Kansas University Continuing Education it’s not just about the study of East Asian folklore or an introduction to Latin anymore. The department and its first-year dean mean business.

Actually Dean JoAnn Smith said the department always has meant business, but during her first six months on the job, she said she’s tried to make sure Lawrence businesses and the area economic development community understand that the department can be a valuable resource.

JoAnn Smith, left, dean of Kansas University Continuing Education, and Sharon Graham, associate dean, show off some of the latest in video technology that the university uses to help train the area's work force.

“We definitely want to work closely with our business community and work any way we can to bring new resources into this area,” Smith said. “When a community is involved in economic development and bringing new industry into a community, one of the first pieces of information a business wants to know is what training is available.

“Well, we are available and ready to provide that type of training, and we’re right here in Lawrence’s back yard.”

Many Lawrence employers already have discovered the resources the department has to offer.

Approximately 1,700 of the 10,000 people who took training classes in Lawrence were Douglas County employees, with many coming from the public sectors of education and government.

Some community leaders, though, would like to see a broader range of businesses take advantage of the training opportunities.

“In Lawrence the department is still somewhat of an unknown commodity,” said Joe Flannery, president of Weaver’s Department Store and a member of the department’s advisory board. “Throughout the state and the Midwest what the department can do is very well known, but it is still a sleeping giant in Lawrence.

“There’s lot of retirees who take advantage of the human interest type of seminars and classes, but as far as the business community, I don’t think it is as well known as it should be.”

Bridging the gap

Smith, who came to Kansas in August from the University of Kentucky, said KUCE is excited about the role it can play in helping the community capitalize off of research done at KU.

“This is a major research university, and we think we’re in a good position to help bridge the gap between the research and the business community,” Smith said.

“Once the research is done and collected, it is very important that it be shared with industry and the community. That’s how we get the greatest value from it. We can do that here by organizing the conferences and workshops.”

Sharon Graham, associate dean with KUCE, said the department is already doing that in several areas of research, particularly with seminars that share with the aviation community research from KU’s aerospace engineering program.

“Boeing, Cessna and many other players in the aviation world come to us to conduct in-house seminars because we have the faculty, the experts, they need,” Graham said. “Our programs in that area really are international in scope.”

Smith said she thinks the department can be a major player in disseminating KU research needed to make Lawrence and the Kansas City area a leader in the biosciences industry.

“The bottom line is we want to put the research to work,” Smith said. “We definitely want to do that with the life sciences initiative because there is so much potential there.”

Something for everyone

But KUCE deals in more than just high-tech or cutting-edge information. Smith and Graham said they think the department could fill the demand for training in a long list of business topics.

“For instance the need for good communication and management skills never change,” Smith said. “People are always asking us for the latest management skills, and communication is vitally important in any organization these days. We have any number or faculty members who can provide that type of training.”

Graham said the department also can help with sales and marketing, organizational planning, and a host of basic and advanced business issues through the university’s business school.

“It’s a real benefit for a business community to have easy access to this type of training because in some professions what you learn as a freshman may no longer be relative when you are a senior,” Graham said. “Information has such a short half-life anymore.

“Now more than ever continuing education is needed because of the explosion of information we have in the world.”

Flannery said he hopes Lawrence businesses will begin to talk about what some of their training issues are and band together to approach KUCE to see if the department can help.

“I don’t want it to sound like if there are just a couple of businesses with a couple of employees who have a need that we can help them by putting on a seminar, but if the interest is there, really the capabilities are limitless,” Flannery said. “Really KUCE has the ability to provide help in almost any business area if there are just enough businesses interested in it.”