KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Dr. James Hefner, President, Tennessee State University
Greetings from Tennessee State University (TSU).
I welcome you to this conference for a common and critical purpose that affects all HBCUs as we enter the New Millennium. There is a big disparity in technology access and use by a large segment of our society. This disparity is called the "Digital Divide", which is a function mainly of race, education and income; moreover, this divide is increasing.
This societal issue spills onto HBCU campuses primarily in the form of a greater density of technology-underserved students, of which 90% of the undergraduates are African American. As a result, technology infusion within our institutions is no longer an option; it is an absolute necessity for our survival and the success of our most prized clients, our students. In that regard, Tennessee State has made continuous strides in helping to close or "bridge" the digital divide on our campus. For sure, other HBCUs have made similar accomplishments.
At nearly 9000 students in 2000, TSU has experienced a significant increase in enrollment at the same time when other colleges and universities faced declining enrollment. We have achieved this positive outcome by developing new programs and strengthening existing programs aimed at nurturing all students from whatever levels they possessed on arrival. Over 80% of our students qualify for some type of financial aid because of their household incomes below $35,000. This income zone characterizes the most negative impacts of the digital divide within our society.
Concurrently, TSU has made major capital improvements to attract and retain students, such as a new student center, new residence halls; new administrative offices, and a fiber-optic network to support our technology-based vision of the future. TSU reached international notice through the discovery and validation of the first extrasolar planet by one of our scientists operating out of this building (the TSU downtown campus). These and other accomplishments have brought a metamorphosis to our campus and created a major impact on the global community now served by the University.
Nevertheless, TSU and all other HBCUs are entering a new millennium in which there will be ever-increasing demands on our institutions to keep our students aligned to the challenges of the new digital economy; these demands are not negotiable because they arrive from a "minority institution."
Since the "digital divide" surfaces on our campuses in the form of much higher densities of technology-underserved students, we must nurture them from whatever academic or "technology" positions they possess on arrival. This reality presents a unique challenge to our institutions, and this conference is seeking answers that can be implemented by HBCU management.
For example, the theme of this conference, "calibrating the digital divide on HBCU campuses" connotes measuring technology differences between HBCUs and other higher education institutions, and taking positive actions to bridge those differences through crafted plans and strategies. "Calibration" also means we must look within each of our campuses to measure technology differences that negatively affect our students, faculty, staff and management -- and eliminate them expeditiously.
We must conquer these challenges amidst a multitude of impediments and constraints, internal and external, real and perceived. How do we meet the challenges of the Digital Divide on HBCU campuses?
One of the first steps to meet this challenge is to establish accountable platforms to assure that all of our student-graduates are equipped for the digital economy of the future. To do this, we must "calibrate" the high and low points of technology within our campuses to assure a balance of access and use for all students. This vision extends far beyond the optional computer lab use for some students, or the casual use of the Internet by faculty, staff and management, or the occasional use of technology to produce a report.
Further, to meet the challenge of closing the digital divide, we must exploit
technology to enhance the quality of learning of our students, and we must do so
cost effectively.
To meet this challenge, we must assure an academic environment where technology standards are enforced routinely. That is, our students must be able to select from a variety of appropriate technology tools to search for, acquire, analyze and validate data and information, draw conclusions, and then present these outcomes professionally. This mode of technology infusion within HBCU curricula must exist for ALL students, not just those in the sciences.
Equally important, this paradigm for technology access and use must exist for all faculty, staff, and management … (James Hefner included). Our faculty must be motivated to use, and equipped with, the tools to "teach technology" by infusing it into every course.
In order for our faculty to do their jobs, HBCU management must assure strong, visible, and continuous support through well-organized planning and budgeting with a high priority among other institutional issues. Concurrently, we must close the feedback loops between students and their needs, faculty and their needs, and management concerns for both.
But we must also move in synchrony with other higher education institutions into the new technologies, such as Internet 2, distance learning, and forceful applications of this technology to managing our resources wisely.
Very likely, technology needs will fuel tuition and fee increases among an ever-strained student population. Increased competition for human resources will be exacting, as salaries and other incentives for a technology-literate workforce on our campuses will have to increase to remain competitive.
Therefore, we must manage these technology-based outcomes wisely, which means we must calibrate or measure our progress – or the lack thereof -- continually. "One cannot manage what one cannot measure".
To counter the digital divide on our campuses, we must optimize human and technical resources in terms of productivity increases. We must increase our productivity to attract, retain, and graduate the new students of this millennium, especially minority students.
There are, however, ever-present forces that work for and against these challenges. On the negative side, federal funding for research at HBCUs, a dominant source of technology support in the past, has decreased precipitously over the past five years for reasons that are not clear. On the positive side, legislation was recently introduced in the House and Senate to help minority institutions to bridge the digital divide. We are waiting the final outcome of this legislative initiative in the unsettled economic and political climates of today.
To help in the challenges I have just cited, we are thankful for this conference, which moves us closer to our goal of bridging the digital divide on our campus. The AOL Time Warner Foundation, one of the largest media corporations in the world, sponsors this event. Notably, the TSU’s proposal to the Foundation was selected as one of only twelve (12) winners from 900 proposals in a national competition.
From this seminal effort, we are already laying the framework to sustain this initiative with the aid of a larger alliance of stakeholders from industry, government, other foundations, other academia, and our alumni. Our ultimate vision is to keep up the attack on the negative issues of the digital divide, and this conference represents just one battle in this continuing war.
Thank you.
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