Huntsvilles higher ed leaders highlight workforce development and collaboration at inaugural State of Higher Education event

Huntsville’s higher ed leaders highlight workforce development and collaboration at inaugural State of Higher Education event

The Jackson Center was packed on the morning of October 17 for the inaugural State of Higher Education breakfast, hosted by the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber

The presidents of Madison County’s four public colleges and universities — Alabama A&M University, Calhoun Community College, Drake State, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville — participated in a panel discussion on the mission and goals of each of their schools. 

Jeff Samz, CEO of the Huntsville Hospital Health System, moderated the panel. 

There was an obvious spirit of camaraderie, and perhaps some friendly competition, between the four presidents. While they each want the best for their institution, it was clear that collaboration is prioritized. 

“I hope, as a community, we never take for granted the spirit of cooperation that separates North Alabama from everybody else,” said Samz. 

Workforce Development

Samz posed questions about the relationship between the economy of Madison County, especially as it relates to workforce development, and each of these four institutions. 

Dr. Chuck Karr, President of the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), reported that roughly 80% of UAH graduates live and work in the area after obtaining their degree. 

“You should take great comfort in that because these young people are talented, they’re competitive, they’re engaged,” said Karr. 

Dr. Patricia Sims, President of Drake State Community & Technical College, said that Drake State is directly responding to workforce needs in the area. 

“We have an 87% placement rate for our students,” said Sims. “Our students complete programs and they go to work in those programs.”

Dr. Jimmy Hodges, President of Calhoun Community College, related that it is incredibly satisfying to watch students leverage their education to raise their quality of life. 

Hodges recently attended an event where Calhoun students and alumni spoke with Leadership Huntsville about the impact of a Calhoun education. Hodges was inspired by the story of a non-traditional student, who told the story of how his education had already allowed him to advance to a more lucrative position within his industry. 

“To hear him talk about how he had insurance, how he is making a good salary, and now — at over 40 years old — he’s going back to college and earning a degree,” was inspiring, said Hodges.

Addressing Local Needs

Karr said that roughly 300 students at UAH have security clearances. He is currently working with local community colleges, and industry leaders, to see that students enrolled in 2-year colleges are also able to obtain clearances. 

“You often think it’s the engineers that need them, but a lot of times it’s the mechanicians and the technicians — so we want to be good community partners on that,” said Karr. 

Calhoun is developing educational programming in diesel mechanics, aviation, and respiratory therapy to meet the unique needs of local employers. 

Alabama A&M University recently began a doctoral-level program to address the state’s demand for more social workers. 

Samz pointed out that every single institution represented on stage has developed programs to help meet the workforce needs of the Huntsville Hospital system. 

Challenges and Solutions

Two specific challenges faced by AAMU are the retention of students and the cost of maintaining the university’s buildings, many of which are over 100 years old. 

A special task force, created specifically to address retention, has had measurable success, said President Wims of Alabama A&M University. 

“Our colleagues have been able to increase our retention, even over the last two years, by over 10 percentage points,” said Wims. “So we’re up to 70% first-year retention.”

Retention is positive, not only for the university, but also for the community at large as it increases the number of trained graduates who will be able to lend their talents to the local business ecosystem. 

Drake State has partnered with Huntsville Hospital to purchase medical equipment needed to train the health care providers of the future. 

Sims is also a proponent of a “learn and earn” model in which students work in paid apprenticeships while they take classes. This allows students to meet the immediate material needs of their families while they work towards higher salaries. 

Entrepreneurship: On Campus and Beyond

Samz noted that these institutions are not only training students to be future employees, they are also educating North Alabama’s future business leaders and entrepreneurs. 

Karr enumerated several entrepreneurship opportunities available through UAH. 

“There is a group of students on campus that have a Capital Management Group. They manage and run a financial portfolio that’s valued at over $1.2 million,” said Karr. 

Karr also touted the success of UAH’s Invention to Innovation Center (I2C), which serves as a small business incubator for 20 businesses. 

Sims was asked how the business community can better support the entrepreneurial ecosystem for students in Huntsville. 

She emphasized that retaining high-quality instructors can be expensive, since schools compete with private industry for top talent. For this reason, she encouraged those with unique skills to find a way to “talent share.” 

“It can look like your industry sharing talent with our advisory boards and committees,” said Sims. 

Business leaders can also “talent share” by working as mentors to students, who can learn directly from their successes and challenges. 

Each of the four schools is working to develop relationships with the Huntsville business community, retain students and faculty, and prepare graduates for fulfilling professions. 

Karr’s closing remarks circled back to the idea of cooperation with the community. 

“In our DNA, is research support for Redstone Arsenal, NASA, the Army, the FBI. That will continue to be a main driver of the University of Alabama in Huntsville,” said Karr. “Right now we’re a Carnegie R1 institution, which is the highest level you can achieve.” 

Karr said that while UAH’s primary role is to support the defense of the nation, the university aims to increasingly meet the wider demands of Huntsville and beyond.

“We want to be a university that is responsive to the needs of our community,” said Karr. “And if I’ve heard it once since arriving in Huntsville, I’ve heard it a thousand times: ‘workforce, workforce, workforce’.” 

In addition to producing engineers and computer scientists, Karr would like to see UAH continue to grow the number of students who graduate with degrees in teaching, accounting, and nursing. 

“At the end of the day, we want to be a university that is worthy of the community in which we reside. And when we do that, we’ll be fully successful,” said Karr.