Here is a guest post from Andy Chan, vice president of the Wake Forest University Office of Personal and Career Development, and Jacquelyn S. Fetrow, Reynolds Professor of Computational Biophysics and dean of Wake Forest College. From April 11-13, they will co-host “Rethinking Success: From the Liberal Arts to Careers in the 21st Century,” a national conference to examine issues related to the relevance and value of the liberal arts education to the workforce today.

Wake Forest Vice President for Career Development Andy Chan talks with students in the university’s Reynolda Hall. (WFU/KEN BENNETT)Seniors graduating this May started their college careers shrouded by the dark cloud of economic insecurity. In September 2008, they were eager freshmen adjusting to campus life when the subprime mortgage crisis forced Lehman Brothers to file for bankruptcy. Four years later, many college students, recent graduates and their families remain paralyzed with fear and pessimism by the dismal prospects for turning a diploma into a paycheck. Although the economy may be recovering, the world of work has fundamentally changed.

Innovative technology, higher productivity, international outsourcing and our self-service economy have replaced thousands of entry-level jobs that were once ready-made for college graduates, and are now gone forever. In addition, the competition for jobs is fierce as employers raise their sights in recruiting new talent.

The March 2012 Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survey of chief financial officers projects increased hiring which will bring the national unemployment rate below 8 percent by the end of the year. However, nearly half of the employers actively trying to fill vacant positions are struggling to find qualified applicants. Extremely selective recruiters have their choice of attractive candidates ranging from ambitious college grads to experienced Gen-X professionals to humbled baby boomers desperately needing work. The old “get a good college education and you’ll be successful” adage isn’t nearly enough today – and it may not be enough for job-seeking college grads in the 21st Century.

Politicians have fueled the fear and pessimism by questioning the value of college – and especially the liberal education – both in terms of cost and content, trumpeting the need for a technically skilled workforce as a solution to our floundering economy. Ironically, China, Singapore, South Korea and other Asian countries are adopting the opposite position by investing in the creation of high school and university curriculum to provide a liberal education in hopes of developing nimble, adaptable and creative thinkers. Concerned that their traditional system only produces stellar test takers, but few innovators and inventors, they are moving towards the educational model that America seems ready to leave behind.

Employers are seeking candidates who have the critical, creative thinking and interpersonal skills that result from a liberal education, plus the technical skills required for the job and finally, the hunger and passion to do and learn what’s required to be an outstanding and productive contributor for the firm. According to former Procter Gamble chairman A.G. Lafley, “The formula for businesses trying to compete in today’s economy is simple: hire employees with the mental agility, leadership and passion to navigate constant change – in other words, hire those who are liberally educated.” Sound advice when you consider the CEOs of Dell, JP Morgan Chase, Walt Disney Company, IBM, and FedEx were liberally educated.

Here are a few recommendations for liberal arts colleges to more deeply realize and communicate the value of the liberal education for the world of work today:

• Develop partnerships that bridge the career development office with the faculty and academic advisors. Students demand to know how their choice of major will affect their career options. By sharing these data and student examples with the faculty and academic advisors, the career development office becomes more vital to students and to the faculty. With the endorsement and influence of the faculty, students utilize the complete range of resources offered by the career development office starting from their first year on campus.

• Provide opportunities for faculty to understand the needs of employers. When professors understand why employers hire certain students, they can articulate how the academic material can be applied variety of work settings and help students recognize and better market this knowledge and skills. They can also more effectively mentor students and provide career advice and connections.

• Make internships and/or research projects an integral part of the student experience. Make sure the student demonstrates the drive to stick with a research problem for longer than a semester. A survey by the Association of American Colleges and Universities found that 84 percent of executives at private sector and non-profit organizations expressed a desire for students to complete a significant project before graduation to demonstrate their depth of knowledge and a passion for a particular areas, as well as their acquisition of broad analytical, problem solving and communication skills.

