4 minute read
Interview: Randy Woodson
Partner support
Strong corporate relationships have been ‘invaluable throughout the pandemic’ for the education space
Randy Woodson
Chancellor – NC State University
What support are corporate partners seeking during this turbulent time? Their priority, like the rest of us, is to remain connected. One of the great opportunities in the education space right now is continued education for the corporate workforce looking to upskill their talent. We work with both regional and national companies in this area. We’re fortunate to have strong corporate relationships that have proved invaluable throughout the pandemic.
What is your view of virtual and hybrid learning? NC State already had a large online presence prior to the COVID crisis. We are ranked sixth in the country for online engineering education, for example, and we are in the Top 25 for online MBA programs. That said, it was a huge challenge converting practically all of our student roster into online programs overnight. We’ve learned a lot about the most-effective ways to work remotely, in particular in areas such as accounting and procurement.
What critical components are needed to maintain the growth of the university’s research department? NC State is a top research university renowned for partnering with industry and government to address real-world challenges. Cutting-edge research is vital to all NC State’s colleges and we’re a leader in big data, biomedical engineering, materials science, agriculture and food safety, translational medicine and more. Much of our strength is in the applied disciplines of engineering, textiles and computer science. Our research is more closely aligned with commercialization than a lot of other school programs, and that is why so many company startups come from NC State.
How do you see your strategic planning evolving? Aside from continuing our traditional focus on publicprivate partnerships, we’re looking at the digital divide and making sure that we’re doing everything we can to strengthen our online learning platforms. Inclusion and diversity is an increasing focus to ensure that the university moves forward in an equitable way. Finally, we want to become known as a pipeline for talent in the technology sector.
What are your main near-term goals and priorities? We want to give our students more flexibility and more opportunities to gather in person. We will continue striving to enhance our strengths and impacts in research and we are continually striving to improve the ease and effectiveness in which our industry and government partners can effectively work with our university to achieve goals.
( ) The academy is poised to offer a tailored approach to learning by combining virtual coursework with field trips for students interested in taking classes from home.
These new tech opportunities are not challengefree, however. Attentive oversight and online safety features are a must in the digital landscape to prevent cyberbullying in the virtual classroom. A website communication analysis across millions of webpages conducted by L1ght unveiled a 70% increase in hate speech and a 40% rise in online toxicity between students in digital platforms.
Looking ahead Pre-COVID, Raleigh-Durham’s educational landscape acted as a strong catalyst for people and businesses alike while dealing with the long-standing challenge of keeping curriculums relevant to key industry needs and tuition costs at a competitive level to avoid burdening students with stifling debt. Post-COVID, educational trends that were projected over several years accelerated at a vertiginous pace — in a matter of months.
Short term, the Triangle’s academic sector will remain laser-focused on maintaining healthy levels of enrollment while it works on re-establishing the revenue streams of auxiliary enterprises. Higher ed institutions are called to stay on pace with the dynamism showcased by innovative and tech-infused industries, as talent is more often than not the key driver for companies setting up shop in the Triangle.
The competition for skilled talent has also reached a new phase in which it has truly reached a global scale, given that remote work allows companies to hire anyone, anywhere and enables companies to make up for the gaps in their own local talent market. Raleigh-Durham’s academic fabric will be competing not only with other institutions within the state but also around the world in producing the talent needed with the skill sets of the future that companies are so eager to integrate into their ranks.
The Triangle’s universities will require not only outside-the-box, disruptive practices in how they design their curriculum and impart knowledge. Partnerships with non-academic players will also prove essential to continue strengthening the area’s pipeline of talent. Saint Augustine University, for example, will be partnering with Braven Environmental to offer students and staff research and internship opportunities at the company’s facilities. NC State’s Kenan Fellows Program for Teacher Leadership announced a grant from the Biogem Foundation to launch a STEM-focused professional development pilot program for K-12 educators: STEMwork.
If done well, these sorts of partnerships are poised to launch the Triangle’s educational leadership to new heights going forward.
Tourism, Arts
& Culture:
Decimated by COVID-19, Raleigh-Durham’s tourism industry is back above water after struggling for more than a year. Despite ongoing challenges, including a labor shortage, all expectations are for a rebound to pre-pandemic levels, although how long that takes remains to be seen.
