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>> They cannot stop this man.

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♪ ♪ >> Connecting Marylanders to their government.

This is "State Circle."

♪ ♪ >> Welcome to a special edition of "State Circle."

I'm Kaye Wise Whitehead, host of "Today with Dr. Kaye" WEAA Radio 88.9 FM.

This is HBCU week here on MPT, and we're spotlighting the accomplishments of the region's historically black colleges and universities.

Coming up on this hour-long program, MPT's Jeff Salkin will be talking to the university presidents.

We'll also find out what is new with your HBCU.

Plus, get an up-close look at the culture and the hype behind the CIAA basketball tournament here in Baltimore.

Today there are over 100 historically black colleges and universities across the country and six of them are in our area.

Howard University and the University of District of Columbia are located in Washington D.C. Bowie State University, Coppin State University, Morgan State University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore are all located here in our state.

So let's get right to it.

What is new with your HBCU?

UDC has developed a unique approach to attracting students to the teaching profession.

Nancy Yamada tells us they aim to elevate the profession while also preparing teachers for a post-pandemic world.

>> The joy is they get to see your face every day and they get to know that no matter what their home situation looks like, school is a safe place for them.

>> Teachers in the grow your own education program at the University of District of Columbia share a passion for educating, influencing and empowering young minds.

>> My kids come into my classroom, I wanted them to feel welcome.

I want them to feel love I want them to feel like they're able to express themselves.

>> The UDC scholarship program supports 20 graduate students and 20 undergrads.

What makes this program unique is that they're all graduates of D.C. public schools and committed to working where they grew up.

>> We are pulling students from the city who wanted to go back into the city and giving them all the support that they need to be successful once they go back into those classroom.

>> Anika Burton is the UDC chair of the Division of Education, Health and Social Work.

>> Students need to see people who look like them.

>> She says students in urban areas are often facing unique challenges, such as homelessness, poverty, or an unstable home life.

>> It's very hard to learn if you are dealing with trauma.

It's very hard to learn if you are hungry.

So we can't go in today as teachers and just have this one size fits all model.

>> A homegrown teacher can serve as a powerful role model.

>> If I wanted to go anywhere and have an impact, I want it to be back home where I'm from.

>> DCPS alum Bradon Frye teaches algebra at Dunbar senior high school.

He is among the 2% of black male teachers in the U.S. >> I don't expect them to want to be mathematicians but, you know, having someone like me teach them math, teach them the process of critical thinking, deductive reasoning, they can use those skills in life.

So they may take that and be an attorney they may want to be an engineer or scientist.

>> Post COVID, teachers are training how to reengage students and address the learning loss.

>> That's even more significant sometimes when you talk about urban school systems because you have students already coming in behind and you compound two or three years of loss on top of that, and so we have to talk about what does that mean for instruction?

What is most essential, you know?

And adding in the social, emotional component of it because again, like we talk about trauma, people have experienced loss.

>> Another goal of the grow your own education program at UDC is to elevate the teaching profession as an important and noble job.

>> Without teachers where would all of us be?

If we didn't have a teacher, it's like to motivate us, to teach us, to give us love when we needed it.

>> It is exciting for me.

Like you can actually change somebody's perspective about the educational experience base off what you do in your classroom.

>> I'm Nancy Yamada for "State Circle."

>> Now Jeff Salkin with the new president of the University of District of Columbia Dr. Maurice Eddington.

>> >> Jeff: What attracted you to this position?

>> Two things primarily.

One is the people.

I saw that there was just a strong sense of support and commitment to this institution.

Each individual that I interacted with during the search process, it came across clear to me that those individuals really, really had a passion for UDC.

And then the other thing was the possibility for what we can do here, building on the platform and foundation that has been established.

You know, where I was in my career before I got here, was at a point where I wanted to go somewhere to help elevate and do some things that hadn't been done before.

And I see that that's something that's possible here at UDC.

>> Jeff: You were at Florida A&M university serving as the Chief Operating Officer and as the Provost.

What would you say were your top accomplishments there?

>> I would say it's grounded in improving students success outcomes, taking a leadership role.

Helping to craft the strategy for how we would address student success as an institution and then you know, at the direction of the president, do some tremendous work improving our retention and graduation rates at the university during my time in those leadership roles.

>> Jeff: And that was, in fact, one of the things that UDC pointed out in the press release announcing your hiring.

What would you say were the keys to improving retention and graduation rates?

>> Yeah, I think, you know, we spent a lot of time studying, evaluating best practices, right?

We took the approach that we don't need to reinvent the wheel.

But identify practices that have been proven in higher ed and then spend time thinking about how to best adapt those to the institution.

