Harrisburg University of Science and Technology is not a normal school. Perhaps it’s just ahead of its time.
The university’s stated mission is to produce graduates with enough skill and experience in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to succeed in the knowledge economy.
But that’s not so unique these days. What really sets HU apart from other tech-centered schools is a concentrated effort to generate economic opportunities for the capital region by involving the business community in all aspects of the curriculum.
“When we build our programs we try to think of what skill sets our graduates will need to be employed,” says Eric Darr, HU’s provost and executive vice president. “Our courses are taught by corporate faculty–individuals who work at local businesses–because we want people that will think with us in the design of the curriculum, so it’s applicable to the real world.”
Keith Chase, vice president and planning practice leader for Gannett Fleming, an international engineering consulting firm based in Camp Hill, Pa., teaches an introductory business course at the university.
“I do a fair amount of training as part of my job at Gannett and always like to do that sort of thing with groups, so I decided to teach at Harrisburg University,” says Chase. “I use a textbook to teach the class, but I also combine it with my own business experience.”
In addition to its corporate faculty, the university also partners with companies to create educational programs and internships tailored to the workforce needs of the capital region.
For example, GeoDecisions, a subsidiary of Gannett Fleming, supported the development of Harrisburg University’s geographic and geo-spatial program by designing and teaching much of the curriculum.
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“In return, GeoDecisions has had multiple interns [from Harrisburg University], and they are filling full-time positions that historically have been hard to recruit for and probably would have gone to another part of the country,” says Darr.
As an urban campus, Harrisburg University is leveraging existing area establishments and resources, building a stronger connection between the school and the region.
“We embrace that we are part of the fabric of the city,” Darr says. “There is no need for us to have a cafeteria and meal plan when there is a food court 50 yards from where we are located and lots of restaurants downtown for our students to enjoy. There are also plenty of housing opportunities around the city, and we don’t have to build banks and post offices because they are already right here. From an educational cost perspective, this benefits our students because we don’t have to pass along these overhead expenses to them.” 
The school’s soon-to-be-completed $73 million academic center has layouts and features that will help prepare students for the working world. All of the rooms will be flexible in their design and furnishings, so that they can support traditional lectures, group work, or presentations. The classrooms will also be equipped with multiple plasma screens and cameras, and the labs will have enough stations for each student to conduct experiments. The twelfth and thirteenth floors will be combined into a two-story space so that students can see what other majors are working on, which the university hopes will create an interdisciplinary learning environment.
“We embrace generating economic opportunities,” says Darr. “We are hopeful that our university can attract small and medium businesses to Central Pennsylvania.”
As both businessman and university instructor, Chase sees the university as an important asset to the future growth of the region. “They are building bridges between academia and businesses, and they need to be built.”
Sarah Cooper Bobersky is a freelance writer who hopes she will one day fulfill the wishes of her family and friends by writing a book about all of her adventures. Send feedback here.
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Photos:
Students Christopher DeLong and Rachel El-Emourli perform DNA extraction research
Students in chemistry lab
Robert Scaer of GeoDecisions with students
All Photos Courtesy of Harrisburg University