EDUCATION
The Next Level HBCU PUT EMPHASIS ON WORKING WITH OTHERS TO BENEFIT STUDENTS
by Gale Horton Gay
ghorton@ccgmag.com
HBCU Engineering Deans at the 2014 BEYA STEM Conference in Washington, D.C. P
artnerships and collaboration are being relied on heavily at engineering schools at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) to give students a leg up in gaining knowledge and experience as well as better positioning them for the job market. At a recent gathering of HBCU deans of engineering and technology schools, partnerships and collaboration were the buzz words repeated by several deans talking about their schools’ programs and how they are working to ensure that graduates leave their institutions not only with degrees but also with the right skills and experiences.
Discussing aspects of their programs were the heads of 14 accredited engineering schools at North Carolina A&T State University, Tuskegee University, Howard University, Southern University, Norfolk State University, Florida A&M University, Jackson State
www.blackengineer.com
“A lot of our corporate partners are telling us…that for our stu- dents to be that leader you have to be able to broaden yourself and take on opportunities not only within Texas, the U.S. but abroad.”
– Kendall T. Harris, dean of engineering Prairie View A&M University
University, Morgan State University, Hampton University, Prairie View A&M University and Alabama A&M University. Kendall T. Harris, dean of engineering at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, said listening to the needs of partners has helped to shape the
engineering school’s approach. “We have been listening to our corporate partners and government agencies,” Harris said. “You are telling us you need a different type of engineer, computer scientist and technologist. You have a growing aging population, and you are about to lose intellectual capital to go out the door so you’re going to need to replace that intellectual capital. You can’t replace it with someone who’s going to take the normal path that me or you may have taken, meaning time-wise. You don’t have the time to make a 20-year middle manager. You don’t have the time to make a 30-year vice president. So we are taking that approach in how we’re training our students and developing our students. “We’re exposing our students to a variety of things beginning from undergraduates research experiences, which we believe teaches them the practical aspects of engineering so when
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