Employee News
Professors Selected for Prestigious Fellowship
Raleigh, N.C. (April 5, 2024) – Wake Tech professors Dr. Lorraine Powers and Barry Tracey have been selected for the inaugural class of Faculty Innovation Fellows by the Business-Higher Education Forum.
The Faculty Innovation Fellowship focuses on the vital connection between education and industry and on enhancing faculty capacity to lead, innovate and serve as agents of transformative change within their institutions.
The inaugural cohort is a diverse group of professionals representing a range of perspectives and disciplines, including business, hospitality, nursing, geosciences and social sciences. The fellows are from 13 institutions in 10 states and include community colleges, independent and public research universities and public state systems.
Powers is an associate professor of Business Administration. A former elementary school principal, high school teacher and North Carolina State University professor, she has been teaching at Wake Tech for 13 years. She says she is eager to collaborate with colleagues to address key student concerns, such as the applicability of their degrees in real-world careers.
"I look forward to building my network by meeting other community college faculty," Powers said. "I also hope to form deeper connections with the business community to help students gain critical employability skills when they graduate."
Tracey is an instructor in Wake Tech's Hospitality Management degree program. Before coming to Wake Tech three years ago, he was assistant general manager with N.C. State University Dining.
"I have an overwhelming desire to learn," he said. "Through the BHEF Faculty Innovation Fellowship, I hope to become more proficient in the technical aspects of teaching and learn new ways to collaborate and communicate with colleagues and students."
The fellows will meet regularly over several months to develop pilot projects that will be vetted by their peers, BHEF staff and national experts. Proposed projects cover a range of employer collaborations, including curriculum development, student support, integration of emerging technology, career readiness, capacity-building and experiential learning.
Fellows will also build skills for implementing innovative practices beyond their classroom through sessions with national experts on cultivating an innovative mindset, change management and leadership.
