Innovation & Economic Prosperity

Logos: Designee of the Innovation & Economic Prosperity Program, and University of Nevada, Reno | A Land-Grant University - Est. 1874

The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) announced on April 2, 2025, that it has designated the University of Nevada, Reno as an Innovation and Economic Prosperity (IEP) Designee in recognition of its strong commitment to economic engagement within the state of Nevada.

Established by APLU in 2013, the IEP Designation Program is intended to help higher education institutions better know, measure, tell and enhance the story of their holistic economic engagement impact. To date, more than 80 land-grant and non-land-grant institutions across the nation and in Canada have earned an IEP designation.

“This designation reflects the University’s long-term and proudly held commitment to tangibly enhance Nevada’s economy and significantly improve the quality of life for all Nevadans,” University President Brian Sandoval said.

As defined by the APLU and its Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE), economic engagement impact is defined along three primary categories of work and their intersections:

  • Talent: Excellence in education and workforce development that help prepare students for jobs, careers and a lifetime.
  • Innovation: Excellence in innovation, and technology-based economic development, or entrepreneurship that all fuel the innovation economy.
  • Place: Excellence in public service, outreach and extension, and community engagement that contribute to social, cultural or community development and the stewardship of place.

Read the University’s IEP Designation announcement

Leading the way in economic engagement

Students working in the Makerspace at the University's DeLaMare LibraryThe University’s role as an economic anchor is embedded in its mission statement and its 2023-2027 Strategic Plan. It is further espoused by University President Brian Sandoval and others through the University’s “6 goals”:

  1. Strengthen the Pack: Enable inclusive excellence for students, faculty and staff.
  2. Invest in our Future: Deliver the services, organization and infrastructure to support a growing University.
  3. Lead for Nevada: Enhance the delivery of our land-grant mission.
  4. Transform the World: Elevate our top-tier research and contributions.
  5. Make Silver & Blue the New Green: Lead the environmental expertise and campus sustainability.
  6. Expand the Wolf Pack Impact: Reinforce our impact to Nevada and beyond.

Defining economic engagement and economic development

A k-12 robotics team showing their competition board and robots to community visitors at the University's K-12 Robotics Center

University of Nevada, Reno definition:

Economic engagement at the University of Nevada, Reno is our commitment to catalyzing purposeful growth, offering research and education to nurture the potential of individuals and communities. Through initiatives that center skillful talent and workforce development, real-value innovation, and technology-driven discovery and problem solving, we actively work toward enriching the economic capacity of our state and society, ensuring a sustained and positive financial impact. As stewards of positive change within higher education, we collaborate with communities to create opportunities for their economic advancement through high-quality education, the application of cutting-edge public-impact research, and the strategic execution of meaningful outreach programs.

APLU and UEDA definition:

For higher education, the definition of economic development begins from the notion of broadly “creating the conditions” for economic prosperity. In higher education, economic development means proactive institutional engagement, with partners and stakeholders, in sustainable growth of the competitive capacities that contribute to the advancement of society through the realization of individual, firm, community, and regional-to-global economic and social potential.

Benefits of the IEP designation

The IEP process is defined by a rigorous self-study to discover the University’s strengths, accomplishments and opportunities for growth. This is more than just a designation; by participating in the IEP Program, the University is committing to:

  • Engage with internal and external stakeholders at all levels
  • Think broadly and critically about the University’s role as an economic leader
  • Showcase achievements and impacts made at the regional, national and global level
  • Strengthen partnerships and understand gaps in the current University strategy
  • Provide a foundation to better tell our economic engagement story

Institutions that have received the IEP designation have reported significant advancement of their efforts due to the stakeholder engagement and self-study efforts undertaken in conjunction with the program. They are leveraging their status as Innovation and Economic Prosperity universities to identify new areas of opportunity in aligning with economic development objectives. Those schools are developing deeper engagement with others in their regional innovation ecosystems and making changes within the institution to expand their impact.

Contact us

IEP Core Group
iep_unr@mail.unr.edu