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President Fallon looks for entrepreneurial vision from new executive-level position

With state funding for higher education projected to inch up only 2.5 percent for fiscal year 2008 and the ongoing battle to rein in rising tuition costs, it makes sense for universities in Michigan to look for or develop other revenue streams.

Eastern Michigan University President John Fallon knows this and is looking for the right person to fill the newly created position of executive to the president (entrepreneurial initiatives).

Fallon

The four candidates for this position are Richard Merchant, president and CEO, Northern Area Health Education Center in Potsdam, N.Y.; Diane Durance, president, Ann Arbor IT Zone; Dion Johnson, principal performance consultant and relationship broker, Discovery Group & Associates, Inc.; and Michael Witt, president, Technology Enterprise Development Company (TEDCo, Inc.), a statewide company headquartered in Flint.

"The singular intent for this position is to generate revenue for the University to use in achieving its mission," Fallon said.

It is expected that this professional will focus early on the possibilities associated with academic programs and departments, University centers and institutes, institutional supplier and vendor relationships, and associated corporations, such as the EMU Foundation, and various stakeholder and constituent groups and organizations, he said.

A concept paper, dubbed "The Venture Initiative" and developed by Fallon, spells out two groups, essentially a venture support system, that would work in tandem with the executive assistant to the president (entrepreneurial initiatives).