• Offer credit-based courses in career development so that students learn the fundamentals for lifelong career management. With projections that today’s graduate will have eight or more jobs in their life, they must be equipped with the knowledge, skills and tools to navigate the path from college to career as well as post-graduate career changes.

• Bring recent alumni from a variety of careers to campus and perhaps into the classroom to share their experiences for how they utilize their liberal education. Today’s students expect immediate answers and a direct line from major to career. At Wake Forest University, history professors require their students to participate in teleconferences with alumni who applied their bachelor’s degree in history to relevant but not directly related fields, such as journalism, law and marketing. Understanding the breadth of real-world opportunities dispels the myth that all history – and other liberal arts – majors are destined to become professors.

• Develop partnerships between the liberal arts college and the business school to enable faculty and students to work and learn across boundaries. Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise, now the most popular minor at Wake Forest, emerged from a college-business school collaboration. Alternatively, many students choose to acquire the Masters in Management degree at Wake Forest in their fifth year to develop the business knowledge and leadership skills to complement their liberal undergraduate education. These types of partnerships are essential to provide students with the skills to apply their liberal arts skills to business-world problems.

There are many possible solutions to help students realize and articulate the relevancy of the liberal education to the world of work. The one requirement is that liberal arts colleges must make personal and career development a mission-critical part of the undergraduate experience – and they must collaborate with faculty in the endeavor.

A liberal arts education, long regarded as one of America’s unique sources of strength, remains an important vehicle for nurturing young talent who will produce the answers for our future. However, a liberal education without regard to career relevance is not enough. Liberal arts colleges must begin rethinking success by demonstrating relevance beyond the classroom.

Article source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/six-tips-for-liberal-arts-colleges-to-produce-employable-grads/2012/03/31/gIQAQb6EnS_blog.html

In conjunction with the kickoff of Startup Maryland—a regional branch of Startup America—Governor Martin O’Malley announced a new business pitch contest designed to highlight Maryland entrepreneurs and small business owners. The contest will ask participants to pitch their businesses in 10 ten images using the new social media platform, Pinterest. Winners will be featured on Governor Martin O’Malley’s Pinterest page (www.pinterest.com/martinomalley) and will also receive a prize courtesy of the Baltimore Angels.

“In Maryland, we have a rich history of fostering entrepreneurship. From our many incubators to our diverse centers and institutions of higher learning to our strategic tax credits, we encourage entrepreneurship at every level,” said Governor Martin O’Malley. “Whether you’ve been in business for years or are just getting started, Maryland is the ideal place to do business and we encourage everyone to take advantage of this new contest.”

The contest is a partnership with the University of Maryland College Park, the Future of Information Alliance, the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development and the Baltimore Angels.  Maryland entrepreneurs will be able to pitch their businesses using 10 images on a Pinterest board. Submissions will be showcased on Governor O’Malley’s website. Boards and pins will be available for public comment. Following the public comment period, a panel of business experts will choose winners in two different categories: “Student Entrepreneurs” and “Boot Strappers.” First place winners will receive a MacBook Air and runner ups will receive an iPad courtesy contest partner the Baltimore Angels.

“Angel investors love to be the first movers in hot new startup companies and emerging entrepreneurs,” said Jason Hardebeck, a member of the Baltimore Angels and Executive Director of the Greater Baltimore Tech Council. “The Baltimore Angels are honored to help support the first ever business plan competition on the fastest growing social network in history. Maryland is a state of ‘firsts’ and we look forward to seeing the great ideas that the next generation of entrepreneurs bring to life on Pinterest.”

Elana Fine, associate director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship said, “We are excited to see Governor O’Malley use a new technology like Pinterest to solicit innovative business ideas.  By using the newest social media trend, the Governor can better connect with the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

Governor O’Malley recently announced that $84 million has been raised for Maryland’s Innovation Economy through InvestMaryland – an historic initiative created by the Governor and passed by the General Assembly last year to invest in the State’s promising start-up and early stage companies. This year, together with several of our research universities, Governor O’Malley proposed the Maryland Innovation Initiative—an effort to get at least 40 new technologies out of labs and into the marketplace.

