The LEVIN Institute          July 2010
                State University of New York  

President Utley's Message
Garrick President
Welcome to our Levin Institute update. At the mid-point of 2010, we can look back on a number of important steps in our educational, research and public engagement programs. Given the weak and uncertain economic recovery, our initiatives are particularly timely and important. Although our main focus is on globalization, we believe that in a competitive response to globalization today, "global begins at home" -- whether we are speaking of New York City, the State or the Nation.

Our New York in the World and Innovate New York projects are focused responses to the competitive challenges we all face. Our Global Workforce Development project will introduce teaching modules for undergraduate general education programs this fall. And our JumpStart and FastTrac

programs respond to the need to be innovative and flexible in our professional -- as well as personal -- lives.

We hope you find our programs interesting. Please offer your feedback as we continue to build The Levin Institute.

Levin News
New York in the World
New York SkylineThis project is moving ahead with research on the impact of globalization on New York State and City -- with the aim of creating a data and fact driven foundation for a broad public discussion and sound decision-making on New York's competitive position in the world and its ability to sustain and grow the standard and quality of life of its people.

Existing data may illuminate the impact of the global economy on certain issues or sectors in New York's economy, but they do not necessarily shed light on their interrelatedness.

New York in the World is designed to inform the public and political debate over New York's future in the world. It has been launched with generous support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and an Advisory Council supports and consults on the project.
Innovate New York

Next StepsInnovate New York wrapped up its first cycle of events with a capstone discussion at the Institute on June 9, when participants synthesized potential next steps that New York City could take to be a better leader in innovation. The series has focused on how New York City can better mobilize its strong assets in the research, financial and entrepreneurial sectors to strengthen the city's competitive position in today's global economy.

SUNY Consortium Global Workforce Project

This project seeks to prepare undergraduate students to compete effectively in the global economy, through programs developed to enhance global understanding and requisite global skills of the 21st century, including language study.  

GWP
We led a team effort of faculty at the SUNY Campuses at Brockport and Cortland to secure a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education and has been busily implementing this ambitious program. Since last August, the GWP team has developed 10 new globalization modules which will be taught as part of undergraduate general education courses. In September, 10 pilot faculty each at Cortland and Brockport will begin teaching these courses, which aim to introduce students to  cross-cultural communication, technology use, and holistic thinking.Students who successfully complete at least four of these courses will have the opportunity to merit a Global Scholar Certificate, which will be awarded by Levin in the project's third year. GWP will also expand student access to Chinese language education using digital video technology.  

JumpStart NYC

Our team has been busy rolling out this landmark program with great success! After extending our contract with NYC's Economic Development Corporation last fall, we ran JumpStart NYC 2.0 in December 2009, and JumpStart NYC 3.0 in April 2010. JumpStart NYC 3.0 featured the exciting new addition of our "Green Finance" module, which received rave reviews. We are proud to announce that JumpStart 5.0, which will launch in October 2010, will also feature the additional "Green Finance" focus.


In February 2010 we launched JumpStart NYC New Media, which was a pilot program for displaced Media professionals, and on July 12th we will kick off JumpStart NYC 4.0, which will feature Arts in both the curriculum and the project selections. Click here for more information and to apply as a participant or host company.

Fast Trac
FastTrac GrowthVenture and NewVenture courses will continue to be offered at no charge to New York City residents through March 2011! These courses help New York entrepreneurs grow their businesses, as well as prepare a new cadre of entrepreneurs to launch new businesses.

On Saturday May 1st we held our second FastTrac Expo, which offered FastTrac alumni an opportunity to showcase their businesses - both products and services - to members of our community. Levin has delivered FastTrac to more than 1,000 existing and potential small business owners, with the support of NYC Small Business Services and the Kauffman Organization, the foundation for entrepreneurship. Click here for upcoming NewVenture and GrowthVenture programs.
Levin hosts Globalization101 Seminar
On May 20th, The Levin Institute hosted the 3rd Annual Globalization101.org Users Workshop. Presentations focused on the integration of technology resources into the classroom, as well as innovative ways to internationalize the curriculum. Some of the topics addressed included collaborative online learning, blogging, and global citizenship. More than two dozen educators from SUNY institutions and other New York-area universities attended the conference.
John Molson School of Business Summer Program

A new Levin program, Global Business and Leadership, was offered as a pilot in May and June -- in collaboration with Concordia University's John Molson School of Business. The inaugural group included Canadians, as well as students from Lebanon, Jordan, and Slovenia. The six credit program included two classes: Global Finance and Marketing and Global Management and Leadership.


Newsletter #8 / The LEVIN Institute / levininstitute.org 
Events at Levin
SUNY Global Symposium
Nancy ZimpherOn March 4, State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher hosted a symposium "Globalization and New York's Economic Recovery: SUNY's Role?" as part of a comprehensive strategic planning process to address how SUNY can be the driver for economic revitalization.
Innovate NY: Next Steps
On June 9, Jerry Hultin, President, Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Irving Wladawsky Berger, Senior Fellow, Levin Institute and IBM Academy of Technology, as well as Jim Singer, Partner, AT Kearney, assessed what we have learned and what the next steps are to keep New York competitive.
Capitalism in the Future
On May 12, Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times, and Edmund Phelps, McVickar Professor of Political Economy, Columbia University, discussed the current EU crisis and bailout.
Turkish forum
A panel on April 26 discussed the new Turkish foreign policy and its relation to domestic changes in Turkey. Among others, the event featured Ahmet Evin of the Transatlantic Academy,
Steven Cook at the Council on Foreign Relations and David Cuthell, Institute on Turkish Studies.
Global Universities
April 26, 2010
Ben Wildavsky, Author of The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities Are Reshaping the World
and Senior Fellow in Research and Policy, The Kauffman Foundation
Ron Robin, Senior Vice Provost, NYU Abu Dhabi
Beth McMurtrie, Chief Editor Global Edition, Chronicle of Higher Education.
Future of the Media Industry
Ernest Wilson, Dean of the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism
University of Southern California 
March 3, 2010.
Innovate NY: Arts & Culture 
On Wednesday, February 24, 2010, the Levin Institute held another of its "Innovate New York" programs, this time dedicated to a discussion of innovation in the arts and culture in New York City.
Innovate NY: Services 
On January 7, the Levin Institute, in partnership with the New York Academy of Sciences, hosted another Innovate New York session, this time discussing innovation in public services.