Interview with NDSU President Dr. David Cook
(BISMARCK, ND) – North Dakota State University President Dr. David Cook is attending the state’s legislative session this week advocating for a $35 million investment at the University.
It’s called New Horizon: NDSU 2035.
“New Horizon 2035 is an idea that we’ve really been working on for the last two years,” Dr. Cook said. “It’s about what does NDSU look like and be over the next ten years.”
He says the future of higher education is working ‘more closely with business and industry.’
“We spent the last year working with business and industry leaders from across the state to help us really think deeply about how do we bring industry and higher education together.”
He says the future at NDSU is going to be the business and industry working together to think about workforce – making sure what is being taught is what the graduates need to know when the leave campus.
“It’s getting our faculty more involve in industry,” Dr. Cook said.
One example is to have faculty externships during the summer, as well as bringing industry individuals to campus to help the university to think about what the curriculum looks like.
Cook emphasized the importance of adapting NDSU’s land-grant mission to meet modern workforce demands, grow North Dakota’s competitive edge and improve the quality of life for North Dakotans.
