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Mark Bernhard Named Vice Provost for Continuing Education

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Mark BernhardMark Bernhard, associate provost for outreach and engagement at the University of Southern Indiana, has been named vice provost for continuing education, effective August 26, 2019.

NC State Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Warwick Arden officially announced the appointment today. Bernhard will replace interim vice provost Chip Futrell, who will resume his role as director of continuing and professional education.

“Mark’s commitment to higher education will help further elevate our continuing education efforts in accordance with NC State’s strategic plan,” said Arden. “I look forward to working with him to serve faculty, staff and students in a way that continues to demonstrate our commitment to academic excellence and lifelong learning.”

In his most recent position, Bernhard worked to provide transformative leadership, focus, entrepreneurial spirit and strategic vision to direct USI’s Division of Outreach and Engagement. Previously, he served as the director of continuing and professional education for Virginia Tech.

“Building relationships is integral to higher education, and continuing education in particular,” said Bernhard. “As people are living and working longer, they’re going to be looking for more opportunities to enrich their personal and professional lives, and enhance their professional skills, and NC State is the perfect place to do just that.”

Bernhard has spent much of his higher education career advocating for land-grant universities (Virginia Tech and Penn State), with a robust focus on building partnerships and programs for adult learners, entrepreneurial collaboration, and making a positive difference in the lives of individuals, organizations and communities.

For USI, he managed a 50+ person division responsible for the university’s lifelong learning, community engagement and opportunity development initiatives. At Virginia Tech, he oversaw his respective unit’s strategic planning, financial management, new business development and outreach development. Bernhard also managed a 3-year, $17.2 million Youth Science Cooperative Outreach Agreement with the U.S. Army Research Office to conduct STEM outreach nationally to students from elementary school through college years.

While at Penn State, Bernhard created and ran the internationally-covered “Glory Days: A Bruce Springsteen Symposium,” as well as the Outreach and Cooperative Extension Conference (now the Engaged Scholarship Consortium), a national conference focused on fostering engaged scholarship.

At the McKimmon Center for Extension and Continuing Education, Bernhard will coordinate NC State’s continuing education, lifelong learning and professional development initiatives. He will manage the McKimmon Center’s various divisions, which include the Center for Urban Affairs and Community Services, Customized Contractual Education, the McKimmon Conference and Training Center, the Office of Professional Development, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Technology Training Solutions, The Collaborative, and the Upper Coastal Plain Learning Council.

“I like the ambitious, Think and Do nature of NC State, which sets the bar for excellence in continuing education in North Carolina and the country,” said Bernhard. “I am excited about building on the university’s success as a global research institution, as well as working with leadership to positively impact others through continuing education.”

Bernhard, a native of Philadelphia, received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Bucknell University, a Master of Arts in sport management from The Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. in workforce education and development from Penn State.

The McKimmon Center for Extension and Continuing Education serves as a gateway to the vast intellectual and technical resources at NC State. The center has continually evolved to meet the educational needs of individuals, organizations, governmental agencies, and corporations.

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