Trine University president focusing on ‘brain gain’
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The new president of Trine University in Angola says his school is continuing its momentum of job placement among graduates with many of them staying in Indiana.
John Shannon was named Trine’s 17th president in January and began his tenure in June, succeeding the retiring Earl Books.
Shannon says the job placement rate for Trine students within six months of graduation is 99% and has been for 11 consecutive years, and many of them are not leaving Indiana even if they came from outside the state.
“We have a higher percentage of students who stay and work in Indiana after leaving Trine than we have students from Indiana to begin with,” he said. “It’s a net gain. It’s a brain gain that we have. These are educated individuals. They have degrees and they’re coming to us from other states, and they’re staying in Indiana.”
Shannon, who has been with Trine since 2007 and served as provost and senior vice president before being named president, credits the university’s success to several efforts.
He said Trine has been intentional about only offering academic programs that lead to to careers for students. The university also focuses on professional development for students before they even get to their first job.
“Part of it is having a good understanding of where the jobs are, where the gaps are, and even where there are jobs and our graduates are filling them, what are the gaps in our graduates’ knowledge? What do they need that they don’t have when they graduate from Trine or other universities?” he said. “We should be focused on filling those gaps and ensuring that the students we have now are even better prepared for their future than students we had yesterday.”
To do that, Shannon said, requires closer collaboration with industry, particularly companies based in Indiana.
“For every major on our campus, there’s an advisory board that helps us to understand what’s needed in industry, in the jobs that they’re going into,” he said. “And so we need to continue to have dialogue and to understand what’s missing, so that we can provide that education while the students are here with us and better prepare them for their futures.”
Though he is only less than six months into his tenure as president, Shannon said he was well prepared for the role by Brooks, who is continuing at Trine in the newly created role of university chancellor.
Shannon said his goal is to continue Trine’s work to prepare students not only with knowledge, but the skills they need to be great employees when they graduate.
“That’s the start and the end, really, of all that we do at Trine, and that’s what I need to continue to be focused on and to help lead us forward in that regard.”