Dr. Darrell T. Allison, chancellor of Fayetteville State University informed Fayetteville’s business community of the school’s continuous efforts to contribute to economic development in the area. Allison spoke this morning at the Greater Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce’s Chairman’s Coffee Club. 

The school offers opportunities to its students to make an impact in the workforce with a diverse student body. Seventy-nine percent of students at the school are from rural counties, 30 percent are military-affiliated, 60 percent are first generation students, 70 percent are Pell Grant eligible, and 32 percent are adult learners. Fayetteville State University is the leader in adult learners. Cumberland County as a whole has the fourth largest population of adult learners in North Carolina.

Recapping his first 99 days in the position, Allison showcased a variety of focuses at the school, to include an extra emphasis on paid internships. 

“We are, as an institution, investing in internships,” Allison said. “The opportunity is so important to us that we, as an institution, are willing to invest in pay of that student, not you.” 

The expectation is that the university commits to the first year and the corporation will back the University up for the next two to three years. 

“We actually think there’s a retention piece there,” Allison said. 

He pointed out that, by offering the internships in the second semester of students’ sophomore year, they have the opportunity to cultivate skills so they are more prepared when they graduate. 

While Allison explained how valuable the opportunity is to all students, he emphasized the importance of the workforce experience and ability to make money for first-generation and Pell Grant students. 

“They’re learning and growing; by the time they get to that fourth year, they’re prime picking,” he said.

Ty Timlet, an adult learner in her senior year at Fayetteville State University, has taken on a paid internship at Greater Fayetteville Chamber. She works alongside Shari Fiveash, CEO of the chamber. 

“Especially being an adult learner, it’s very important because I’m about to graduate in December,” Timlet said. “I’m getting that experience, being able to network and meet new people, so I can prepare to have a job when I graduate and really serve my community.”

Fiveash said she has had a positive experience working with Timlet. 

“Ty is doing more than we anticipated,” Fiveash said. “Her degree is in media, so she has ended up taking over a lot of pieces and parts of advertising and media.”

As a result, she said that is what much of Timlet’s work entails. 

“She is so good,” Fiveash said. 

In fact, Timlet is skilled enough at what she does that the chamber has approached her about returning to work part-time when Timlet goes back to school in the fall. 

The Fayetteville Cumberland Economic Development Corporation is another organization that has welcomed a new intern from FSU, Keyondre Currence. 

“We have him working in data and data management,” Robert Patton, vice president of FCEDC, said. “We’ve got him managing that and entering data … That’s one of his primary jobs. We’ve given a little flexibility and we want to give him experience looking at everything we do here, so he may help out our marketing director with a project, or he’s helped me out with a few presentations and things like that. He speaks with our existing industry vice president to find out what that’s all about. We’re trying to give him a well-rounded internship and experience so he benefits across the board from it.” 

“My experience so far has translated into a professional aspect as well as a personal aspect — being able to see and speak to clients, see and speak with the different people who work in this department … It’s a great help. I’ve learned a lot so far for this to only be my third week,” said Currence, who is majoring in healthcare administration. He attributes much of his great experience to Robert Patton and Robert Van Geons, CEO and president of FCEDC. “I’ve been nothing short of blessed to be in this capacity with them,” Currence said. 

While Currence is open to any possibilities, if he is presented with an opportunity to stay and work in Fayetteville upon graduation, he said he would be interested. 

“I just love what this community has to offer,” Currence said.