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MAY 11, 2020
In April 2020, Hayes Group Consulting reached out to economic development leaders in higher education, on Main Street, and in local and regional roles to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and how it’s impacting their work. We asked them to share strategies and techniques that are helping them during this crisis and to look into their crystal balls to tell us what they believe some lasting impacts could be.
Colleges and universities were among the first major organizations to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic that has all but brought our economy to a halt. Most people think of the impact on traditional students, those kids who are lugging backpacks across campus to get to their classroom or lab on time. But beyond the traditional students and their faculty and staff lies a host of other ways universities have felt the strain of this crisis.
Jolie Busby is the associate director of non-credit programs in the Continuing and Professional Education (CPE) department under the Office of Academic Outreach at East Carolina University. Her job centers around exclusively non-credit continuing education, working with professional development opportunities and seminars.
Indeed, Busby works with Hayes Group Consulting often as ECU has partnered with us for two economic development programs: Economic Development Honors Seminar, a four-hour economic development 101 for communities around the state; and the North Carolina Certified Economic Developer Program, a series of on-campus seminars that certify attendees as economic developers for the state of North Carolina. The third session was scheduled for April, but was canceled and rescheduled for the fall.
These seminars and the education conferences Busby’s team is charged with operating make up a huge portion of CPE’s programming and nearly all have been postponed or canceled. “Every thing is on pause and we don’t even know when events will be rescheduled,” said Busby.
Busby’s unit serves the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Career and Technical Education program which holds holds a large-scale summer conference with more than 2,000 school teachers in July. This summer was to be the first time CPE would handle the planning and execution of the entire event. At the time of this interview, plans were still moving forward, but Busby was certainly concerned. If this conference gets canceled, it would equal a loss of revenue for the university and a major loss to teachers needing continuing education and professional development. (Busby has since been pleased to report the entire conference has been pivoted to a virtual platform, giving North Carolina’s K-12 CTE teachers access to continuing education this summer.)
Busby’s concern went farther than the implications to the university. Her team plans many conferences plans many conferences, Busby has formed relationships with hotel staff, caterers, venue operators, etc. The impact is far-reaching, leaving hotels, restaurants, and venues with no staff. Attempts to continue planning for the summer conference were challenged when learning normal contacts had been furloughed.
Jolie Busby, Associate Director Non-Credit Programs at East Carolina University
Busby was quick to credit her strong team is the biggest factor in getting through this crisis (with teleworking platforms a close second!). In fact, “strong team” was a theme throughout our interviews. It seemed as though the stronger the subject’s team was deemed to be, the better they were handling all this uncertainty and change.
Cultivating a strong team that works really well together, something Busby spoke a lot about, seems to have made the transition from being physically together each work day to virtually meeting and teleworking a much smoother process. It seems, according to Busby, keeping the lines of communication open and becoming quick experts in virtual meeting technology are key to maintaining a positive outlook on work and keeping employee morale high.
Unlike the majority of organizations and communities adapting to this new workplace normal, ECU already had their own virtual platforms and technologies at their disposal. The faculty and staff at ECU didn’t have quite the learning curve many employers and employees faced when they could no longer just walk to the conference room for a meeting.
Busby isn’t finding herself becoming complacent or getting used to the new normal. She recognizes the craziness and change that happened from the initial COVID-19 fallout will likely happen all over again with a fast and furious return to normal. “This won’t be a slide back in,” she said, “we can’t let it catch us off guard.”
Wayne County Development Alliance hosted an Economic Development Honors Seminar in 2019
At the time of writing this, 4,234 higher education institutions have been impacted by the pandemic with 25,798,790 students affected. Thus far, 11 institutions have already changed plans for Fall 2020 and four have permanently closed. All of these figures are according to entangled.solutions.
There’s no doubt closing a university, suspending athletic events, sending students home and canceling seminars has a lasting impact on the organization itself, but what could the impacts be to the larger community and region?
