Greenville Magazine - July 2008 - (Page 49)

Keeping Students in-STaTe BY ALISON STORM I PHOTO SUPPLIED BY GREENVILLE TECH F ifteen thousand dollars, some office space and unlimited foosball games. That’s what Clemson University President James Barker says lured two of the school’s best and brightest nearly 1,600 miles away. Clemson roommates and recent graduates Rob Johnson and Josh Fraser packed up and left South Carolina after being selected for the Coloradobased TechStars program. TechStars promotes entrepreneurial activity by awarding seed money and office space to ten companies a year. “We educated these guys, and then we exported them,” Barker recently told a couple hundred Greenville Chamber members. “We need to figure out how to keep them.” Barker is already coordinating plans to emulate the TechStars program for South Carolina because he believes that keeping graduates in the area is critical for economic development. A key for keeping graduates in the Upstate once they’ve earned diplomas is making sure there are jobs available in the right fields. “If they could find a chance of doing what they want to do in Greenville, I think they would jump on that chance,” says Barker. Greenville Technical College’s new president, Dr. Keith Miller has a similar focus on workforce development. “There have to be job opportunities,” says Miller. “The college has to be very progressive in making sure the training and education we provide will get people into the jobs that are local.” Dr. Miller says the school must work closely with the community to make sure students are learning the skills needed by area employers. “You can train students in all different careers and if there’s no jobs once they get out, then they’re going to leave to get those jobs.” For Greenville Tech, another part of keeping students local is creating a seamless transition between a two-year college and area four-year universities. Miller recently arrived to the Upstate after serving as a college president in Illinois. He says it was not only Greenville’s history of growth, but the community’s projected growth that prompted his decision to move south. Miller says he also looked at Greenville’s progressiveness as well as how friendly the area is at attracting new industry. Miller believes prospective students look at similar characteristics when selecting a school for higher education. One of his missions as the school’s new president is to work on keeping even more graduates in the area. “The ideal situation is that every one of them stay in the area,” says Miller. “That’s not necessarily realistic.” While Greenville Tech and Clemson may have similar dreams for retaining graduates, Bob Jones University has a different perspective. The student body comes from all 50 states and 40 countries, according to the school’s JULY 2008 | GreenviLLe MaGazine 49

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Greenville Magazine - July 2008

Greenville Magazine - July 2008 Contents Editor's Letter My Greenville Alone At Last Watercooler Romance Greenwood Tourist in Your Own Town One-Tank Trips In The Lead Keeping Students In-State After Hours From the Pros A Look Back Walk this Way If These Walls Could Talk Viewpoints Attorneys The Bulletin Around Town Parting Words

Greenville Magazine - July 2008

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