News Archive

On October 1, 2010, the Program on Law and State Government (PSLG) at the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis hosted its 10th Annual Fellowship Symposium. This year the symposium will focus on Public Entrepreneurship and State Government. Two student fellows, Erin Albert and Melissa Stuart, were joined by experts from Indiana and around the nation who examined innovative business models used by state governments in providing public services. Following an assessment of state governments' current systems, the Fellows have identified successful, real-world examples of service coordination and delivery from Indiana and other states.

Albert says, "During one of the panel sessions we will focus on entrepreneurial education across the spectrum. One fantastic local example is that of Lemonade Day, where in May of 2010, over 7,400 kids signed up to run their own lemonade stands. This opportunity is a nationwide movement by a serial entrepreneur who grew up in Indiana, Michael Holthouse. Michael began the program in Houston, TX and contacted Cha Cha founder and entrepreneur Scott Jones to head Lemonade Day locally in Indianapolis in 2010. This is just one example of what we are exploring in terms of entrepreneurial education and even social business through this fellowship year." Albert's Fellowship address is entitled "Social Entrepreneurship: Can State Law Achieve Balance Between Social Cause and Profit?"

“This year's candidates for the Program on Law and State Government fellowship were phenomenal, and both fellows are passionate about the topic of entrepreneurship as it relates to state government and governance," said Professor Cynthia Baker, PLSG Director at the law school. "With the current economic climate, it is an exciting time to better understand how entrepreneurial thinking and habits are, or could be, impacting how state governments carry out their myriad responsibilities."

A panel discussion on Entrepreneurship in Education included Mark Need, Clinical Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Elmore Entrepreneurship Law Clinic at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law, and Mark Steward Long, M.S., Instructor in the Entrepreneurship and Management program at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.

Another panel discussion centered on Business Models and Social Entrepreneurship, featuring Robert Lang, CEO of the Mary Elizabeth & Gordon B. Mannweilier Foundation Inc., CEO of L3C Advisors L3C; John Tyler, Vice President and Corporate Secretary of Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; and Elizabeth Minnigh, attorney with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC.

The luncheon keynote speaker was Doug Chapin, Director of Election Initiatives at the Pew Center on the States, who will present "90-Degree Walk: The Role of Election Data in a New Approach to Reform."

Stuart’s Fellowship address was entitled "Legal Framework for Performance-Driven Government," and she moderated a panel entitled "Is Law an Obstacle to Data-Based Governing in Indiana?," featuring David Griffith Staff Attorney with the Indiana Supreme Court's Division of State Court Administration, Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC); Becky Selig, Director of the Bureau of Quality Improvement Services in the Division of Disability, Aging, and Rehabilitative Services, Family and Social Services Administration; Molly Chamberlin, Ph.D., Director of Data Collection, Analysis and Reporting, Office of Learning Choices, Department of Education; and Gary Huff, Town Manager of Fishers, Indiana.

"One of the highlights of my research is the success the Town of Fishers has had in using data and performance metrics to help inform service delivery to its citizens," says Stuart. "With Gary Huff, the Town Manager, spearheading the mission, Fishers has won numerous awards and recognitions for its high performance. Unfortunately, the Town of Fishers is currently the only municipality in the state with such a comprehensive and useful data system. I am excited, however, that Indiana has embraced the use of data to promote accountability and efficiency at both the state and local level with its development of the Indiana Transparency Portal. The web site will provide information like agency budgets, local government finances, state contracts and agency performance and also demonstrates the state's commitment to using our tax dollars effectively and efficiently."

Other information is available on the law school’s web site: http://indylaw.indiana.edu/programs/law_state_gov/fellowships.htm.

The goals of the Program on Law and State Government are to foster study, research, and education on critical legal and regulatory issues facing state governments, to enhance students' education by providing opportunities for participation in Program-sponsored research initiatives, educational programs, and internships within all branches of state government, to enrich and broaden the dialog between the academic legal community and state governments by promoting and disseminating contemporary scholarship on issues confronting those governments. Through program-sponsored scholarly papers, research, and educational seminars, the Program encourages the development of nonpartisan, critical perspectives on state government decision-making. By marshaling resources to promote the use of contemporary scholarship, the Program facilitates state governments' use of that scholarship to address and resolve legal issues. Ultimately, the Program serves as a vehicle to bring students, the law school, and the community of state government policy makers together in an academic forum for public debate and analysis of the legal issues facing state governments. For more information, logon to the PLSG website at: http://indylaw.indiana.edu/programs/law_state_gov/

About Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis

With an enrollment of more than 1,000 students, IU School of Law - Indianapolis is the largest law school in the state of Indiana. Occupying a spacious, new, technologically advanced building, the school is located in the heart of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The school has enjoyed great success for more than 100 years in preparing students for legal careers. The success of the school is evidenced by the prominent positions graduates have obtained in the judiciary and other branches of government, business, positions of civic leadership, and law practice. The school’s nearly 10,000 alumni are located in every state in the nation and several foreign countries.

For more information on the Program on Law and State Government or this year’s symposium, please contact Professor Cynthia A. Baker at cabaker@iu.edu.