International Corrugated Packaging Foundation Announces Receipt of 17 Proposals This Summer from Colleges and Universities
August 26, 2008
Alexandria VA… The International Corrugated Packaging Foundation (ICPF) has announced that its 2008-09 Request for Proposals (RFP) for Corrugated Curriculum Expansion & Asset Placement, that was released this summer, generated 17 proposals that were submitted by colleges and universities from throughout the country.
The first round of the 2008-09 judging that was conducted this summer selected 12 proposals (from the original 17) that will compete for asset or other awards to be made by ICPF in 2009. These 12 selected applicants have submitted expanded proposals from which ICPF Partners and its Board of Directors will select four to six for funding next year. Applicants selected for the second round of 2008-09 judging this fall include Cal Poly, Clemson (one each from the packaging and graphic communication departments), Eastern Kentucky University, Fox Valley Technical College, Maryland Institute College of Art, Massasoit Community College (MA) Michigan State University, Northwest Arkansas Community College, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Thaddeus Stevens College (PA), and Virginia Tech.
The 2008-09 RFP is the third of a new, structured annual process initiated in 2006 to best select those colleges, universities and technical schools to receive grants and asset awards to expand corrugated curricula. At that time, ICPF invited 97 colleges, universities and technical schools across the nation to submit proposals for their labs and classrooms. Twelve proposals were received. And in 2007, formal partnership agreements were established with the four finalists and awards were provided to California Polytechnic State University (corrugated testing equipment), Michigan State University (corrugated testing equipment), Virginia Tech (Data Tech CAD table and Esko software), and Christian Brothers University (a grant for developing and conducting corrugated instruction prototypes for high school students.)
In 2007, ICPF also released its 2nd annual request for proposals. In addition to packaging schools, the 2007-08 RFP was sent to graphic design and flexography departments at over two hundred colleges and universities. ICPF received 23 proposals from 19 institutions. Four of the proposals were selected for funding in FY 2008 and asset placements will be announced as they arrive at each campus this fall.
Mike D'Angelo, ICPF Chairman and Vice President of Bobst Group Corrugated Products, invites corrugated companies and suppliers to get involved in ICPF. "The RFP process, designed and introduced with input from our CorrAlliance and PaceSetter Partners, has proven to be the perfect vehicle for ICPF to work in a cooperative way with those schools that are building curricula and programs that will benefit current and future corrugated workforces. Having those same ICPF participating companies involved in the vetting process of these proposals brings true value to both the ICPF Partners and the schools as they work together toward the goal of evolving the education and training that the industry requires. Please consider joining us in this vital mission to assure the best and the brightest consider corrugated as a career."
Co?sponsored by the Association of Independent Corrugated Converters and the Fibre Box Association, ICPF's mission is to generate a stream of increasingly qualified students to enter the corrugated industry, now and into the future. ICPF is dedicated to the continued creation and building of partnerships within the education community, the granting of equipment and other resources to advance curriculum, the expansion of student internships within the industry, and the promotion of corrugated packaging career opportunities for packaging, business management, accounting, engineering, environmental science, marketing, graphic design, architecture / structural design and tech graduates.
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International Corrugated Packaging Foundation - 113 S. West Street- Alexandria - VA 22314
Telephone: (703) 549-8580 - Fax: (703) 549-8670 - Email: info@icpfbox.org
