Dr. John Bardo details this university’s innovative model for higher education.

In 2004, hurricanes Frances and Ivan left the small North Carolina mill town of Canton under as much as 12 feet of water. The town’s main commercial district, including the paper mill that employed roughly 1,500 of Canton’s less than 5,000 residents, was devastated.

Dr. John Bardo

Three years later, the paper mill is back up and running, but many of the downtown businesses it supported have not returned; Canton continues to struggle to restore its economy. Now a new entity is extending a helping hand, and its intentions go far beyond using Canton as a photo opportunity.

Western Carolina University, through a grant from a national community-based research program, has established a new initiative, Canton Revitalization: The Aftermath of Disaster. Over the course of three years, faculty and students in WCU’s innovative entrepreneurship program will develop a comprehensive plan to assist the town in its recovery.

The Canton initiative is a prime example of WCU’s emphasis on linking higher education with regional economic development. It’s a vision Dr. John Bardo has been developing at the university since he became chancellor in 1995, and one that could become the model for the future of higher education.

“What’s happened worldwide is, as we’ve globalized and gone to a knowledge-based economy, education has moved from a preparatory function to a function that is right at the center of the nature of the economy,” said Bardo. “In response, we’ve included economic development related activities in our normal teaching, scholarship, and service functions. This is really a key broadening of our normal ways of thinking about universities.”

Regional approach
Founded in 1889 to bring higher education and career opportunities to the western region of North Carolina, WCU is now a member of the University of North Carolina system and home to 9,000 students from 46 states and 39 countries.

Bardo said he wanted to reclaim the university’s original mission when he became chancellor, and he got things rolling when his administrative team created the Center for Regional Development (CRD) to provide broad-based outreach services for regional businesses. The CRD gained traction over the years, and in 2006, it became the Institute for Economy & Future (IEF), a regional think tank specifically focused on targeted economic development strategies.

“The change reflects our growth as an institution and our need to better leverage the intellectual capital and resources of the university to help the region prosper,” Bardo said. “To accomplish that goal, we must address regional priorities in a more strategic fashion. We must create an organized package of ideas and innovation, multi-disciplinary research, and economic outreach to promote regional development.”

As the CRD evolved into the IEF, WCU was also making a push to incorporate technology across its curriculum. In 1997, the university adopted a computing admissions standard—all students were required to bring a networkable computer as a standard for admission. Simultaneously, Bardo and his team worked to expand the institution’s focus on entrepreneurship, creating dedicated major, minor, and graduate entrepreneurship programs as well as a Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

When the University of North Carolina system elected a new president in 2006, WCU’s regional economic development focus got a big boost. Erskine Bowles sent a clear message to Western: grow as a substantial, high-quality regional university that focuses on the development of the region.

“President Bowles fully understands the nature of what we’re trying to accomplish, and he has been very supportive,” Bardo said. “That’s changed the metric for us on what we’re able to do and how quickly we can do it. We’re receiving more support than ever, and the expectations for Western are very, very high.”

Entrepreneurial environment
WCU is not only creating an environment for students to gain real-world entrepreneurial experience while assisting the region’s economy, it’s creating a similar environment for its faculty.
In September, president Bowles approved WCU’s request to implement an innovative faculty reward system. Faculty members who take the time to apply their scholarly activities to help solve problems that face the region will be rewarded with tenure and promotion. Said Bardo, “These are the faculty rewards you would get if you did the traditional work of teaching, research, and service within the walls of the university. Now, we will reward our faculty for doing these things outside the boundaries of our campus.”

Those are boundaries that will expand significantly over the next 30 years as WCU embarks on its Millennial Initiative, a master plan that will double the size of the campus while providing new opportunities for faculty and students to expand partnerships with the private sector and towns in need of help like Canton.

“Worldwide, regions of countries are becoming globally competitive by encouraging interaction between university personnel and non- university personnel,” Bardo said. “So we’re redesigning our physical plant to accommodate and encourage that type of interaction. It’s a different model, but it’s one we believe in, and one that will be good for our students, faculty, and the Western North Carolina region.”