Learning to Lead

When Senior Purchasing Specialist Edward Schook isn’t busy with his responsibilities in the Office of Financial Affairs, he can be found completing online courses as part of E&I Cooperative Services’ inaugural 2025 EdPro NextGen Leadership Program, designed for educational procurement professionals representing the future of innovation and leadership in the industry.

In partnership with Cornell University’s online certificate program eCornell, the NextGen Leadership curriculum is intended to prepare selected participants for elevated workplace roles and develop advanced skills and knowledge. From March through September, Schook will participate in weekly lessons, culminating in November with a multi-day leadership summit in Florida. The experience will earn him a dual executive leadership certificate.

“Personally, the goal is to become a better professional,” he says. “I want to be able to make my coworkers and peers better whether or not I am in a management role.”

On recommendation from Vice President for Financial Affairs, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer Barbara Holahan, CPA, Schook applied to the program. His participation distinguishes him as one of 100 professionals selected from colleges and universities around the country to take part in the program’s first cohort.

“This is a great opportunity for his own professional career, and New York Tech will benefit from his new skills and connections made over the next year,” Holahan says.

With topics like global procurement trends, self-management, strategic decision-making, effective leadership, problem-solving, and stakeholder communication, the coursework has been an eye-opener.

“In just a few weeks, I have studied so much, and I’m excited to make an impact,” Schook says, noting the many ways he has learned to analyze situations. “The biggest skill I want to apply to my role at New York Tech is better addressing new questions and projects that lie ahead.”

As senior purchasing specialist, Schook’s day-to-day responsibilities cover requisitions, including the Jonesboro and Vancouver campuses, request for proposals around the New York campuses, and maintaining more than 300 purchasing cards (P-cards). Right now, he is managing a full transition program to bring P-cards over to a new bank—an initiative that expects to add at least another 200 employee participants in the next year.

Since rising to P-card program manager—one of Schook’s proudest achievements since joining his department and New York Tech in 2017—he reflects on a conference that offered a moment of gratitude.

“A lot of people in a particular meeting were having questions and issues regarding their P-card program,” he recalls. “By the end of the meeting, the attendees looked to me as an authority on the subject. For the first time in my professional career, I regarded myself as a ‘leader’ and was able to assist other professionals who held different roles and job descriptions from my own.”

Between his NextGen Leadership participation and the nature of his position at New York Tech, Schook has made his younger self proud. Growing up, he wanted to work in a role where he could lead and make decisions. Decision-making is a common theme for him, as it has afforded him opportunities he couldn’t have dreamed of.

He passes the sentiment to future generations of students, offering, “Do what makes you happy. When it comes to decisions, especially those that can be life-changing, make sure you are happy with them. You are the only one to live your life.”