Optimizing University-Wide Corporate Engagement

Task force charged by Chancellor Woodson has provided strategic recommendations to streamline and enhance corporate engagement across the university — positioning NC State for continued future success.

Chancellor’s Charge

To best position NC State for the future, Chancellor Woodson launched an internal task force to optimize university-wide corporate engagement. The Corporate Relations Task Force was charged with creating a more collaborative model for industry partnerships and corporate relations that aligns roles and responsibilities across the university, while defining appropriate goals and success measures.

Associate Vice Chancellor for Partnerships Mark Schmidt served as chair of the task force, which consisted of internal stakeholders representing relevant functions throughout NC State. Strategic recommendations have been finalized and implementation is underway. Additional background, including how these efforts will enhance the university’s corporate engagement, are highlighted below.

Current Landscape

NC State is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in building impactful collaborations with industry, government and nonprofit organizations. The university’s 1,200-acre Centennial Campus — one of the nation’s largest and most successful university research parks — serves as a proving ground for many of these partnerships. The campus is home to more than 70 partner organizations who employ well over 5,000 workers. In addition, 3,000 NC State students have been hired by Centennial Campus partners in recent years. The expansion of Centennial continues with the planned 30-acre mixed-use innovation development, which will be completed in phases over the next decade.

NC State has developed highly-effective partnerships with a variety of corporations and foundations, including large-scale strategic initiatives with ABB, Eastman, LexisNexis, the Novo Nordisk Foundation and Under Armour, among many others. A significant number of these partners have their largest (and in some cases only) investment in a U.S. research university with NC State.

One of the key drivers of this success is the Office of Partnerships, which serves as NC State’s central hub for connecting the private sector with university assets.

A Proven Model

NC State’s Office of Partnerships was established in the early days of Centennial Campus development and has been a key contributor to the growth of 200 industry, government and nonprofit partnerships across the university. Having this dedicated entry point for companies has been instrumental in NC State’s ability to effectively partner across disciplines and industry sectors.

An overal photo of NC State’s Centennial Campus. Photo by Marc Hall

Corporate Relations Task Force

To facilitate the task force’s work, Segal Consulting — a national consulting firm specializing in organizational effectiveness — was selected to provide a third-party, objective evaluation. In addition, Segal has extensive experience leading transformational initiatives for other top higher education institutions.

Over the course of several months, the Corporate Relations Task Force deployed a planning framework that included goals, imperatives, strategies and actions. The group also enlisted industry professional organizations and experts to explore best practices and benchmark how other leading universities have structured their approach to advancing corporate partnerships.

Task Force Members:

Carrie Bhada – Assistant Vice Chancellor, University Development
Chris Boyer – Assistant Vice Chancellor, Strategic Brand Management
Srinath Ekkad, Ph.D. – Department Head, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Wade Fulghum – Assistant Vice Chancellor, New Ventures
Genevieve Garland, Ph.D. – Senior Associate Vice Chancellor, Research Development and Operations, and Chief of Staff, Office of Research and Innovation
David Hinks, Ph.D. – Dean, Wilson College of Textiles
Alicia Knight – Senior Associate Vice Chancellor, Office of Finance and Administration
Adrian Percy, Ph.D. – Executive Director, Plant Sciences Initiative
Mark Schmidt, Ph.D. – Associate Vice Chancellor, Partnerships

Key Takeaways and Recommendations

The Corporate Relations Task Force developed the following partnership vision for NC State:

To be widely recognized as the leading land-grant university for partnering with industry, government and nonprofit entities, propelling extraordinary economic growth throughout the region, state, nation and world.

The group recognized that a central hub is necessary to lead and execute a university-wide corporate engagement strategy. Citing the Office of Partnership’s proven record, the task force reaffirmed the unit’s role to serve in leading and managing industry partnerships across NC State. Additional recommendations to support the central hub’s work include:

Serve as a convener and facilitator, establishing and managing a process for efficient and effective university-wide corporate engagement.
Streamline partnership opportunities and ensure alignment among multiple internal stakeholders.
In support of the Wolfpack 2030 Strategic Plan, oversee the development and management of comprehensive partnership impact metrics and benchmarking.
Implement a coordinated strategy for securing new opportunities and growing existing collaborations.

Implementation

Working with Segal, the Office of Partnerships helped finalize the task force’s key findings. Implementation of these recommendations, called the Partner Engagement Strategy, also includes the establishment of a Principals Committee and Workgroup. Working alongside Mark Schmidt, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Partnerships Dawn Mason is leading the strategy’s ongoing roll out in collaboration with the Principals Committee and Workgroup.

To learn more about the Partner Engagement Strategy, click here.