Campus innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) efforts do not fail for lack of ideas. They most often stall when vision is not matched with clarity. That clarity begins with a deceptively simple question: What do you need most right now to advance innovation and entrepreneurship on your campus?
Asked thoughtfully, this question does more than invite conversation. It creates space for engagement, surfaces priorities, clarifies constraints, and opens the door to solution discovery. From the development of industry-shifting technologies to the delivery of high-value educational experiences, substantive I&E impact depends on leaders first clearly articulating their most pressing, high-priority needs.
Understanding the Landscape
In July and September 2025, the VentureWell Higher Education Innovation Ecosystems team convened focus groups with faculty and administrative leaders from 20 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs). Participants shared perspectives on current challenges, needs, and potential interventions.
These focus group discussions are part of our ongoing effort to better understand the structural, operational, and capacity-related barriers that ERIs face in advancing STEM innovation and entrepreneurship. Insights from faculty and administrative leaders across the United States inform our approach to future programs and partnerships, particularly those aligned with national priorities around research translation, institutional capacity, and inclusive innovation.
The conversations revealed both institution-specific challenges and recurring needs across ERIs operating within an increasingly complex higher education landscape. While academic missions and translational priorities vary, the findings point to common constraints influencing how innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives take root and scale.
Beyond Vision: What Institutions Really Need
1. Institutional Strategy Conversations Are Critical To Advancing STEM I&E
Participants emphasized the importance of structured, institution-level conversations that connect STEM innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives to broader strategic priorities. When I&E is embedded in institutional strategy, it gains credibility and is more likely to attract sustained leadership attention and resources.
2. Researchers Need Support in Communicating the Value of STEM I&E
Faculty identified a need for support in clearly communicating the value of STEM I&E education and translational activity to institutional leaders. Framing value propositions using established higher-education frameworks helps translate complex research and entrepreneurial work into persuasive, decision-ready messages.
3. Institutions Need To Develop More Effective Industry Partnerships
Participants described a need for stronger, more mutually beneficial partnerships with industry to support research funding and technology commercialization. As some federal agencies reduce research budgets, industry relationships are becoming increasingly important for both financial sustainability and strategic alignment. Beyond funding, these partnerships provide market insight and practical guidance that strengthen long-term growth.
4. Commercialization Support Remains a Priority for Researchers and Administrators
Researchers and administrators highlighted the need for expanded technology transfer support, from administrative guidance to intellectual property (IP) marketing. Desired outcomes include stronger licensee recruitment, improved returns on institutional IP, and clearer communication of technology value to potential partners.
Shaping the Path Forward
These focus groups enhanced our understanding of the evolving STEM innovation and entrepreneurship landscape across ERIs and how this impacts institutional capacity for research translation. Faculty and administrators shared constraints they faced as well as identified current and future ecosystem resources and support that accelerate STEM research and innovation.
The path forward requires a focused, connected ecosystem of support, which includes a deep understanding of the assets unique to each institution and interventions that leverage them. These interventions could include experiential workshops, training and technical assistance on the implementation of institutional I&E initiatives for stakeholders across the research translation continuum, and facilitating strategic partnerships with industry and other organizations. Guided by these insights, our team continues to work closely with HBCUs and ERIs and identify models that leverage unique institutional assets and support institutional research translation capacity. By helping campuses translate vision into action and strengthen their innovation ecosystems, we are building sustainable pathways for emerging innovators to move ideas to invention.