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| S C T E CHN I CA L CO L L E G E S Y S T EM ’ S
F I R S T 5 0 Y EAR S
And only the South Carolina technical system is going to do it. It’s all about the people.”
Odom also sees a reverse migration of the supply chain coming. “We off-shored and outsourced a lot of manufacturing jobs to the Indi-
an subcontinent, China, and other places. When you buy from me, and I’m halfway around the world, and you want it in here with quality,
quantity, and on time, it’s an unruly process logistically. It’s added a lot of cost and complexity. I see a reverse migration.”
The implication? Someone will have to train workers for returning companies, and who can do it better than the technical colleges.
COMING LIKE A HURRICANE
Dr. Darrel Staat, system president from 2010 to 2013, sees a future that echoes the past. “Today we face the same problem leaders faced
when South Carolina was an agrarian economy. We bring in very sophisticated manufacturing businesses. Where are the people? We are
going to have to do some really hard work in the next few years to bring up citizens’ skill levels to work in the sophisticated companies now
coming. Think back to Governor Hollings and all those guys. I imagine they had some sleepless nights when they pulled in some company
and said, ‘Ok now we’ve got to train all these folks who are used to working on the farm, for goodness sakes. Is that going to work?’ They made
it work, and I think we can make it work again.”
Staat sees another thing coming even stronger—computers. “Go through the Boeing plant. There are hundreds of computers all over,
not only in the control areas, but on the shop floor. So there’s got to be South Carolinians who can handle that and that is going to push our
schools much more in the direction of what we do with training. The digital age is coming. We may not be at the front edge of it but with our
manufacturing, we’re into it. We’re going to really have to grow beyond where we are. Today our presidents and colleges are looking for highly
trained people in everything from computers to online instruction to wherever we’re going with iPhones and tweets. It’s coming at us like a
hurricane. You can’t sit back and say we’re not going to bother with it because it will swallow you up.”
Montez Martin, who has served on the board since 2001, agrees. He sees less need for bricks and mortar, but more need for technology.
As an illustrative point, he recalls a one-time dazzling bit of technology. “The problem is technology is evolving so rapidly I’m not so sure we
can ever get to the point where we’re up to date. Think about the IBM Selectric. Man, we got IBM Selectrics on everybody’s desks. We’re cool.
We’re up to date. Did they last five years? No, and therein lies a challenge.”
STICK WITH LEADERS, STICK WITH THE MISSION
Dr. Barry Russell, system president from 2006 to 2010, sees a need for more Tom Bartons, Wade Martins, Lex Walters and Fred Fores. “We
need that caliber of person to take important leadership positions within the colleges and system office. We need all the tools that we can to
attract and retain that kind of leadership. That’s what makes things happen. That’s why we’re here celebrating 50 years.”
Russell said, too that the next 50 years should stick to the mission. “One thing I used to hear at Midlands and the State Board is ‘You’re
getting away from your mission; get back to what you used to teach.’ The genius of Wade Martin, the system’s first executive director, and the
early leaders was that they were really looking ahead. This system needs to do that as well. Sometimes you have to look ahead and prepare
students, for the future may end up looking very different from the past. We get pushback, sometimes from the legislature, saying you don’t
need to be teaching English or writing. Just teach these skills.”
Russell read
Steve Jobs
and learned how art and eastern philosophy influenced Jobs. “If we were teaching these things in our programs, a
