Interdependence Connects Area Colleges and Universities to the Business Community

by David Smale

 

There's an old adage in business that says “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” It never made it very far beyond the “old adage” stage, because it’s not entirely true.

It’s not that connections don’t matter; because having the right connection can get you in the door when it might not have been possible otherwise. But once you take advantage of the connection, you had better know how to operate in that particular arena. If you don’t, you’ll be looking for someone else you know real quickly.

That speaks to the role that higher education plays in the preparation of the region’s workforce. Without many of the area colleges and universities, the business community would not be able to function with the precision that it currently does.

At the same time, connection with the business community, through prominent alumni and business leaders who are active supporters or who serve on various institutional boards, benefits the colleges and universities themselves.

The list of business leaders who maintain an energetic connection to their favorite schools is impressive. It looks a lot like the “Power Elite” featured from Ingram’s each April. There are bankers, attorneys, politicians and entrepreneurs. They run business. They represent our regular readers.

Every area college or university is represented in business by CEOs, managing partners and presidents. The business leaders serve on boards of trustees, advisory councils and presidents’ commissions. And each one is quick to tell you of the advantages that the school they represent has that gives it an edge in business.

 

Programs

“William Jewell College has a unique program called the Pryor Leadership Fellows,” said Pryor Resources founder Fred Pryor, who serves on the William Jewell Board of Trustees. “It is an academic program that is experience-based. It teaches leadership theory and helps you learn about the strengths and weaknesses of your own leadership style.”

Pittsburg State University is strong in construction sciences, which helps that school have an impact in the booming construction industry in metro Kansas City, according to alum Ron Freeman, who made his name running after ballcarriers as a nose tackle for the football team at Pitt State in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and then running for Congress a few years ago.

Lenexa Mayor Mike Boehm points to the master’s program in public administration at the University of Kansas. “It has provided post-graduate degree opportunities for members of our management team, regardless of their position with the city,” he said. “In addition, over the years, we have employed a significant number of MPA interns, which have provided a significant resource to the community at a very reasonable value.”

MidAmerica Nazarene University partners with the Olathe Chamber of Commerce to help recruit students to the Olathe-based campus. “They have a plan that works through the chamber that benefits anyone who desires to enroll in higher education,” said Don Bell, owner of Security Savings Bank and a member of the MANU Board of Trustees.

With the number and quality of engineering and architecture firms in Kansas City, Kansas State University’s engineering program has a large impact, according to K-State alum and KSU Foundation Board member Kevin Honomichl, President of Brungardt Honomichl & Co. “They produce new civil engineers that are not only technically sound, but have enhanced teamwork and project management skills.”

Baker University partners with a Topeka hospital to deliver its nursing degree. Trustee Andrew Blossom, a Partner with KPMG, says, “This partnership helps to make sure that the nursing program is top-notch and also serves as a ready employer for the graduate. I’m not sure Baker would have had the financial resources to initiate its nursing program without such a partnership.”

These are just a few examples of specific programs that help the business community and, in most cases, are helped by the business community.

 

Partnerships

Partnerships with colleges and universities help the business community “to assure that it is producing quality students who will be successful in the workplace,” said Michelle Wimes, a Partner with the law firm Spencer Fane Britt & Browne and a new member of the Central Missouri State University Board of Directors.

Charles Wheeler, the former Mayor of Kansas City and now a State Senator in Missouri, notes that business leaders can learn about other industries that may be collateral to theirs by serving on college or university boards with other business leaders. In his various governmental roles, Wheeler has been active in the activities of the Metropolitan Community Colleges. He also owned a laboratory services company and relied quite heavily on two-year graduates from MCC.

“If the business leader is supporting the school, it can support him or her with programs that the business needs,” Wheeler said. “It can be a two-way street. MCC is a classic example of an urban undergraduate institution.”

Boehm notes that business leaders who take an active role in the ongoing function of the school can serve as instructors. Lucky DeFries, a Partner with the Topeka law firm of Coffman, DeFries & Nothern and a third-generation Trustee at Ottawa University, adds the fact that businesses sometimes have resources that the colleges don’t have at their disposal.

“In-kind contributions, like equipment the university might be able to use,” is just as good as the adjacent financial contributions, according to DeFries. “In the case of Ottawa, given its extensive adult education programs located not only in Kansas City but in other locations around the country, the business community can provide advice as to the courses that will best meet the needs of the business community’s employees.”

Larry McMullen, a Partner with Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin and an alumnus of the University of Missouri-Columbia, points out, “informed business leaders likely will support colleges and universities” that support them.

Honomichl agrees. “They’ll contribute to schools when they experience the benefits directly,” he says. “Colleges and universities are able to recruit top students into their system when they can show the direct relationships that they have with employers, and are able to place those students more readily” with those relationships.

Connections with quality business leaders can help the schools’ reputations, according to Blossom. “I believe the reputation of a university is connected to the quality and manner of the board involvement,” he said.

