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NC State student John Tucker is a disciple of NC State.  No, it’s not a religion, but Tucker is passionate about the place.  He gets it when I close my blogs with Passion Rules!  Last week I asked people to comment about our marketing efforts here on campus and Tucker had a lot to say. Good stuff, all.  He even produced his own version of an NC State television commercial.  More good stuff.

Whether you agree with him or not, for John Tucker, Passion Rules!  See his comments and television commercial below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIMu2Dz0×4U

The current NC State commercials aren’t REALLY NC State. Ask a student what they think of the commercials- they’re ostly used as punch lines to jokes (Nano what?). To most people those commercials feel just that- too commercialized. The best way to sell something is to connect a certain feeeling and emotion to the product that way everytime that person has that certain feeling, it reminds them of the product (NC State). Yes, the bridge commercial is high tech and nice, but it doesn’t create a connection to the consumer. They are great commercials, to air during a TED talk or on the History Channel. [Read more →]

By Randy Woodson

Public universities like N.C. State are critical to the nation’s ability to maintain its edge in the global economy. They are especially important to states like North Carolina where emerging technologies and innovation are rapidly replacing more traditional economic models.  In an area like the Research Triangle that is heavily dependant on technology and innovation for its continued success, they are even more important.

NC State is an institution that has a clear understanding of its mission and a passion for connecting that mission to the people of the state and the nation.  It serves as an economic engine for the area and it helps train the workers of tomorrow.  The state’s continued support of higher education is critical if we’re to continue meeting those expectations.

An analysis of the latest available data indicates the economic impact of N.C. State and its alumni in the local economy totals about $4.2 billion annually.  We are also responsible for the creation of around 64,000 jobs. That’s approximately 20 percent of the Wake County workforce. [Read more →]

by Anna Rzewnicki

Been thinking a lot about university branding lately.  With a new Chancellor on board and his vision starting to crystallize, hard to fight the urge to put his words into message form.  Wouldn’t it be great if there was something simple and all encompassing like We Fulfill Dreams or The Gator Nation.

Budgets are another concern.  Is this the right time to spend a significant amount of dough on a new TV commercial for use on the network broadcast of Wolfpack athletic events.

Between us communicators, I’m not sure.

I keep coming back to two themes;  North Carolina’s University or We all go to NC State.  It may have been a while since you’ve seen the last one, but it’s pretty good! Could even be better.

Teachers go there for inspiration

Business leaders go there for the vision

Kids go there for heroes

Working people go there for the opportunity

When the stakes are high and the dreams are big,

And the world we build for our children depends on how we answer some very tough questions.

We all go to N.C. State!

Full of pride and passion. Full of aspiration and promise. Still fresh after all these years.  What do you think?  A tweak here and there, and off we go…to NC State…in 3D!!!

Passion Rules!

1 of Many

Jeff Braden’s comments regarding a recent letter to the editor in the N&O has generated quite a bit of discussion.  Some loved it.  Some not.  Jeff wanted to point out that the editors had to delete a paragraph from his original letter — we can only assume — to make it fit.  Too bad.  The graph was a good one.

Here, in it’s entirety, is Jeff’s letter.  Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Passion Rules!

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Too bad the writer of the letter “shocks from the left”  didn’t do their homework before turning in the essay.  The  refrain is familiar—that leftist, liberal professors force students to read popular anti-American screeds under the guise of required summer readings for incoming freshmen. She seizes on this summer’s reading selections at Duke, UNC-CH, and NC State as proof of that liberal conspiracy, declaring “college faculty” select titles “to persuade young people to reject everything they thought was good.” [Read more →]

CHASS Dean Jeff Braden had a letter to the editor in the N&O over the weekend in response to a letter earlier in the week criticizing the summer reading materials at N.C. State, Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill.  My hat’s off to Jeff.  He calls ’em as he sees ’em and he’s not afraid to challenge conventional wisdom, be it to the left or right. 

Eric Ferreri highlights Braden’s letter and the letter he countered in his News & Observer Blog, Campus Notes.

A point/counterpoint on liberalism in academia

http://tinyurl.com/237osvh

How cool is that.  Two NC State women will be among the first females to serve on submarines, the United States Navy announced yesterday.

Midshipman Megan Bittner, 22, from Chesapeake, Va., and Officer Candidate Karen Achtyl, 25, from Rochester, N.Y. will be commissioned as ensigns in the U. S. Navy on May 14. On May 15, the two students will graduate from North Carolina State, Magna Cum Laude. Bittner will graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering with a concentration in Green Chemistry and Engineering and a minor in Naval Science. Achtyl will graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Business Management.

Following their commissioning and graduation on May 15, Bittner and Achtyl will attend Nuclear Power School in Charleston, S. C., before being assigned their first submarine.

“I don’t believe the Navy could have picked two finer females to pioneer the entrance of females in the submarine community,” said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Timothy Nichols, executive officer of the North Carolina Piedmont Region NROTC consortium, which includes Duke University, the University of North Carolina and N.C. State.

“These are two outstanding midshipmen and the perfect candidates to be officers and leaders in the submarine force. They are both ready and eager to start their Navy careers.”

[Read more →]

Anybody who follows HiceSchool knows I like to preach about the impact for-profit universities will have on our business.  Well, I’m doing it again.

Last night Frontline on PBS featured “College Inc.”  The program was all about the growth of for-profit universities.  Unfortunately, it was not a balanced report.  IMHO, the reporter went in with an agenda and it was evident throughout; For-profit universities aren’t real universities and they are taking advantage of the huddled masses yearning to breath free.  He also seemed to pooh pooh the need to spend money marketing higher education.  God help us.

The for-profit institutions are filling a need that is unmet by today’s state and private universities.  All told, they have millions of students and they spend hundreds of millions of dollars promoting the importance of higher education in today’s economy.  I don’t understand what’s wrong with that.

There are issues, to be sure, but it’s a young industry and it will change the face of higher education in our lifetimes.  It will get better.  The bad will disappear and the good will prosper.  Take that PBS.

If you didn’t have a chance to see the show, check it out below.  It’s worth a watch, but remember, don’t believe everything you see on TV.  Don’t believe everything you read at HiceSchool.com either.

Passion Rules!

1 of Many

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/collegeinc/