As we approached our 50th anniversary, I began asking people what they thought NYIT should look like in 25 years. In doing so, I was attempting to stress two points: first, we have a wonderful opportunity to shape a bright, sustainable future for our great institution. Second, in our complex, evolving world, we should not look to leading universities and professions of the past as the models of our future. We must create the institution that will establish the 21st-century paradigm for student-centered, higher education and professional excellence.
After two years of researching and planning by the best and brightest minds at NYIT, we have a plan. Now the hard work begins as we set out in the direction of that bright, sustainable and, we hope, precedent-setting future.
When NYIT was founded in 1955, the world was not yet drawn together by the phenomenon we know today as globalization. Indeed, that world was divided by geography, and institutions of higher learning educated students for the economic opportunities that existed locally.
But globalization is today’s reality. It has created borderless opportunities for educational institutions and has allowed students to pursue careers around the world.
So, what’s the next step for higher education? That’s where NYIT takes center stage, as we think, plan and act on a global basis but do so with an acute understanding and respect for local customs, cultures and needs. Thus, we achieve the next phase of higher education: glocalization.
We have already seen glimpses of this philosophy in business. For example, American automakers of the 1950s believed that the British and the Japanese drove on the wrong side of the road. But Japanese carmakers had an insight – there was no right or wrong side of the road, and that it was possible to sell more cars by switching the steering column to whichever side suited local custom.
Similarly, NYIT’s plan for the future is glocal – we will continue to explore opportunities to bring higher education to nations that need our advanced technology, our knowledgeable professors and our vast numbers of successful alumni who are proof that our educational mission works. But we will meet global standards of excellence in the context of each localized culture. And because of our commitment to technologies that transform our world, NYIT will help tear down the remaining walls that separate nations and regions, creating a global playing field for talented, optimistic people.
The 21st century is already seeing the glocalization of higher education. There are increasing numbers of students who seek our brand of education through our international and online facilities. As NYIT alumni, you hold degrees from one of the world’s foremost glocal institutions of higher learning – an institution with a network of campuses and sites stretching from New York to Canada, Asia, the Middle East and into cyberspace. This is an institution built of bricks and mortar, laboratories and athletic fields, but it’s also built of bits and bytes – with an online university committed to educating and empowering students in the most remote corners of the world.
Like the Japanese carmakers, NYIT is committed to the belief that there is no wrong side of the road when we think globally and act locally. Preparing students for tomorrow’s careers has always been our driving force. All they need to do is pick a destination – we’ll even let them steer.
Sincerely,
Edward Guiliano, Ph.D.
President |
