S.C. universities rising to challenge to develop workforce for knowledge economy, Clemson’s Wilkins tells summit

Published: October 10, 2012

COLUMBIA — Clemson University board chairman David Wilkins said Wednesday that South Carolina’s colleges and universities are rising to the challenge to create a workforce “for a vibrant knowledge-based economy.”

A panelist at the Governor's Public Higher Education Conference with lawmakers, business leaders and university representatives, Wilkins said the state has invested significantly in programs to keep top students in the state and build economic clusters.

The programs include:

• LIFE and Palmetto Fellows scholarships that help keep the best and brightest students in the state. He noted that Clemson is the No. 1 choice among Palmetto Fellows.
• Enhanced engineering and science scholarships that help ensure universities can provide the workforce for high-tech, knowledge-based industries. Clemson engineering enrollment has increased 50 percent in the last four years.
• The Research Infrastructure Act and Endowed Chairs program, which is helping build innovation campuses and graduate programs to support the state’s industry clusters, such as automotive and transportation, advance materials, energy systems, biomedicine and information technology.

He called workforce and economic development “a contact sport” that requires colleges and universities to work hand-in-hand with industries to ensure academic programs and graduates are meeting their needs.

At Clemson, “we believe in going where the industries are, not sitting back and expecting them to come to us,” he said.

Wilkins cited the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) as the best example of a successful partnership among a university, industry and the state.

The partnership among Clemson, BMW and the state has created more than 700 jobs and has nearly 200 students enrolled in its graduate and Ph.D. programs.

“There is not a better example in the country that shows what can happen when an industry, a university and a state work together,” he said. “Clemson and the other universities in this state must enlist the support of industry to identify what is next.”

Wilkins also pointed to Clemson’s partnership with the state’s 16 technical colleges, which has attracted $35 million in National Science Foundation grants to address workforce development.

“This program will provide unprecedented opportunities for tailored training packages, certifications and distance education — particularly in the science, technology, engineering and mathematical fields,” he said.

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