The Clearinghouse for Applied Research and Public Service provides information services and products to support the State University System of Florida Board of Governors and its mission to promote Florida universities’ talent and resources. The Clearinghouse has created and hosts several key web-based systems:

• Florida ExpertNet is a public portal to find expertise and resources across Florida’s universities. ExpertNet was the first system of its kind and is a national and international leader in expert finder systems. In 2019, ExpertNet was an organizating sponsor and the state host of the inaugural National Forum on Expert Finder Systems. 
• The Centers & Institutes Online Reporting System is a restricted online system that allows the Board of Governors to gather information on more than 500 institutes and centers annually.
• The Graduate Recruitment Candidate ID System is a restricted online system that supports the recruitment of prospective graduate students from the pool of undergraduate seniors and juniors enrolled in Florida’s state universities.
• The ExpertConnect Widget allows other websites to publish filtered ExpertNet content on their site.
• A customized version of ExpertConnect was created for the Board of Governors' ThinkFlorida website. 

CHALLENGE

Florida state agencies often need to contract with specialized experts to accomplish their mission. The preference is to contract within the state, but often out-of-state expertise would be hired because in-state expertise was difficult to identify. The state had no efficient way to identify faculty experts or other university resources that could be tapped for state activities.

The state needed a vehicle for creating specialized information systems and outreach and referral services to connect state agencies with expertise and resources in Florida's public universities.

SOLUTION

The Clearinghouse for Applied Research and Public Service was created at Florida State University to meet the need for cross-university information to serve not only state agencies but also business and industry. The Clearinghouse provides services in the areas of:

• Customized information systems development and maintenance
• Data management
• Outreach to faculty, state agencies, community organizations, and business and industry
• Specialized projects

Florida ExpertNet is the primary vehicle for connecting with university expertise. Other systems developed as part of this project include the Florida Board of Governors Centers & Institutes Reporting System, the Florida Universities Graduate Recruitment System, and ExpertConnect.

The ExpertConnect widget allows other sites to publish filtered Florida ExpertNet content on their website. The Clearinghouse has also created a customized version of the ExpertConnect widget for the Board of Governors' ThinkFlorida website.

WEB LINK

http://expertnet.org

PRODUCTS

• Florida ExpertNet
• Centers & Institutes Online Reporting System
• Graduate Recruitment System
• ExpertConnect widget
• ExpertConnect customized widget for ThinkFlorida