And so we did a lot of work in that space, visiting other campuses, reading literature, doing research on our own.

I did a lot of research and still do, in that space and then we got a crystal clear vision of some of the things we should be doing and we moved very aggressively to put those things in place, invested more in daycare support services and students success initiatives and got alignment across the organization about what was important.

So it was just a collective effort from top to bottom at the university.

>> Jeff: What are some of the barriers there?

Once somebody has selected a school, they have applied and been accepted.

They start.

Obviously finances could be a big one.

>> Yeah, finances definitely.

But in my experience, even more than finances, the students that have challenges, it's either 1: Is there maturation level is not at the level they need to be.

So say you come from a background where academically you are well prepared but you get to the campus environment and you are just not mature enough for that transition.

But even more than that, it's really students coming through the K-12 system in certain areas where the preparation is lacking.

And when you get on any college campus, it's different in terms 6 what's required in terms of effort and competency in some core areas.

You often see students come unprepared in certain areas, like math, so have you to spend some time identifying those deficiencies and trying to address them and shore up those gaps quickly.

>> Jeff: And it's not the sort of thing where you can just send an email to be?

>> Exactly.

>> Jeff: Once you have identified somebody who is struggling, it's labor intensive hands on process.

>> Yes.

>> Jeff: What is the key to making it work across a beg university?

>> You know one thing we saw to be effective, is intrusion but really this concept of intrusive advising, which is-- and coupled with a team-based approach, right.

So intrusive advising at its core is trying to identify information that are indicators of potential issues with a student in real time.

And then having the technology to share that information and the services available to direct the student.

So if you see a student struggling early in the semester with math or math quizzes, right?

Things you wouldn't normally be looking at.

Or you get feedback from faculty members about a student.

Having systems to get the information and act on it quickly.

>> College students face many challenges both academically and personally.

Coppin State University recently opened a new center on campus designed to help students navigate those challenges during their years in college as well as prepare them for success once they graduate.

Here is sue Copen discussing what is new at Coppin.

>> I was one of the students that was having quited the difficulty in college and it was hard from coming from a thousand miles away, to being home sick, to being in a culturally shocked.

It was a lot going on.

>> She just wrapped up her sophomore year at Coppin this summer.

She admits the road has been a challenge.

But now she is working with incoming students, giving them the benefit what have she has learn add long the way, thanks to the help she got from the school's new eagle achievement center.

>> It was very hard.

And the conversations we had really led me to feel more comfortable in this environment and also be comfortable with being uncomfortable, and that led me to being here honestly.

>> Helping to guide her, Dr. James Stewart, the Vice President of development and achievement who oversees the eagle achievement center.

>> We really got to know each other and work together and then got her connected, actually, with some opportunities through the eagle achievement center.

So she became a success coach and now is a peer leader with our summer program.

And the growth she has done from a year ago when I first would have met her and she was wondering about staying at the institution, and to now, is just inspirational.

>> Stewart says the E.A.C., located on the fourth floor of the cool's library, opened last February.

>> President Jenkins came to Coppin and really, you know, instilled a call to action about our retention and student success and graduation.

A committee was formed across constituents of the university with faculty, staff and students to look at best practices and look at where we are at.

And they really laid the groundwork.

>> The new center brings together 11 departments across the campus to offer services that include new student orientation, math and writing labs, mentoring programs, academic advising coordinator, military support services and career development services.

The idea is to help students chart a path to us.

>> We literally call them success maps by year.

This is what you need to be doing to be most successful.

And then we use data.

The best of data, predictive analytics and tracking what students have done what to get in front of the students that seem to be slipping.

>> It's not just academics.

There is also a hub for black economic mobility in the center, made possible by a $2 million three-year grant from truist bank.Truist >> Finances can be a very real barrier for students completing their college education.

Working in partnership with them on workshops and information to the students to really empower them with financial literacy.

But also, the career development opportunities.

You know, working with Truist to bring in Truist and other companies as well, to do mock interviews with students, to do resume reviews.

>> Rondell Wright said eagle center is the go to place for students because it can make a difference.

>> My experience here has been one of the best experiences I've had in my life.

I have been able to find myself again, find my people, and just grow mentally and challenge myself as well as challenge others and have others challenge me to become a better person.

And this is the environment to do so.

And I'm happy to be a part of it.

>> At the end of the day, we want students to be most successful in the goal they came here for.

>> At Coppin State University, I'm sue Copen for "State Circle."

>> Jeff: Now Jeff Salkin with the eighth president of the university,.

>> For the uninitiated out there, tell us about Coppin and the Coppin student.

