John Hauser, President, Gaston College
Invest: spoke with John Hauser, president at Gaston College, about how the college is leveraging AI, the importance of the affordability of community colleges, and how the school is meeting the growing demands of the healthcare industry. “There is a critical need for healthcare services, and you need the trained workforce to do that.”
What have been the key milestones or achievements for Gaston College in the last 12-18 months?
In spring 2024, we graduated our largest class in the history of the college, with 1,225 graduates. That is a big indication of the value that people see in technical skills training, a two-year associate degree, and in our workforce development program that allows them to enter the workforce with a skill set that is employable and with a good salary. We continue to experience growth going into the fall. The skills that the industry sectors are looking for are the same as the talent we are producing. Students going into the workforce are seeing the benefits, and that creates a cycle. People can have a great salary, live in Gaston County, and have a great job, and they can earn a degree that has some economic viability to it.
Also, we were awarded $60 million from the North Carolina Assembly for the construction and development of a health center to expand our health science programs. The needs in the healthcare industry are significant, and we are looking to add more programs to create that whole package that our healthcare system is looking for. We are fortunate to have great leaders on the same page and moving in the same direction.
Which programs are seeing the most demand and growth?
The nursing program has huge demand, and we have expanded our offering for students we take into those programs. Medical offices are rolling into the county because of the new hospital that CaroMont has built in Belmont. We are working closely with providers as that continues to grow. We expanded our critical care program, and now we require more surgical technicians, so we added that recently and it is doing really well. We are doing a lot with respiratory care, and we are looking to expand more into sonography and radiography and those kinds of things. We are totally focused on what the needs are, from licensed practical nurses to certified nurses. That means we need new labs and facilities to meet the demand. There is a critical need for healthcare services, and you need the trained workforce to do that. Our programs are about 50% online, and we recently resumed being 50% in-person.
How are you integrating new technologies and innovation into the college’s curriculum to provide relevant education to the workforce of today?
We are heavily engaged in simulation labs. That means we have artificial intelligence communicating and creating situations with patients and their diagnoses. We can program their diagnosis and students can simulate that process and how they react and what recommendations they give to the doctor. Live situations are very helpful because the AI mannequins look real and act real. They moan and groan and yell like in a real hospital setting. That is where we feel we have strength. Our partnerships with our clinical sites and hospitals are also critical to learning and education.
How are you addressing accessibility and affordability for those who are looking to study?
The community college system tuition rates are set by the general assembly, so we have a very low tuition rate. We are fortunate our overhead is not that of a university and the quality of our faculty is equal to a university. When you think of quality, we deliver at a competitive cost. It is of serious value to the student. We have strategic approaches, such as pathways where you can earn college credits while you are a high-school student. Many students receive some scholarship toward their tuition and costs, and we have been intentional about access. A lot of our growth is coming from that area. Also, we have a strong apprenticeship program where someone can work in healthcare or manufacturing. That proves valuable to adult workers who want to be in a certain industry.
What partnerships would you like to highlight? What are some in-demand skills that employers are looking for today?
We are focused on healthcare, cybersecurity, and advanced manufacturing, and we have critical partnerships within those sectors. We are closely tied with the Economic Development Commission in Gaston County, and we help with their training programs from the ground up. We started the first healthcare apprenticeships in the state of North Carolina. We have a partnership with NC State University and the University of Honduras, where we train students by delivering content online, and then having teachers on the ground in Honduras itself. This is all supported by USAID grant funding that is potentially a model to take to other international countries that are looking to increase the vertical supply chain for industry from Central America to the United States.
In cyber security, we are a center of academic excellence in cyber defense. Our program has tripled, and it is going very well. People need to understand it is not just about the information technology portion; it is about finding the right individual to be accepted into that field. It is a whole-person education instead of just cyber defense. We are focusing a lot on the skills of trust and communication. One-on-one conversation has a lot of meaning to employers and the employees. We work a lot on team building, communication, and oral presentation and how to understand the people you work with. Many positions are remote or distant, so we believe soft skills are very important, so we build those skill sets as well.
What are your top priorities and goals for college over the next couple of years?
We are looking at growing our state funding. It has grown close to 19% recently, so we are looking to continue that growth. We are looking at specific curriculum programs that we don’t even know we need yet. We are exploring opportunities in our three fields. As companies locate here, they bring new technology and opportunities, so we are looking to advance our programs in advanced materials and the textile industry. Our Fiber Innovation Center on the Belmont campus was just completed, and we plan to open it later this year. We have $15 million in equipment coming in that was sponsored by industry, so they can create new materials, fibers, and plastics for end products that will go into the automotive and healthcare industries, and yet still be sustainable for the environment. We are super excited to be on the leading edge of that.
