(a) There is established a working group to examine innovation and entrepreneurship at in-state public and independent institutions of higher education. The working group shall consist of in-state presidents of public and independent institutions of higher education, or any such president’s designee. On or before January 1, 2017, the executive director of CTNext shall invite the president of every in-state public and independent institution of higher education to serve on such working group. Any such president may send a designee to serve in such president’s place. The executive director of CTNext shall schedule the first meeting of the working group, which shall be held not later than February 1, 2017. The working group shall select two chairpersons of the working group during such meeting, one of whom shall be from a public institution of higher education and one of whom shall be from an independent institution of higher education.

(b) The working group shall develop a master plan for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship at in-state public and independent institutions of higher education. Such plan shall be submitted to the CTNext board of directors, established pursuant to § 32-39f, on or before May 1, 2017. The CTNext board shall review and approve or reject such plan no later than one month after receipt of such plan. If the CTNext board approves such plan, it shall submit such plan to the Higher Education Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee, established pursuant to § 32-39t. If the CTNext board rejects such plan, it shall submit a letter of rejection and recommended modifications to such plan to the working group. The working group shall revise such plan based on the modifications recommended by the CTNext board and resubmit such revised plan to the CTNext board no later than one month after receipt of the letter of rejection and recommended modifications to such plan. Such plan shall be resubmitted to the board until approved by such board, subject to the deadlines set forth in this subsection. Such plan shall (1) address opportunities and risks to innovation and entrepreneurship resulting from existing and emergent conditions affecting entrepreneurial programs and initiatives at institutions of higher education; (2) assess the scope and scale of existing entrepreneurial programs and initiatives at such institutions in the context of best practices at state and national institutions of higher education that are leaders in innovation and entrepreneurship; (3) recommend initiatives that facilitate collaboration and cooperation among institutions of higher education on projects that address and strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship at such institutions; (4) provide for the establishment of a state-wide intercollegiate business plan competition; (5) identify funding priorities for higher education entrepreneurship grants-in-aid pursuant to § 32-39t for projects that expand and enhance entrepreneurial programs and initiatives or projects involving partnerships among institutions of higher education. For the purposes of this section, (A) “existing and emergent conditions” includes, but is not limited to, (i) trends in national funding for research and entrepreneurial endeavors at institutions of higher education, (ii) trends in student and faculty preferences in entrepreneurship-related collegiate programming and initiatives, (iii) willingness of alumni, entrepreneurs and local business organizations to serve as mentors to faculty and students and to provide student internships, (iv) undergraduate student visa and post graduate student visa opportunities for recruiting international students interested in entrepreneurship, and (v) the state’s need to expand and strengthen state-wide innovation and entrepreneurship and new business formation, and (B) “entrepreneurial programs and initiatives” includes, but is not limited to, (i) mentorship of student entrepreneurs; (ii) commercialization and licensing of intellectual property in a manner that encourages faculty entrepreneurship; (iii) entrepreneur in residence programs; (iv) entrepreneurship-related courses; (v) research faculty having entrepreneurial experience; (vi) on-campus business incubators or accelerators; (vii) tenure policies that encourage faculty entrepreneurship; (viii) on-campus events that encourage entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial community building; and (ix) proof of concept support; and (6) recommend programs that advance the state’s innovation and entrepreneurship efforts.

(c) CTNext shall provide any necessary staff, office space, office systems and administrative support for the working group.