Economic future of the region a major focus for WCU leaders: university officials see critical need to link education with entrepreneurship, engagement and innovation.

There was a time when an institution of higher education was regarded as an ivory tower, involved in research and esoteric scholarship with little relevance to the rest of the world. How times have changed! At Western Carolina University, one of 16 campuses in the University of North Carolina system, the focus is on direct engagement with the community and service to the region and the state. As Chancellor John W. Bardo says, "We need to reframe our educational enterprise to address the fundamental, core changes in the expectations of society regarding higher education," and Western is making great progress.

In an essay written with Paul Evans, director of Western's Institute for the Economy and the Future, Bardo says, "Knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship must now be at the forefront of state and regional economic policy considerations. Long seen as an important tool for advancement of communities and regions, higher education must now become a full partner in formulating and implementing state and regional competitiveness strategies."

A significant example of Western's response to this challenge is the recent appointment of a group of senior policy fellows who will assist the university in crafting a long-range plan for regional growth in Western North Carolina. They are Alphonse Buccino, a technology consultant who has worked at the National Science Foundation and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Maj. Gen. Geoff Higginbotham, a retired Marine who served during the Vietnam War and Desert Storm; Daniel Ostergaard, former executive director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Advisory Council; work-force development authority Arnold Packer, who has worked with the U.S. Department of Labor; William T. Thompkins Jr., an expert in information-technology development and management; Alan Z. Thornburg, former N.C. Court of Appeals judge; and Robert Warshaw, former U.S. deputy drug czar.

"With the announcement that these distinguished and highly skilled leaders have agreed to serve as senior policy fellows at the IEF, we have taken a very important step in meeting our commitment to build a regional think tank with capacities for rigorous research and economic base analysis that can help Western North Carolina prosper," Bardo says. "I am deeply appreciative of the willingness of so many highly qualified individuals to give us the benefit of their expertise and time."

Among the fellows' endeavors will be...