Gov. Jay Nixon joined University of Central Missouri President Chuck Ambrose Thursday in officially launching a program, called the UCM Innovation Campus, that will provide local students with accelerated training in high-demand career fields.</p><p>&#x201C;Innovation Campus&#x201D; also has been used to refer to new facilities that UCM plans to open in 2015 at the green technology park that Exergonix Inc. is developing near U.S. 50 and Missouri 291 South in Lee&#x2019;s Summit.</p><p>But during a press conference at the Lee&#x2019;s Summit R-7 School District&#x2019;s Summit Technology Academy, Nixon focused his remarks on the program that will enable local students to earn degrees in high-demand fields quicker, with less student loan debt and with the knowledge necessary to be productive in the work force from Day One.</p><p>According to Nixon, his administration will support the UCM Innovation Campus program through a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant to underwrite real-world apprenticeships and training opportunities for participating high school students at area technology businesses like Exergonix, Cerner Corp., Sprint Nextel Corp. and DST Systems Inc.</p><p>Nixon also announced that he plans to offer $10 million in grants to other public colleges and universities throughout the state to roll out the Innovation Campus model, which allows accelerated, three-year tracks for some undergraduate degrees through better preparation at the high school level.</p><p>&#x201C;We&#x2019;re going to move at the speed of business&#x201D; to get the Innovation Campus competitive grant program in place, the governor said, adding that an application process should be in place by March 1 and that funds should begin to flow to grantees by July 1.</p><p>Beginning this fall, the UCM Innovation Campus program will enroll up to 30 students who are currently enrolled at Summit Technology Academy, a pre-professional, technical school operated by the R-7 district and serving 17 area high schools. UCM officials expect to expand the program to 50 or 60 more students in year two and up to 100 students in year three.</p><p>Prior to the press conference, Nixon met with several Summit Technology Academy students and graduates, who on their own initiative have take advantage of some of the elements that will be facets of the Innovation Campus program.</p><p>Some of the students, for instance, are already involved in Cerner Scholars, an apprenticeship program through which students can get real-world experience for health care information technology jobs as high school seniors.</p><p>Josh Adams, a 20-year-old UCM student who took classes at Summit Technology Academy while attending Blue Springs High School, said he wanted something more out of high school and decided to take 38 dual-credit courses, including 29 at Summit Technology Academy. Those courses allowed him to start college at the sophomore level and to qualify for an information technology internship with Hallmark Cards Inc.</p><p>&#x201C;Talk about cutting costs,&#x201D; Gov. Nixon said of the ability to bypass a year of college en route to a degree and career.</p><p>As part of the UCM Innovation Campus program, students will receive intensive guidance during high school to prepare them for degrees in information technology and applied science at UCM. And as the program grows, additional areas of study will be added based on the Missouri Strategic Initiative for Economic Growth and employer demand.</p><p>Through increased opportunities for dual-credit courses at Metropolitan Community College and through programs such as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate, the students should &#x2013; like Adams &#x2013; be able to earn 30 or more college credit hours while still in high school, Nixon said.</p><p>Beginning in high school and continuing in college, Innovation Campus students also will participate in apprenticeship training with local business partners. The $500,000 in grant funding Nixon announced Thursday will underwrite those apprenticeships and cover costs associated with on-the-job training for the students.</p><p>&#x201C;The Innovation Campus is the result of outstanding collaboration between public education and the private sector to prepare students for the careers of tomorrow,&#x201D; Ambrose said. &#x201C;Through the Innovation Campus (program), we are shaping a new model for higher education, reducing the burden of debt, and training students for jobs today and careers of the future.&#x201D;</p><p>A Lead Facilitator Group putting the final touches on curriculum and other elements of the program includes representatives from all of the participating partners in the program. They include UCM, Exergonix, the city of Lee&#x2019;s Summit, the R-7 school district, MCC-Longview, the Lee&#x2019;s Summit Chamber of commerce, the Lee&#x2019;s Summit Economic Development Council, Cerner, Honeywell, ProEnergy and state government.</p><p>&#x201C;I commend the University of Central Missouri and all the project&#x2019;s partners for pioneering this outstanding concept,&#x201D; Nixon said, &#x201C;and I look forward to working with our other colleges and universities to adopt the Innovation Campus model across the state.&#x201D;