“We are pleased to support the Business Pitch Contest, which showcases the best and brightest ideas of our entrepreneur community,” said Department of Business and Economic Development Secretary Christian Johansson. “Contests like this are part of an overarching strategy in Maryland, which includes major programs like InvestMaryland and the Maryland Innovation Initiative, to build an economic climate where the most promising companies have a chance to mature.”

For contest guidelines and rules please visit this site: http://www.governor.maryland.gov/pitch.asp

Article source: http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm/fa/viewStory/story_ID/26949/d/03312012

This revolution has been fueled by significant government investment from multiple nations, growing from $1 billion in 2000 to $8.4 billion in 2008. Commercial investment went from $900 million in 2000 to $8.6 billion in 2008. To date, the total U.S. government investment has been $18 billion, with $1.7 billion allocated for this fiscal year.

Nanotech is already commonplace in the products we use. It impacts everything from our clothes (through micro fibers that can repel water, adjust to temperature, and even change color) to how we combat global warming (through advances such as pollution eating compounds and highly efficient solar panels). Its greatest potential for immediate impact is in the health care field – from highly targeted drug delivery for cancer patients to early detection of diseases.

This is good news for North Carolina. Across the state, there are 35 research centers and departments focused on nanobiotechnology, ranging from N.C. AT State University to UNC Charlotte. At East Carolina University, a team of medical, pharmacology and toxicology experts have developed a national reputation in nanotoxicology. Additionally, a 2009 report by nanotech trade publication “Small Times” placed N.C. State University third in the nation for nanotech commercialization and UNC-Chapel Hill as fifth. NCSU also was 10th in nanotech research.

There are also more than 40 nanobiotechnology companies across the state – driving innovation in drug delivery, drug discovery and advanced medical technology. One of the companies, Liquidia, was founded in 2004 by Joseph DeSimone and his colleagues at UNC-Chapel Hill, and based on his research in material science and drug delivery. Liquidia just received a $10 million investment from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to bolster the development of safer and more effective vaccines and therapeutics.

Blue Nano, an international nanomaterials manufacturer headquartered in Charlotte, produces large quantities of high quality nanomaterials for customers in the United States, Europe and Asia for use in clean energy products like solar cells, lithium ion batteries and fuel cell catalysts. They also serve the medical, automotive and electronics sectors among others.

To support companies like Liquidia and Blue Nano and to position North Carolina to be a national leader, the Center for Innovation of Nanobiotechnology was established in 2009. Much like the N.C. Biotechnology Center established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1981, COIN helps connect a network of entrepreneurial companies with the resources they need to thrive – including a supportive regulatory environment and investor and client introductions. This intentional industry-building has paid off significantly for the N.C. Biotech Center – positioning our state as one of the national leaders in biotech. With more than 500 companies employing more than 58,000 employees, the industry generates more than $64 billion in economic activity (a nice return for the $1.2 billion the state has invested in the past 10 years).

The nanobiotechnology sector holds similar potential. But according to Griffith Kundahl, COIN’s executive director, there are three critical strategies that the state needs to realize in order to reach this potential. This includes creating a workforce at the community college level skilled in electron microscopy and the other tools integral to nanotech growth; investing in improved capabilities and infrastructure, like nanomaterial characterization laboratories (that allow companies to test new nano-tech combinations more quickly and cheaply without having to send them out of state); and pairing these effective nanotechnologies with the state’s industrial and academic strengths in areas such as manufacturing, biotech, agriculture, textiles, aerospace and environmental health and safety.

Kundahl says, “if executed in a timely fashion, North Carolina will garner its well-deserved share of this trillion dollar market.” No small potatoes for our state’s economic future.

Article source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/04/01/1968253/nc-positioned-to-be-leader-in.html