According to Brookings, average incomes within a city increase 89 cents for every one dollar increase in university spending for an overall multiplier effect of 1.9. Per ECU’s own economic impact report, university operations increased personal income in eastern North Carolina by $822,090,377; increased gross regional product output by $1,706,114,180; and supported 18,651 jobs. These figures don’t include student or visitor spending either.
ECU tracked visitor information from 2016-2018 and included people who came to campus for athletic and arts events, graduation ceremonies, campus tours, orientations and medical visitors. Nearly 1.2 million visitors to ECU increased personal income in eastern North Carolina by $54,832,137. It’s simple to connect the closure of ECU with major regional impacts.
As for longer impacts, we asked Busby to share her thoughts on how COVID-19 will change the world. She predicts the biggest changes will be political, forever changing how we view leadership based on how this crisis was handled. She thinks we will have to spend time rebuilding trust with each other and reflecting on our own crisis management.
Busby predicts societal protocols will be very different. Specifically, Busby is “hoping the entire nation comes out really appreciating our teachers.” That sound you hear? That’s the collective “amen” from every parent-turned-homeschool-teacher agreeing!
Looking for ways to support your college or university in today’s world? Consider giving to their student emergency fund.
Jolie Busby is Associate Director Non-Credit Programs at East Carolina University. She has been in the higher education field since 2004. This August will mark her third year working at ECU.
https://rede.ecu.edu/wp-content/pv-uploads/sites/628/2018/04/2019ECUEconomicImpactReport.pdf
https://news.ecu.edu/coronavirus-updates/
https://www.entangled.solutions/coronavirus-he/
https://www.industryweek.com/technology-and-iiot/article/21129334/what-will-manufacturings-new-normal-be-after-covid19
https://www.wipfli.com/insights/articles/mad-covid-life-after-covid-19-manufacturing-changes
MAY 11, 2020
In April 2020, Hayes Group Consulting reached out to economic development leaders in higher education, on Main Street, and in local and regional roles to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and how it’s impacting their work. We asked them to share strategies and techniques that are helping them during this crisis and to look into their crystal balls to tell us what they believe some lasting impacts could be.
Colleges and universities were among the first major organizations to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic that has all but brought our economy to a halt. Most people think of the impact on traditional students, those kids who are lugging backpacks across campus to get to their classroom or lab on time. But beyond the traditional students and their faculty and staff lies a host of other ways universities have felt the strain of this crisis.
Jolie Busby is the associate director of non-credit programs in the Continuing and Professional Education (CPE) department under the Office of Academic Outreach at East Carolina University. Her job centers around exclusively non-credit continuing education, working with professional development opportunities and seminars.
Indeed, Busby works with Hayes Group Consulting often as ECU has partnered with us for two economic development programs: Economic Development Honors Seminar, a four-hour economic development 101 for communities around the state; and the North Carolina Certified Economic Developer Program, a series of on-campus seminars that certify attendees as economic developers for the state of North Carolina. The third session was scheduled for April, but was canceled and rescheduled for the fall.
These seminars and the education conferences Busby’s team is charged with operating make up a huge portion of CPE’s programming and nearly all have been postponed or canceled. “Every thing is on pause and we don’t even know when events will be rescheduled,” said Busby.
Busby’s unit serves the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Career and Technical Education program which holds holds a large-scale summer conference with more than 2,000 school teachers in July. This summer was to be the first time CPE would handle the planning and execution of the entire event. At the time of this interview, plans were still moving forward, but Busby was certainly concerned. If this conference gets canceled, it would equal a loss of revenue for the university and a major loss to teachers needing continuing education and professional development. (Busby has since been pleased to report the entire conference has been pivoted to a virtual platform, giving North Carolina’s K-12 CTE teachers access to continuing education this summer.)