>> Well, you know, I'll tell you, when I arrived at Coppin state in may of 2020, we were in the midst of the global pandemic.

And over the time that I have been here, Coppin has just reinforced what I thought it was even before I arrived.

A dynamic institution that is committed to transforming lives and having an impact with regards to access and opportunity, to any student who wants to receive a quality education.

I am extremely proud of my students who come from 35 different states, district of Columbia, 30 different countries and my renowned faculty who are committed to shaping these students into scholars and preparing them to be the thought leaders that Baltimore, Maryland, this region, our state and nation needs so that we can continue to, you know, elevate.

>> Jeff: And for people who have been to Coppin but maybe it's been five or 10 years, They haven't been to today's Coppin.

There is a lot of change and I know you are working on a big dorm, right?

>> I am.

So-- and I'm working on other things, too, that are coming to completion.

So, you know, anyone who has not been on our beautiful campus, say in the last five years, need to come visit.

They would be in awe of how beautiful our campus is.

We are an oasis in west Baltimore.

So not only am I working on a new residence hall and I talk about that here very quickly.

But I'm also breaking ground or I have broken ground and will be having a ribbon cutting soon on a new College of Business.

The 62,000 square foot facility is going to be spectacular.

We have really focused here at the institution on how we make ourselves more green friendly.

So we are focusing on lowering our carbon footprint and doing all the wonderful things that we need to be focusing on as a university that is committed to addressing climate change and other factors that impact urban areas like ours.

So that facility will come online around late August or so.

And then from there, we will be moving to build our first of two new residential facilities.

We have seen an increase in students who wish to come to Coppin, take advantage of our nationally ranked academic programs, our great environment, our wonderful faculty.

But haven't had a place to house them all.

So we are now moving where we will break ground in fall of 2024 on the new-- or on the first residential facility.

And then we will break ground on the second facility shortly thereafter.

>> Jeff: What has struck you about maybe an area where somebody is making a difference that you didn't know about?

And maybe on the other hand, there is a situation where we, as a community, are not doing as well as we could be.

>> That's an excellent question, you know, Jeff.

And I will say this.

As I think about it, I will immediately go to some of my outstanding faculty that I have on this campus, who are doing great research, who are very engaged and very committed to transforming environments.

And so, you know, they are the individuals who are committed to going into some community or some aspect of a community and transforming that community.

And they are doing it without all the fanfare, right?

They're not coming in with the television cameras and the TV opportunities and the newspapers, writing about them.

They are doing it from an authentic place.

And that's really the core of who Coppin State University is.

We are about making transformational change.

And so when those individuals go in, they go in with a laser focus.

They implement change.

They have a significant impact on people's lives.

And then they move to the next area where they can bring solutions.

And that's the type of leadership, the type of faculty that I have at Coppin and I'm so excited that I have them on my team.

>> So what is new at the University of Maryland eastern shore?

Charles Robinson takes us inside an innovative program where umes students in the School of Pharmacy have the opportunity to obtain a doctorate in just three years.

>> Tyler jolly from Augusta, Georgia is one of the many students enrolled in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Maryland eastern shore.

>> Here they're showing me that it is okay to make mistakes.

It is okay to learn that trying new things isn't always a bad thing.

Understanding that taking that pivot is always the next best thing to do rather than just allowing things to kind of pile up and not really understand what you would like to do next.

>> The University of Maryland eastern shore has a very unique pharmacist school.

You can get a doctorate in three years.

>> We are the only three-year Doctor of Pharmacy program that is at a HBCU.

Pharmacy, as a whole, as a profession, has changed because it's moved from dispensing to more patient-oriented aspects of patient care.

We have students from all backgrounds.

And one of the things that we are really proud about is the diversity of our student body.

The fact that we are at an HBCU, we tend to draw students who are attracted to what HBCU's offer and that's basically that nurturing atmosphere where we are going to try to get them to be the best that they can be.

We definitely have a small class size and our faculty members really get to know our students.

So that provides them with opportunities for research.

>> Pharmacists play a unique role in our communities.

Statistics show there is literally a facility which dispenses medicine, which is five miles from your home.

In a world where everyone needs an appointment to be seen by a medical professional, for pharmacists, you don't need a specific time to be seen.

And they will answer your questions.

At the University of Maryland eastern shore, I'm Charles Robinson for "State Circle."

>> Jeff: We are joined by Dr. Heidi Anderson, who is the president of the University of Maryland eastern shore.

For the uninitiated, tell us a little bit about umes and the UMES community.

>> I love to do that.

