Industry/University Partnerships

At the same time, the nation’s university system seems underfunded and unable to equip laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment in technical disciplines. The budgeting formulas are geared more for classes that aren’t as laboratory-oriented as that of the printing and packaging industry.

By 2005, the Department of Graphic Communication Systems and Technological Studies at North Carolina A&T State University (NCA&T) had offered the Printing and Publishing curriculum for more than 10 years and it became apparent more emphasis should be placed on the packaging segment. It was equally obvious the budget would not support the purchase of expensive equipment and software needed to “jump start” the packaging effort.