Solutions in Action

After the 2007 Forum, IEI convened its Business Committee on Higher Education (BCHE) to answer the clarion call for a continued dialogue between business and higher education. The committee was co-chaired by Ann Goodnight of SAS and Bob Ingram of GlaxoSmithKline, and was charged with connecting the transformation of higher education with current and future workforce development needs.

The BCHE’s recommendations have since been adopted in full by the UNC Tomorrow Commission and were unanimously approved by the UNC Board of Governors in January 2008. The UNC Tomorrow Initiative is now in the Implementation Phase, in which all UNC campuses are required to incorporate the Commission’s recommendations into their missions, programs and curricula.

IEI’s role at this stage in the transformation of higher education is to support the outreach efforts of its BCHE members as well as provide support to any partnerships that stem from them. One such partnership is with the NC Business Committee for Education (NCBCE) in the Governors office, which met with the BCHE co-chairs to discuss how it could best respond to the BCHE’s recommendations that specifically impact K-12 education in some way.

As transformation of North Carolina’s institutions of higher education progresses, IEI will continue to monitor the education landscape, provide support and offer guidance when needed. With such a transformation well underway, IEI is confident that North Carolina will retain its competitive advantage.