For those people who are not familiar with umes, the University of Maryland eastern shore sits in a very beautiful almost 1,000 acre property here in the small Town of princess Ann Maryland between the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic association.

We like to say to our students that we are near the ocean because we are 40 miles away.

But umes itself, we are the 1890 land grant university in the State of Maryland and in the system.

And that's important for a number of reasons.

I'm going to come back to it.

But we have a host of bachelor degree programs, masters and PhDs.

We have a number of only or unique programs to our campus that are unique to the entire state.

For example, we have the only four-year aviation science degree that students can get right here at the University of Maryland eastern shore.

We actually have the only P.G.A.

golf management degree program with our hospitality tourism management program.

We have eight health profession programs, more than any other HBCU in the country.

And because we are a land grant, that means we have a lot of science for students who have that interest.

Agriculture is our roots.

And our students come to us wanting to major in the sciences and then I'll say one other thing is that what we have been telling people and we are touting and are very proud of, in the last few years, we have become a top 10 public HBCU.

So that's a little bit about who we are.

I said I was going to come back to the Town of princess Ann a little bit.

Being a land grant, it means we are connected to our community in a major way.

We are rural here on the rural side of the state and we do a lot to engage with our community and help solving problems in the community.

>> Jeff: If you don't mind, maybe explain the land grant idea.

A lot of the State Universities are considered land grants but you said specifically it is an 1890 land grant.

>> Yes.

Because every state years and years ago from a Senator Morrell.

He created land grant properties and put 50 in the country.

Every state has a flag ship typically land grant in 162, but then 1862 but many years later, in 1890, he recognized black individuals, black people were not being admitted to the 1862s, typically known is the predominantly known as the white institutions, wpis and because he wanted a place for blacks to get a higher education degree.

So that's where the 1890s became.

There are only 19 of those in the country.

And we are one of those 19.

We consider ourselves 19 strong and very unique because, like I said, it's only a few.

But what that means is that we are grounded in the basics where we started.

Agriculture, mechanical engineering, teaching.

And most of those, and ours especially, we have grown to become a lot more than that.

But science is at the root of who we are.

And it's important because agriculture is everything from food to what you wear, to working with the climate.

All of those things impact all of our communities.

>> Jeff: Tell us how the pharmacy world is changing and the students that you are attracting to the pharmacy program because within the State of Majority leader, there are very few options if you want to be a pharmacist.

>> That's true.

The way pharmacy has changed from when I was trained as a pharmacist.

You think about dispensing, going to a pharmacy, getting pills in a bottle.

Pharmacists do a lot more than that now.

I think people saw that, especially when COVID it.

You can go into your pharmacy and get your vaccine, which I do every year for flu in one arm, now COVID in the other arm.

That's something that pharmacists weren't doing years ago when you think about your pharmacists.

But pharmacists are now trained to be in those clinical type focus settings.

And we have our new pharmacy building that was just opened here in this January.

We are very proud of it because our students are being trained in this state of the start facility where they can look at patients who are, you know, these are simulated models of patients, including a baby over there.

And they can learn how to work with real life problems right there in the classroom before they go to real settings.

>> The central intercollegiate athletic tournament nope as the CIAA tournament returned to Baltimore last year after a 50 year hiatus.

One of the nation's oldest postseason basketball tournaments and is largely recognized as one of the most financially successful.

It annually generates millions of dollars for its host cities.

But equally important, the tournament was formed out of a necessity at a time when historically black colleges and universities had to form their own athletic conference because of segregation.

Let's take a look at a new film offering a sneak peek inside the CIAA's Baltimore experience.

>> CIAA by its very founding was the only place that institutions historically black colleges, could play competitive sports.

And so the CIAA stand as one of the first colored conferences.

>> It's a space where we get to celebrate first and foremost athletics, sports and the power of sports in the black community and in black higher education.

But, beyond the sport, it also allows us to celebrate the uniqueness of our people, to be what others sometimes think we can't be, which is to gather, to celebrate success, to cry when you sometimes lose.

But to come together and understand that this year might not be yours, but this year is somebody's who worked just as hard as you, who was able to score a basket at the right time.

>> We have the distinction of having the first female African-American commissioner, Dr. Jackie Williams Parker and she has done amazing things.

The hall of fame, coach McClendon, well known.

Just the epitome of what it is to coach and develop talent.

And so when I think about what the CIAA has done on that front... >> You know, the competition of CIAA during that time was just fierce.

And when I look back on it, you know, we got three guys from the CIAA who are among the top 75 greatest guys who ever played in the NBA and we must have at least five or six guys who are in the Naismith hall of fame.

So that speaks volumes for the conference and the development that went on in that conference.

