BY STEPHEN MCKEEVER

At universities, we are used to the traditional metrics we continually apply to ourselves, including number of graduates per year, number of published papers, number of research contracts and so on. One thing we tend not to do is view ourselves from the outside and ask the people we serve how they judge us.

While academic reputation is of interest to many, of more interest are measurable standards such as the number of students getting a job upon graduation, the number of them who create new businesses in our state, the number who become local and business leaders, and the beneficial impact of our research programs on the state and the nation.

According to data from the Association of University Technology Managers, the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University spun out 24 new businesses from fiscal year 2004 to 2009 created entirely from new intellectual property generated by the universities. These companies vary widely. One, for example, develops products that identify and neutralize improvised explosive devices. Another develops software for secure handling of confidential information. A third provides faster access to information stored on a computer's hard drive by increasing its speed and efficiency.

Both institutions are stepping outside the traditional silo arrangement of disciplines to create interdisciplinary teams to tackle the world's most complex problems. The work is facilitated by new interdisciplinary research centers, such as OU's Stephenson Center in Norman, OSU's Henry Bellmon Research Center in Stillwater and OSU's Helmerich Advanced Technology Center in Tulsa. Research parks where university research teams work in the same buildings as private sector R&D units are also being created across the state.

The driving force behind these developments is a desire for universities to work more closely with private companies on problems of commercial importance and societal relevance. These public-private partnerships enable work on issues that are timely and critical in the world today, and provide research experiences for our students that are critical to their future employment chances as well as support work force development in general.

Our economic development efforts are aided by organizations such as the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST), a model program across the nation for stimulating economic growth in the high-technology sector, and by programs such as the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and the EDGE endowment.

As the nation's economy continues in a sluggish recovery, as unemployment hovers at uncomfortably high levels and as our state heads into one of its worst budget scenarios in recent memory, we can look to our existing structures and organizations, like our state universities, for long-term and sustainable solutions. The way out of crisis is to innovate by capitalizing on the foundations being built by our universities and the entrepreneurial spirit of our business sector.

McKeever is vice president for research and technology transfer at Oklahoma State University and newly appointed secretary of science and technology for Oklahoma.