Expanding opportunities for students is a key goal at Delaware State University (DSU), Delaware’s Historically Black College or University (HBCU). It’s a goal that goes hand in hand with building diversity in STEM professions such as engineering and aviation.
Partnerships with local, national and international corporations and organizations —such as United Airlines, JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, Bayhealth and Droneversity— are making it happen.
“We want students to have as many options as possible,” says Dr. Vita Pickrum, vice president of the Division of Institutional Advancement at DSU. Partnerships are negotiated based on the needs of the school, students and the ever-changing job landscape.
Some partnerships provide needed funding to help students with the cost of schooling, while others provide direct training and job opportunities. The partnerships with United Airlines and Barclays US Consumer Bank are perfect examples.
With United, DSU aviation students can enter the airline’s Aviate program, putting them on the fast track to flying with the third-largest airline in the world. A student must possess a pilot’s license, an FAA medical certificate, and have 1,200 hours of flying time— all expensive qualifiers. Barclays provides grants and scholarships to help defray the costs.
Delaware State University turns out more pilots of color than anywhere else in the United States, says Pickrum.
Drone Pilots Needed
And if flying in an airliner isn’t what students are looking for, then perhaps piloting from the ground is something to consider. Ashlee Cooper, founder of Droneversity, partners with DSU to teach students about a different aviation career field — flying drones.
Agriculture, engineering, real estate and the arts are examples of industries where drones are used, she says. There are about 250,000 FAA-certified drone pilots in the U.S. Of those, only 10% are African American and less than 3% are women of color.
In addition, there are shortages of people in STEM professions, says Cooper. “If you have a drone pilot’s license and a business license, you have a business.”
In 2023, Droneversity received a $50,000 EDGE (Encouraging Development, Growth & Expansion) Grant from the state to help it locate an indoor training facility and expand its programming.
Corporations Look to DSU for Talent
Real working experience is key in the quality of education and in helping students find their careers. The university’s partnership with Delmarva Power through the Community Scholars Program is such a partnership.
The program provides scholar-ships, mentorships and internships to help students get real-world work experience in different aspects of Delmarva Power. Many of the students go on to work with the power company, says Zach Chizar, a Delmarva Power spokesperson. The company has committed $1.8 million to the program.
“We want to make sure our workforce reflects the communities we serve,” says Chizar.
Many times, it’s a partnership with one corporation that brings in another company. It was JPMorgan, a partner that supplies financial literacy programming to DSU, that suggested to United that they look into working with DSU.
“We have built such a brand at DSU that corporations are coming to us looking for talent,” says Pickrum. “We’re always looking for ways to enhance what we are already doing. We want our students to be the first choice of employers.”
Founder, Droneversity
Other partnerships include:
- Capital One donated a building inWilmington to be used as an innovation hub for their science and engineering programs.
- Agilent donated $1 million in state-of-the-art equipment for advanced research in chemistry at DSU. The laboratory instrument and software company also partners to provide mentorship, fellowships and stipends for more than 40 DSU students.
- Bayhealth and ChristianaCare offer students in the school of nursing real-life practicum experience.