>> CIAA has meant so much to the university, Winston-Salem electrical State University.

I think about the rich history, the legacy of basketball at Winston-Salem State University with big house gains, the legendary big house gains and having to come to Baltimore and those historians will know that there is a history with big house gains and Baltimore with Morgan state.

He actually attended Morgan state.

And then if you think about one of the greatest NBA players of all time, Earl Monroe, while he graduated Winston-Salem state.

That's where he made his mark on the collegiate level.

When he went professional, where did he play basketball?

In Baltimore.

So from us, at Winston-Salem State University, it's like coming home or going to a familiar place.

>> And now to buoy state where computer science students are finding an easier path to getting real world experience.

As Nancy Yamada reports, the secret comes down to building relationships that lead to internships and hopefully to jobs.

>> Over this summer, I had the opportunity to work with NASA, more specifically with Paraton as a software engineering intern.

>> I did my internship and it was a great experience.

>> This summer I worked with bank of America as a software engineer.

>> It was a busy summer for computer science students at buoy State University, where internships gave them a unique opportunity to learn.

>> I got to work on a real project, essentially I was developing software inventory application for them.

>> And discern what they want to do in the future.

>> I want to go into artificial intelligence, possibly on the robotic side.

>> With thousands of people applying... >> The process of interviewing for internship is very intense.

>> Interviews often involve coding tests or high pressure technical assessments.

That's why the chair for the Department of Computer science developed a way to get her students in the door without going through the grueling vetting process.

>> The thing that we made very different was the building of relationships and making sure we know partners who are interested in our students.

And I think that has worked out much, much better.

>> Dr. Shumba builds relationships with companies like Adobe, apple, Microsoft and oracle inviting them to come to the classrooms where students can demonstrate their technical knowledge and essential skills like communication, critical thinking and creativity.

>> Now we know our partners, the students can then be able to find opportunities with this different partners and and it's easier for them to know the talents they need.

>> This is just one reason why the computer science department here at buoy state has grown from 189 students in 2019, to 332 students currently enrolled.

Many of those students are women.

>> I have found that majority of the times the teams that I'm on, women are not very represented.

And a lot of times it's easy to think you don't have the skills, you know, to be out there performing at these different companies.

But it's also very important to know that it is something that you can learn.

>> As an added incentive... >> Up with of our partners pays them for internship $58 an hour and for final placement, like for those who finished in the sprung semester,the salaries are $80,000, 90,000.

>> Starting salaries that often started from relationships started in class and fostered during an internship.

I'm Nancy Yamada for "State Circle."

>> Dr. Has served since 2017.

>> We're getting students from 40 states, 46 foreign countries, the nation and the world has found buoy State University right here in prince Georges county, we are so thrilled.

We have received on average for the last three years, about 13,000 applications.

For this year, for just 1,000 seats for fusser time full-time applicants and students coming in that first year of class.

Now not everybody will fill out all of their materials and complete the applications, so we usually get about 6500 that do all the information and apply.

But even so, we are in high demand.

And I'm just thrilled that we are providing those academic programs that students want to enroll in.

>> Jeff: Tell us what is happening with the CIAA tournament, of course buoy is a member of the CIAA athletic conference.

It has been Holding its annual basketball tournament in Baltimore for a couple of years.

What is new for 2024?

>> Well, what is new is to continue building on the great success that we've had over the last couple of years since we brought the tournament from Charlotte, North Carolina, to charm city, Baltimore city, this past year, with the basketball tournament that is held in February, we were able to realize about a 30 million-dollar economic benefit to the city and to the region.

So that's huge for the city.

And we are pleased with that success.

As the host university, we are looking forward to increasing the fan base, bringing in those individuals who have been coming in year after year for generations, by the way.

It's not just about the basketball tournament.

It's about an event.

We take over the city.

The restaurateurs are part of that; the hotels, and it's an event.

An exciting event to showcase the excellence on the court with our teams, 12 member institutions.

But then to also showcase academic excellence among our student athletes and our students in general because we bring bus loads of students and alumni to Baltimore to showcase the basketball excellence.

But to just come together.

It's a big home coming and a reunion.

And we welcome everybody to come in to see the excitement.

It's just a fun family event.

And it's like a homecoming that is second to none.

And as the host university, we just want to welcome in as many people as possible so that they see what we see across all of our member institutions in the CIAA, which is, by the way, the oldest African-American athletic conference in the country and we are very proud of that history.

And as the chair of the board, I just want to give a shoutout to the City of Baltimore, the mayor and visit Baltimore.

They have been extraordinary partners in this endeavor.

