“Building a strong economy is a collaborative effort of the public and private sectors, including all businesses and educational institutions.”
Larry Mosley, Director for the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation
“Nevada needs to refocus its view of education and secure top-down endorsement when it comes to advocating the importance of education,” says Charlie Nguyen, director of the Las Vegas campus of the University of Phoenix. Nguyen is mounting a campaign to bring businesses, educational institutions and community leaders together to begin a dialogue about the challenges facing Nevada.
“We’re not pro-education as a state,” he declares, and statistics that consistently place Nevada near the bottom of national rankings prove him right. In fact, Nevada had the lowest high school graduation rate in the country with 47.3 percent, according to Education Week’s Diplomas Count study released last summer.
Rather than placing blame, Nguyen realizes that no one group can singlehandedly change these grim statistics. Setting an ambitious goal, he is enlisting cooperation from all critical stakeholders in Nevada with a vested interest in education to bring issues to the forefront, and present them to policymakers. K-12 schools and the higher education system, which regularly compete for their share of a shrinking education budget, will be encouraged to work together. Public and private higher education institutions would cooperate to bring their unique perspectives to the table. According to recent research, partnerships between public and private institutions have proven to be beneficial in finding solutions for industries such as healthcare, transportation, technology and development.
Nguyen, who is passionate about education, is in a unique position to bring community leaders and educators together. Although the University of Phoenix is a private university, it is accredited by the same regional accreditation body as UNLV and UNR; in fact, a large number of University of Phoenix’s faculty also teaches at one of the public institutions. Even though the University does not depend on taxpayer dollars for support, Nguyen deals with the same challenges faced by other private companies in this economy, and he understands the business point of view. “As a University, first and foremost, our goal is to deliver a quality education to students,” he says. “Whether people choose to go to University of Phoenix, a technical school or a state university, at the end of the day, education changes lives for the better and that’s the goal we all need to work toward together.”
Although the University of Phoenix is focused on helping working adults reach educational goals, Nguyen recognizes that Nevada needs to “go back to the drawing board” and promote education as early as possible in a child’s life. A healthy and supportive learning environment that begins in pre-kindergarten should carry through K-12, to high school and beyond.
Education not only affects an individual’s success in life, but it also plays a vital role in the state’s economic development. Companies look at education from two different perspectives. First, employees and executives want their children to attend a quality school system and receive a first-rate education. In addition, the presence of an educated workforce, and an opportunity for education advancement, is an increasingly important factor for companies deciding whether to establish a presence in Nevada.
“We can’t attract employers to the state if we don’t have a diversified talent pool, and we won’t have that without education,” Nguyen notes. “One of the problems that exists is a disconnect between what employers need and what public officials perceive they need.” By enlisting the help of the business community, Nguyen hopes to increase awareness of this disconnect and work together to bring both sides closer to delivering meaningful solutions to Nevada’s education and economic landscape.