CCBC Gets Ready for a "Very Different" Future with Fall Focus

CCBC got a glimpse into the future at the Third Annual Fall Focus on Learning. Held in the Ballroom at UMBC, the event has become a traditional part of kicking off the new academic year.

The speaker for the evening was Nat Irvin, founder of Future Focus 2020, a nonprofit organization bringing futuristic thinking to urban American and minority communities. Irvin also serves as future studies executive professor and assistant dean for MBA Student Development at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. Known as a leader in futuristic thinking, Irvin has engaged many groups and organizations in strategic conversations about the future looking at significant social, political, economic, technological and environmental trends and events that will have the greatest impact on urban communities by the year 2020. His insight into future trends provided CCBC faculty and staff with important information that could assist them in planning new initiatives.

As Irvin began his presentation, music filled the air and statistics that were sometimes startling appeared to jump off the screen as Irvin took the audience for a journey into the future. The statistics were poignant and revealed that the world will be very different 20 years from now. Some of the statistics included:

• By 2020, 70 percent of the work force growth will occur among minorities.
• Mandarin Chinese will be the most popular language by 2007 with over one billion speakers.
• By 2010 computers won't exist as we know them, they will be embedded in our clothes and eventually in our bodies.
• In 2025 companies will start to see "age diversity" as important as racial or ethnic diversity

Irvin emphasized that the outlook for the future looks much different than the current situation as he paced the floor, engaging the audience. Irvin encouraged the audience to "start thinking about thinking itself." He proclaimed, "You (CCBC faculty) are in the most important business - the business of transforming minds into learning minds." Irvin left the audience with much to think about regarding the world and education.

After taking a look at the future through Irvin's eyes, Chancellor McPhail brought the audience back to the present to celebrate those who attained the rank of full professor within the last year. Five faculty were honored and recognized for their dedication to CCBC and its community of learners, and their high level of success in their chosen field. Those honored included Jack Brown, Speech, Mass Communication and Theatre (Essex); Tim Davis, Business and Social Sciences (Essex); Hal Rummel, Applied Art and Design (Catonsville); Donna Sewell, Physician Assistant (Essex); and Robert Solomon, Physician Assistant (Essex).

The evening concluded with a reception where faculty and staff could relax, renew their spirits and relish in the present, for the journey into the future begins soon enough.