, models and initiatives with the potential to increase postsecondary access, efficacy and efficiency. Three years ago, the foundation began to focus its expertise, resources and network to address critical gaps in IP education. For more information, visit www.20mm.org.

About NACCE
NACCE is an organization of educators, administrators, presidents and entrepreneurs focused on inciting entrepreneurship in their community and on their campus. NACCE has two main goals: 1. Empower the college to approach the business of running a community college with an entrepreneurial mindset, and 2. Grow the community college’s role in supporting job creation and entrepreneurs in their local ecosystem.

For more information, visit www.nacce.com. Follow us at @NACCE, like us on Facebook, and join our LinkedIn group.

Contact:
Rebecca Corbin
856 404-0388