2022 Michelson Intellectual Property Educator Award Winner Highlights Value of Teaching Intellectual Property at Community Colleges
justin chapman
The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property is expanding its support for integrating IP education into a broad range of educational curricula.
At the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship Annual Conference in Boston in Fall 2022, the Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property (Michelson IP) presented Diane Sabato, Professor of Business Administration, and John Diffley, Professor of History, Springfield Technical Community College Oxon Award for Excellence in Intellectual Property Education in Massachusetts. As part of the honor, their department received a $5,000 award from Michelson IP and NACCE.
The two winners demonstrated leadership through their innovative and successful approaches to teaching IP, inspiring students and educators to expand IP literacy through workshops and programs.
“The 2022 Excellence in Intellectual Property Educator Award is an unexpected honor for Professor John Diffley and me,” Sabato said. The award “recognizes the work we’ve been doing to advance intellectual property for our students and others across the country.”
Presented annually in partnership with NACCE, the award recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the education of intellectual property for emerging entrepreneurs, inventors, makers and creators. Last year, three Santa Monica College faculty members received the inaugural awards.
Michelson-NACCE Vision
In a 2022 article in the Western New England Law Review, Sabato, Diffley and attorney Richard Kosakowski wrote that Michelson IP and NACCE are working to close the “IP Education Gap” by supporting educators to integrate IP education into broad educational curricula. “.
“Integrating IP education into the education curriculum as widely as possible is critical,” they wrote. “Otherwise, any young person today who does not understand at least the basics of intellectual property – and its value and role in science, business, the arts and professions – will find himself or herself at a distinct disadvantage in tomorrow’s world”
NACCE is made up of educators, administrators, university presidents, and entrepreneurs focused on inspiring entrepreneurship in their communities and on campus. The organization empowers university leaders to oversee community colleges with an entrepreneurial mindset, while elevating the role of community colleges in supporting job creation and entrepreneurs in local ecosystems.
Since 2017, Michelson IP has partnered with NACCE to offer first-of-its-kind IP courses to member universities, primarily in the community college sector. The pilot phase included a vibrant community of practice that drove the modular construction of the undergraduate IP curriculum, culminating in its adoption in more than 85 NACCE colleges.
In 2020, five institutions were accepted into Michelson IP’s IP Educators-in-Residence program. Selected Educators – Pamela Bogdan, Ocean County College, NJ; Gary Cors, Pasco-Hernando State College, FL; Gary Graves, Fullerton College, CA; Lucio Lanucara, Central New Mexico Community College; and Spring Sabato and Diffley, Field Technical College – Dedicated to advancing IP literacy at community colleges across the NACCE ecosystem across the country.
“NACCE is very pleased to partner with the Michelson Intellectual Property Institute to continue bridging the intellectual property education gap. We look forward to seeing this community of practice grow across North American community colleges,” said Rebecca Corbin, NACCE President and CEO.
Michelson IP is an initiative of the Michelson 20MM Foundation, founded by Dr. Gary K. Michelson. The goal of the IP Educator Residency Program is to “sow new opportunities for vibrant local entrepreneurship education,” he said.
Launch of Educator Guide
Teacher leaders from this community of practice also launched “IPxEd 101: The Innovative Educator’s Guide to Teaching Intellectual Property.” It provides resources for community college educators who wish to become advocates for classroom, institutional, and community intellectual property courses. The guide includes practical applications of free and openly licensed intellectual property courses, academic discussions, thoughtful insights, best practices, and valuable resources.
The guide teaches students how to use intellectual property to create opportunity, build businesses and create wealth. It provides professors with the tools and resources to teach students how to protect and defend intellectual property.
According to the guide, these five main points help this community of practice understand how best to promote IP education on community college campuses:
- Intellectual property education is the pathway of ideas, the translation of ideas into real-world actions and values.
- Due to its student-centred inclusiveness, IP education is for and by students.
- IP education encourages innovative problem-solving when starting a new business.
- IP education emphasizes digital literacy in today’s high-tech economy.
- Intellectual property education is multidisciplinary, with applications in business, STEAM, design, and more.
Today, intellectual property and other intangible assets account for 90 percent of the market capitalization of all S&P 500 companies. Younger generations are increasingly entering the creator economy, starting a business or developing an entrepreneurial idea.
IPxEd 101 guides students on their intellectual property journey both in and out of the classroom.
“Intellectual property awareness and education is especially important for community college students because it can be a key factor in their ability to recognize, assert and protect the value of their intellectual products,” Sabato said. “Intellectual property can be the key to building wealth, growing entrepreneurial ventures and adding value to the world around them.”
The Michelson Intellectual Property Institute provides free intellectual property educational resources to empower budding inventors and entrepreneurs. Michelson IP is an initiative of the Michelson 20MM Foundation, which focuses on a range of issues including digital equity, smart justice and open educational resources. It operates under the auspices of The Giving Pledge members Alya and Dr. Gary K. Michelson. To access additional resources, visit MichelsonIP.com.