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Tech prepares to host high school students for Governor’s Schools on business leadership, emerging technologies
Students listen to a guest speaker at a previous year’s Governor’s School for Technological
Innovation and Business Leadership.
A combined total of roughly 70 rising high school juniors and seniors will call Tennessee
Tech University home for several weeks this summer as the university prepares to host
both the Governor’s School for Technological Innovation and Business Leadership (GSTIBL)
and the Governor’s School for Emerging Technologies (GSET).
Governor’s Schools are funded by the state and each student selected for the highly
competitive program receives a scholarship covering the full cost of tuition, housing
and meals. Tech is one of only three universities in the state to host multiple Governor’s
Schools.
While both Governor’s Schools at Tech begin on June 4, GSTIBL continues through July
1 and GSET concludes on June 24. GSTIBL is led by the College of Business and GSET
is led by the College of Engineering in partnership with the College of Education
& Human Sciences, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Millard Oakley STEM Center
and others.
According to Susan Wells, lecturer in the College of Business and director of GSTIBL,
Governor’s Schools provide students with a unique advantage by allowing them to earn
college credit and get a preview of the university experience while still in high
school.
“They are actually enrolled in the university for four weeks,” said Wells. “They go
to classes, they work on group projects, they meet with an industry person from the
area who is their mentor, and we do fun events with them every evening and weekend.”
Wells, who has been involved with GSTIBL since its launch in 2000 and has served as
its director for the last six years, explains that students at GSTIBL are tasked with
creating a business plan for a technology-based product and working to conceptualize
it over their time in the program – from marketing the product to researching who
they’re going to hire and where it will be manufactured.
“They have to immerse themselves as if they were running a business for four weeks,”
Wells said.
Chris Wilson, chair of the general and basic engineering department and co-director
of GSET, said that students can expect a challenging, engaging experience at his Governor’s
School as well. He leads the program alongside Cory Gleasman, assistant professor
in the College of Education & Human Sciences.
“Each afternoon, the students work in research and development exploration groups,”
explained Wilson. “There are five of them this year: one on green energy and wind
turbine development, one on information technology and biology, one on data science
and artificial intelligence, one on computational chemistry and one on high-performance
computing.”
Wilson says that discussions on artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT will
feature prominently at GSET.
“The whole idea of emerging technologies is things that are disruptive in the sense
that we’re doing new things,” he explained. “It’s something that causes enough of
a change to the way we do things that it’s almost disruptive.”
Both Wilson and Wells see the Governor’s Schools as an opportunity to showcase Tech
to some of the state’s top high school students.
“Part of my mission is to get them to come to Tech,” said Wells. “My goal is to get
them here for college.”
Wilson adds that students at GSET “get a chance to see how broad STEM programs are
at Tech and how intertwined they are in the culture at Tech.”
“We have many former Governor’s School students who attend Tech,” said Wilson. “So,
it’s great recruitment for us but, even when they go to other places, they take a
little bit of Tennessee Tech with them.”
Both Governor’s Schools will feature guest speakers and off-campus excursions.
“I use a lot of people on campus who are in leadership roles,” said Wells of her plans
for GSTIBL. “I bring in people who are successful businesspeople and those who are
leaders on campus. A past favorite has been Dr. Charria Campbell (director of student
engagement and intercultural affairs). Provost Lori Bruce does a great presentation
and of course President Oldham typically comes and speaks. A lot of people pour into
these kids while they are here.”
Wilson says that students at GSET will be taking a trip to Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
among other destinations.
“The amount of intellectual capability in these students is remarkable,” concluded
Wilson. “These are very high performing high school students. For me, helping them
make pathways towards exploring STEM in college is something I find rewarding.”
To learn more about the Governor's School for Technological Innovation and Business
Leadership, visit https://www.tntech.edu/business/governors-school/.
To learn more about the Governor’s School for Emerging Technologies, visit https://www.tntech.edu/engineering/pre-college-programs/gset.php/.