>> Jeff: Before we go, I did want to mention your fundraising success.

You set a large goal for a fundraising campaign and recently surpassed it: >> Congratulations.

Thank you very much.

We hit the mark of $50 million.

That was the target.

It is going to take us up to December of 2025 so we have finished two and a half years early.

And we are very excited and thankful for the supporters that made thought and brought that about.

We are so thankful for the leadership gift that we received from Mackenzie Scott that set that bar really high.

And so we were able to realize so many new donors.

New organizations, companies from BGE, to Adobe, Sysco, just extraordinary support for Bowie State University that helped us get there along with individual donors.

So what we are going to do is keep going.

Suns we finished early, we set the bar even higher and we hope to finish out in 2025 in December, reaching an even higher mark with the great success and we just thank everyone who is supporting Bowie State University as the oldest HBCU in the State of Maryland.

>> In a moment, we will hear from the Morgan State University president Dr. David Wilson.

But first, at Morgan, educators are doing A.I.

research to help with real world transportation challenges both mass and personal.

Here is sue Copen.

>> You have a system that operates as if the person is sitting in the wheelchair but it can navigate itself along these guidelines and be able to localize itself based on the QR codes that it reads.

>> Professor is the Director of Morgan's center for equitable artificial intelligence and machine learning systems.

And one of the principal investigators of this automated wheelchair project.

>> We begin by taking your run of the mill standard wheelchair that is powered.

We put controls in the box right here that is able to replicate the functionality of the joy stick and essentially pool the wheelchair into thinking it is being controlled manually by the joy stick.

>> And artificial intelligence is essential to the success of this project.

>> Where A.I.

comes into play is when we get into doing things like collision avoidance.

When we get to doing things like mapping their environment without the guidelines.

That's when it gets very complicated and you need A.I.

to be able to take that information, process it in a way, make it simple for the controller and then boil it down to just basic actions that it into Eds to be able to do.

>> The prototypes are being tested at Thurgood Marshall airport and another of the project's principal investigators says this will go beyond just getting around the airport.

>> One part of the work was to make the wheelchair be autonomous and the other one is to connect it to cars.

So that's another part that we are working on.

How we can connect autonomous wheelchair with a car or with autonomous vehicle.

>> The professor says artificial intelligence and automated vehicles are not just for those who can afford them.

>> Always our perspective has been if you don't pay attention from the beginning to this new technologies, and these technologies can increase the gap between people who can afford it and people who really need it.

So that's where we are working more on.

Let's use this technology equitably.

>> In another lab on Morgan's campus, they're studying bias in A.I.

systems which use voice and written communication.

>> Bias and confrontational A.I.

can manifest in a lot of different ways.

Think about when you are using a chat bot for text or using a voice activated conversational interface such as Siri or Alexa organization Google.

And if those systems have bias in their training data sets, then the kind of information you get out when you are talking to them can be skewed and inaccurate.

>> Among those helping with the research, Morgan undergrad Michael Adeleki.

>> It can be integrated to things every day.

Making sure people know the right way to use it.

Having a set of guidelines is needed for A.I.

to be used appropriately.

Making sure everybody who creates A.I., they adhere to the standards.

>> Gabriella Waters says human very much have a role to play in an A.I.

world.

>> A.I.

should not be able to replace humans and we need to look more carefully at how we can bring the two together so is that when you team and human A.I.

together, the A.I.

helps to push the human abilities further than it could alone.

And the human pushes the A.I.

abilities further than it would be able to achieve on its own.

That's an effective synergy between humans and artificial intelligence we should strive for.

>> At Morgan State University, I'm sue Copen for "State Circle."

>> For the third consecutive year, we have seen an interest in Morgan the likes of which are historic.

Over the last three years, we have had applications in the 20 plus thousands, this year I'm sure that was racing more towards 30,000 applications for about 2500 or so slots in our entering class.

And so last year we had historic freshman enrollment.

We expect to have another historic freshman class this year.

And more importantly, in our Strategic Plan, we had indicated that we wanted to grow our enrollment from what was about 7200 students to about 10 to 12,000 over the next seven or eight years.

>> Jeff: What is driving this Morgan momentum, would you say?

Aside, of course, from the leadership from the president's office.

>> I wouldn't put so much into that.

However, it just really a compilation of a number of things, if you will, and neither one of those is more important than the other.

But have you to put all of those things together and then when students and their parents look at an institution, they have to come away thinking that that is an institution of higher consequentiality.

A higher institution with a vision that really mirrors the work of the future, the future of work.

And that is an institution that takes pride in itself and has a world class faculty.

All those things at Morgan are in alignment.

