About the EDEC
The mission of the EDEC is to be a catalyst for innovation, entrepreneurship and engagement at ECU. The council accomplishes this by strengthening and promoting ECU’s IEE ecosystem and encouraging faculty, staff and students to engage in IEE activities and programs.
EDEC Definitions
| Innovation | Process of implementing creative ideas to address a need in order to have a meaningful impact. |
| Entrepreneurship | Process of using resources to discover and pursue opportunities. |
| Engagement | Collaboration between ECU and the community for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources via partnership and reciprocity. |
IEE at ECU
Innovation, entrepreneurship and engagement activities include projects that directly affect communities, including assisting in the development of state legislation, writing policy briefs, receiving a patent, or assisting in curriculum development. While these activities need traditional academic scholarship to give them credibility, they differ from standard tenure track benchmarks like research grants and journal publications. The EDEC encourages faculty, staff and student researchers to engage in IEE activities in addition to traditional academic scholarship.
Promoting IEE
During its tenure, the EDEC has promoted IEE activities at ECU through:
- Faculty advancement and promotion recommendations
- Course-based undergraduate research experiences
- Engagement Outreach Scholars Academy
- ECU-hosted IEE Symposium
- IEE conference travel funding
- Student internships
- I-Corps@ECU program
The Economic Development and Engagement Council welcomes suggestions of how to integrate and promote IEE activities at ECU. Contact the EDEC at edec@ecu.edu to learn more about the council and its activities.