Busby’s concern went farther than the implications to the university. Her team plans many conferences plans many conferences, Busby has formed relationships with hotel staff, caterers, venue operators, etc. The impact is far-reaching, leaving hotels, restaurants, and venues with no staff. Attempts to continue planning for the summer conference were challenged when learning normal contacts had been furloughed.
Jolie Busby, Associate Director Non-Credit Programs at East Carolina University
Busby was quick to credit her strong team is the biggest factor in getting through this crisis (with teleworking platforms a close second!). In fact, “strong team” was a theme throughout our interviews. It seemed as though the stronger the subject’s team was deemed to be, the better they were handling all this uncertainty and change.
Cultivating a strong team that works really well together, something Busby spoke a lot about, seems to have made the transition from being physically together each work day to virtually meeting and teleworking a much smoother process. It seems, according to Busby, keeping the lines of communication open and becoming quick experts in virtual meeting technology are key to maintaining a positive outlook on work and keeping employee morale high.
Unlike the majority of organizations and communities adapting to this new workplace normal, ECU already had their own virtual platforms and technologies at their disposal. The faculty and staff at ECU didn’t have quite the learning curve many employers and employees faced when they could no longer just walk to the conference room for a meeting.
Busby isn’t finding herself becoming complacent or getting used to the new normal. She recognizes the craziness and change that happened from the initial COVID-19 fallout will likely happen all over again with a fast and furious return to normal. “This won’t be a slide back in,” she said, “we can’t let it catch us off guard.”
Wayne County Development Alliance hosted an Economic Development Honors Seminar in 2019
At the time of writing this, 4,234 higher education institutions have been impacted by the pandemic with 25,798,790 students affected. Thus far, 11 institutions have already changed plans for Fall 2020 and four have permanently closed. All of these figures are according to entangled.solutions.
There’s no doubt closing a university, suspending athletic events, sending students home and canceling seminars has a lasting impact on the organization itself, but what could the impacts be to the larger community and region?
According to Brookings, average incomes within a city increase 89 cents for every one dollar increase in university spending for an overall multiplier effect of 1.9. Per ECU’s own economic impact report, university operations increased personal income in eastern North Carolina by $822,090,377; increased gross regional product output by $1,706,114,180; and supported 18,651 jobs. These figures don’t include student or visitor spending either.
ECU tracked visitor information from 2016-2018 and included people who came to campus for athletic and arts events, graduation ceremonies, campus tours, orientations and medical visitors. Nearly 1.2 million visitors to ECU increased personal income in eastern North Carolina by $54,832,137. It’s simple to connect the closure of ECU with major regional impacts.
As for longer impacts, we asked Busby to share her thoughts on how COVID-19 will change the world. She predicts the biggest changes will be political, forever changing how we view leadership based on how this crisis was handled. She thinks we will have to spend time rebuilding trust with each other and reflecting on our own crisis management.
Busby predicts societal protocols will be very different. Specifically, Busby is “hoping the entire nation comes out really appreciating our teachers.” That sound you hear? That’s the collective “amen” from every parent-turned-homeschool-teacher agreeing!
Looking for ways to support your college or university in today’s world? Consider giving to their student emergency fund.
Jolie Busby is Associate Director Non-Credit Programs at East Carolina University. She has been in the higher education field since 2004. This August will mark her third year working at ECU.
https://rede.ecu.edu/wp-content/pv-uploads/sites/628/2018/04/2019ECUEconomicImpactReport.pdf
https://news.ecu.edu/coronavirus-updates/
https://www.entangled.solutions/coronavirus-he/
https://www.industryweek.com/technology-and-iiot/article/21129334/what-will-manufacturings-new-normal-be-after-covid19
https://www.wipfli.com/insights/articles/mad-covid-life-after-covid-19-manufacturing-changes
Hayes Group Consulting LLC are economic and community development strategists dedicated to helping governments, non-profits, and entire communities thrive in a changing, competitive environment.
©2024 Hayes Group Consulting. All rights reserved.
©2024 Hayes Group Consulting. All rights reserved.