Number one, we have undergone a period here where we look at our curriculum and we have brought online many undergraduate degree programs here that are the only such degree programs in the state.

And those programs are in alignment with how we are viewing the future of work and how we are viewing the work of the future.

So we have a baccalaureate program in cloud computing, baccalaureate program in embedded systems, back baccalaureate program in electronics and engineering, et cetera.

Students are gravitating towards those kinds of programs.

Curricular realignment.

Number 2, Morgan had gone through decades and decades of low capial investment in the campus, and consequently, the campus just did not look the way that it should look and the facilities on campus, many them, did not speak of world class spaces or classrooms.

And now we are in a period where some of that is being corrected and so with the new facilities and expansion of the campus, in terms of capital, that also is a part of that equation.

And then the world class faculty.

I mean we are attracting here at Morgan, some of the top faculty in the nation, who really want to be a part of something exciting, you know, something that is giving them an opportunity to never have to question what they teach, what they research.

And the kind of impact they can have on both the learning of our students and on innovation and research opportunities.

And so students want to be in a place that speaks to them, where they don't have to ask every single day, you know, does this university really think I belong here?

And here at Morgan, our students never have to ask that question.

>> Jeff: And 10,000 students on your lovely campus creates a little bit of a problem.

It's a good problem to have.

But you are going to have trouble placing everybody, particularly freshman housing, right?

>> Yes.

So that, of course, is a challenge for us right now.

And we are experiencing some growing pains in that area.

We are very communicative to our parents and students about this particular period, because it kind of crept up on us, as I said, a bit quicker than we had anticipated.

But we opened a new 670-bed residential facility in August of last year.

We are on track to open another 600 plus bed facility on the campus this coming year.

And we are in the early stages of discussions with the Morgan State University Board of Regents about building a third tower on the campus that possibly could open in late 2026 or 2027.

And so we don't think that this demand for a Morgan degree and Morgan education is going to subside substantially in the foreseeable future.

And so now this is the time for us to prepare for the long-term interest that we know we will see in this institution.

>> Jeff: Give us an update, if you would, on r-1 status and a refresher on what r-1 means?

>> So there is something out there called the Carnegie system of classifications of higher education institutions in the United States.

We have 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States.

All of those institutions are classified a certain way.

So we have x number of institutions that are baccalaureate institutions.

We have a wide number of institutions that are masters level comprehensive institutions.

And then we have another layer that Carnegie would classify as doctoral universities, r-3, they have just moved from masters level into doctorate of research much and the next layer is doctoral research university high research r-2.

And that is where Morgan is now.

It's about 145 universities of that particular group that I spoke about that is now in that category.

>> We knew school was filled with historical landmarks it is not easy to move builds into the 21st century with the bells and whistles that students and teachers require.

Charles Robinson takes us to Howard University for a look at what is happening there.

>> Derek Williams, a Howard University campus planner gives us details on the school's master plan.

>> You need to have a holistic vision for what you are trying to accomplish before you set forth, right?

Because if you don't know where you are going, you will never get there.

So what we have done is actually devised a master plan for this campus, right, the 2020 campus central master plan that covers the campus and the central district of Columbus.

That involves new construction, involves renovation and holistically looks at all the different elements of our campus, the historic buildings, transportation, parking.

All of the landscapes as well as the academic buildings and the student life buildings that allow the students to spend time outside the classroom, right?

Like the dormitory buildings, your student center, student union facilities and things of that "Nature."

So looking at the overall campus before we actually look at any individual project was really critical to this institution.

>> You got a lot of historic buildings.

How do you factor that into the mix?

>> Fled Rick Douglas hall built in 1932 had no wifi, no data connections, no screens in the classrooms.

There were blackboards, chalkboards.

Some of the seasoned professors appreciated the chalk but the younger adjuncts and what not, needed more technology in order to engage with the modern-day student.

>> Talk about what goes into that.

>> A whole lot.

So there are two aspects of the university's portfolio.

There are institutional assets, right, which serve the mission directly in terms of having classroom buildings, student housing buildings and things of that "Nature."

There are also commercial as assets to fund the mission.

So this area that we are in, Shaw of the district of Columbia, this neighborhood and pleasant plains is one of the most lucrative areas in terms of change in land value over the last 10 years.

So rents in this area are actually exceeding rents that you see in Georgetown and some of the other higher priced areas.

So it's a really pivotal time.

You see a lot of tower cranes because there is both institutional work going on funded by commercial work going on.

But the important thing about how Howard university is going about both its institutional and its commercial development activities, is it's all about mugs.

You look around on a higher ed campus, right, a university campus and you see a lot of academic buildings, classroom buildings et cetera.