There’s a list of benefits for the schools, according to Mick Aslin, President/CEO of Gold Banc Corporation and a trustee for the University of Missouri-Kansas City. “Funding, a source of speakers from the ‘real world,’ part-time or full-time work for students, referral of students, consulting sources for professors, and the combination of academic and actual experiences all help the schools.”

Area schools are not afraid to take advantage of the connection. McMullen notes that the MU extension office has more than 117,000 educational contacts with Jackson County residents each year.

Thomas McCullough, Executive VP of DST Systems and Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Rockhurst University, says Rockhurst “will engage in extensive discussion with business leaders, both in Kansas City and beyond, to determine the next generation of executive education at Rockhurst.”

Karen Pletz, the President/CEO of the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, also serves on boards for other schools. She is a Trustee for Rockhurst, Benedictine College, the Johnson County Community College Foundation and the Education Dean’s Council at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

“Broad-based support within the business community is a strength or the educational mission,” she said. “Likewise, the educational institution provides an outstanding resource for business leaders. Strong personal relationships in any venue are an asset as they provide linkages to enable better fulfillment of the school’s mission.”

Pletz also notes that the more people know about what the school is doing, the more likely they’ll be to support it. “People who know and believe in what the school is doing become advocates, which can lead to opportunities and to increased financial support,” she said.

Honomichl says financial support is critical to the success of higher education, even for public universities.

“Kansas universities are funded in large part through private contribution and investment, not through public money,” he said. “Therefore universities are increasingly relying upon the development of relationships with business and industry to secure their financial future. The reliance on private funding is a reality, and is a focus of top university leadership and deans. Businesses that have built strong ties with universities, personally and financially, are able to recognize operational benefits.”

Word-of-mouth advocates are just as important in college recruiting as they are in business recruiting, according to Honomichl. “As part of my role as a KSU Foundation Trustee, I provide introductions or leads to the Foundation development staff of people or organizations that would be interested in forging or expanding a relationship with the university.”

And Blossom adds that having the business connection “makes sure that the value of a degree awarded by the university is recognized when a graduate goes into the workforce.”

 

Business Benefits

Most of the focus has been on the benefits to the schools themselves. But there’s definitely a benefit for business. Aslin says it’s downright critical.

“Kansas City needs a first-class research university if it intends to compete in today’s technical and global economy,” he said.

Missouri is that first-class university, according to McMullen. And that helps the students as well as the business community. “Students who are educated at major research universities have had access to outstanding teachers who also are world-class researchers who create knowledge.”

DeFries points to the fact that universities often bring in cultural activities that otherwise may not be available in the community. “The availability of the types of activities that occur on a college campus, whether (it’s) lectures, musical productions, the arts or athletic events, undoubtedly will help attract employees to the community,” he said.

Continuing education, taken advantage of by business leaders at all levels, also is an advantage to the business community with educational ties.

“Many universities allow, and some even require, that professors spend part of their time practicing in industry on an ongoing basis,” Honomichl notes. “These roles can be as expert advisors within an organization providing very specific technical expertise or the latest in operational or technical philosophy. This is a significant mutual benefit since business is able to tap into knowledge resources for their competitive ability; professors are able to apply ‘real-world’ issues to teaching, and through this income supplement, universities are able to retain top faculty talent.”

 

More Than Education

For some schools—and business leaders—the connection is about more than education. Religious schools, like Rockhurst, Benedictine and Mid-America Nazarene, impact the community in a far more important way, according to their supporters.

Pletz points to the partnership between KCUMB and Benedictine that “links medical students to members of the religious communities, teaching medical students how to better appreciate the impact of spirituality on healing and on the experience of terminal illness and death.”

“It’s all about taking back America on the religious freedom it was founded on,” MidAmerica Nazarene Trustee Bell says. “This is another way we can assist. I believe in Christian education at the college level. There are many advantages to the type of environment that a Christian university gives.”

William Jewell, another university that was founded as a Christian college, focuses on the liberal arts, another benefit for the future lives of students, according to Fred Pryor.

“A liberal arts school provides a well-rounded education that can enrich the total life of the student,” he said. “Stress often comes from a limited view of the world. Anything that strengthens the character will ultimately make the worker better for the short and long term.”

So why are the business leaders involved? Sometimes it’s to benefit their businesses. Sometimes it’s loyalty to the school that gave them a chance. Sometimes it’s altruistic. Whatever the reason, there’s no lack of allegiance.

“I am an education lawyer, so I am very interested in governance of schools in general,” Michelle Wimes says.

“I know (Pittsburg State) is involved in supporting alumni long after they graduate,” Ron Freeman says. “There is a true family chemistry that makes a huge difference for students and alumni. People who attend there gain far more than a degree can offer.”

Even if the business leader didn’t attend the school they serves as a board member, there still is a sense of loyalty.

“Schools need some of the board members to have objectivity that not being an alum brings,” Blossom says.

Regardless, the connection is critical.

“By producing workforce-ready graduates, the value of the university is enhanced,” Boehm says. “Education of our young people is the future of our state and community, regardless of allegiances.”