But students only spend about 20% of their time in the classroom setting.

The other 80% they spend out in their dorm rooms on the yard, in the cafeteria, et cetera, right?

The library studying.

So focusing on those amenity spaces, those study spaces, those socialization spaces is really critical to creating the unanimity on the campus that we want.

>> If I were to come back here years from now, will I recognize this as the Howard University that has always been here?

>> I think that you will.

Again, the iconic buildings-- and we are taking steps to expand the historic district that I mentioned to include a number of the buildings delivered during Mordecai Wyatt Johnson's presidency in conjunction with the university architect at the time.

So while there will be new buildings there will be new capacities, new amenities, an increase in the number of students and faculty and staff.

The bones of this campus, right, the defining characteristics that you see in Albert Casell's 1932 inaugural campus master plan, those are not going away.

And so as you see this campus change, I've seen it change and morph in my time here; it's still going to feel like home.

>> Thank you so very much for giving us an insight as to where Howard is going.

Now let's golf course back to you at the studio.

>> Here is Jeff Salkin with the conversation with the outgoing president of Howard University, Dr. Wayne Frederick.

>> Jeff: Now that you are retiring as president, the institution looks a lot different.

What are you most proud of?

>> I'm most proud that I say we recovered our belief in ourselves; which the other thing that I saw was a deficit of confidence in who we were.

And for an institution with a legacy, such an important American institution, that was really sad to see people walking around without confidence in how good we were.

Now we have an institution that financially is not just stable but doing very well.

Enroll many is the highest it has ever been.

We have some of the largest classes incoming.

We are sending more African-Americans to medical school than anybody else in the country.

And so you really have an institution on the go.

We are on the brink of being an r-1 institution, in my opinion.

Our research enterprise is really doing excellent things and we have some great faculty that we have had.

So we are in a better place and I think some of the swag, like the young people like to say, is back.

>> Jeff: Let's talk about how the hospital got its swag back.

The institution where you trained, I believe, was in financial difficulty and you have turned that around as well.

You are a surgeon.

You needed to do some surgery there.

>> Yeah, and that's one of the reasons why I was probably selected for the job.

The hospital was a big issue.

At that time it represented about a third of the income to 40% of the income coming into the university and therefore ran the risk of dragging the university down if it wasn't doing well.

It wasn't.

Operations were unclear.

Et cetera.

I've spent a lot of time in hospitals as a physician and patient.

Growing up, I have sickle-cell and I spent a lot of time in hospitals and I understand hospitals in a very different way.

I went about asking the board to buy me time.

The interest at that time was to close the interest hospital and sell it.

I said give me some time.

We brought in a consultant and worked on fix is fixing the operations, the blocking and tackling.

We are interesting our 7th year in the black.

The hospital has been doing much better.

We have a partner in Adventis health and on the brink of building a new hospital as well.

So things that 10 years ago I would not have been able to-- I would have been shocked if somebody told me this is what would happen as a result.

>> Jeff: You have launched an $800 million campus development plan.

What are the key components of that?

>> The key components are to improve the facilities all around the campus.

This is going to touch every aspect of the campus.

Academic buildings, will either be brand new or fully renovated.

We started first with the residence halls.

We now have completed all but one residence hall that has undergone a full renovation in the past five or six years and now we are attacking the core facilities.

We have renovated spaces like Douglas hall where we have lots of classroom spaces as well.

The undergraduate library has been renovated and we are going to rebuild our STEM center and health sciences center as part of building a new communication and arts building that will house the Chadwick Boseman College of Fine Arts and Kathy Hughes School of Communication.

So a lot is going to happen on this campus in the next five years.

>> Jeff: I read the profile of you in a university publication that quoted one of your medical colleagues, basically saying, I didn't know he could sell.

They didn't teach salesmanship in medical school.

How did you, I guess, out of necessity, acquire those skills?

>> I'm still not sure how good a salesman I am but what I have learned, if you are passionate about something, the sale is easy and I'm extremely passionate about Howard University and I feel I'm very much a part of it.

I have been part of this place in 1988.

I came here as a 16-year-old.

I know it well.

I think my ability to really capture the essence of what this institution means, not just to me but to the rest of the world, I think, has been a key factor.

So when I talk to donors, I think they really see and feel my passion for it but I also am able to bring them data and results that they can be a part of.

>> Thank you so much to Jeff, Nancy, Charles and sue and everyone who joined us tonight and thank you for watching.

I'm Dr. Kaye Whitehead.

To learn more about HBCU week go to MPT.org/HBCU.

It has been an honor.

Good night.

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