Behind the Title, Getting to Know Dr. Scott Williams

On this episode of the Tech Times podcast we step away from the programs and get to know our Deputy Superintendent and COO Dr. Scott Williams. From his winding career path to his funny story about Minnesota. Hear what his daily role is like and why he is excited to work at Tulsa Tech

Transcript

Announcer: From Tulsa Tech, helping you make your own path with insights and information about the world of career training, the Tech Times Podcast starts right now. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Hey everyone. Welcome to the Tech Times podcast. I'm your host, Ryan Williams. We are taking a quick break from our campus tours this month. We're getting close to the end of the semester, which means winter break is coming and so it seems like a good time to chat with our deputy superintendent and Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Scott Williams. Hey, Dr. Williams. Welcome back to the podcast. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Thank you for having me, Ryan. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Okay, so since we had you last on as a guest, you actually have a new title change as Deputy Superintendent. So for those that may have missed out, can you share a bit about your background?

Ryan Williams (Host): What led you to a career in education and how you ended up at Tulsa Tech? 

Dr. Scott Williams: That'll take some time. Never really intended to go into education. So my undergrad and my master's was in business. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Okay. 

Dr. Scott Williams: And originally, fresh out of the MBA program, I was going to go work for Pfizer as a pharmaceutical drug rep, I went through.

Dr. Scott Williams: A lot of interviews is an extensive interview pro process. , I think I did like nine interviews. . And an individual that was already with the company transferred in from the Chicago market. And so what happens in that case, they kind of, . Kind of freeze you as a candidate so that another district doesn't cannibalize their talent.

Dr. Scott Williams: And so I was in this waiting pattern for another spot to open up and took a job, , just outta necessity at, at Connor State College. So I started, , I did, job development for Connor State College and revamped that department and, you know, the president at the time, Donnie Nero, you know, acknowledged some things that I got done in a short amount of time, about six months, and, and he moved me into a campus administrator position at, , the ripe old age of 24.

Dr. Scott Williams: And so, uh, too young for that position is very challenging because of that. . I mean, I remember the. First month I was in that job, I'd have set in on a wrongful termination deposition. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Oh, wow. 

Dr. Scott Williams: I mean, it was just, you know, baptism by fire, you're thrown out there. , But looking back, it's a great way to earn your stripes.

Dr. Scott Williams: . Because you gotta think when you're, when you're fighting for credibility, you're staying on top of all the details, looking at outcomes and measurables because you're fighting for credibility. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Yeah. I'm sure you had a lot of pushback from professors and other Well, and you notable admit 

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, uh, it's funny you say that.

Dr. Scott Williams: Yeah. Fact. 'cause a lot of the faculty had kids older than me. And so imagine going and trying to talk to them about performance and things. You just, it's hard. It's, you find credibility. . But, so I was there for a couple years and was a little hesitant to stay in education, , because like I said, it wasn't ever my plan.

Dr. Scott Williams: I was actually then looking at law school and was gonna go that route to combine that, , JD with my MBA going to corporate law. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Okay. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Which made a lot of sense to me. And then I went to lunch with, an attorney with Georgia Pacific, and he kind of told me what I didn't know. What wasn't in the law school books.

Dr. Scott Williams: Kind of a, this is what you can expect for X amount of time when you go into the legal profession. And that part really, you know, from an industry, , experienced attorney and corporate law didn't appeal to me, so, and so, , that caused me to do an assessment of where I was at, kind of what my competition looked like in education, how I could differentiate.

Dr. Scott Williams: And that caused me to kind of go that PhD route. I was able to do that and then I worked, I, I sat on a lot, several committees in, , the Muskogee area with some folks from the technology center. He's passed away now, but Earl, Earl Garrison was the superintendent there at the time and then retired and ran for the Senate, got the Senate seat, and then Tom Styles was the superintendent.

Dr. Scott Williams: And that, those two had a hand in kind of bringing me over the career tech side. . And so, , I really like career tech because you gotta remember my background. Originally being in business, you're talking about workforce development and kind of aligning industry and education. And so to me that made so much sense of connecting those dots for me in terms of my interests, my background,

Dr. Scott Williams: expertise. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Yeah. It seems like, uh, the, the things tend tend to line up, 

Dr. Scott Williams: right? Yeah. And so I was at, , Indian Capital for, for quite a while. . Actually, it was a weird story. Took a job in Texas, got board approved, met my staff, had my ID ready to go, and then Indian Capital kind of reworked some things for me to stay, so I had to resign from a job that I hadn't like physically worked at.

Dr. Scott Williams: It was a weird day. 

Ryan Williams (Host): You weren't even there like a day. 

Dr. Scott Williams: No. Well, I was, I went down there, but. And it was board approved, but I hadn't, and I had my office and everything, but I hadn't actually went there and worked today. And so it was a weird deal. I had to resign and not having not worked. And then, , but anyways, I stayed Indian Capital and then, I was still, I still had this desire just to get different experiences.

Dr. Scott Williams: So I took a job in Colorado. . And, , the same type of thing happened. And then Indian Capital kind of reworked some things and I went ahead and stayed again. And then it got to the point where I wanted, some different experiences because at that time in my career there, I didn't want to, I didn't want to be so limiting and exposing, , myself to kind of like these, these variable, , these variable positions that you gain just such.

Dr. Scott Williams: Tremendous knowledge, you know, experience in, and, and one of those was a highly unionized environment, which is why I went to Minnesota. 

Dr. Scott Williams: 'Cause Minnesota was highly unionized. And then, , you know, you had things like shared governance and a lot of committee work. It was just a different admin structure.

Dr. Scott Williams: And then that state system was a large, condensed kind of, unified system where like in Oklahoma it would be like one state system that had all tech centers, all regional universities and all community colleges under one state system. . That was MnSCU at the time. Yeah. And so it was real interesting.

Dr. Scott Williams: I wanted that experience in that environment. So, you know, I went up there as a chief workforce officer, also a dean of academic affairs. And, it was, it was interesting because you have. You know, most institutions that are unionized, you have a faculty union, which we had. We also had a union for, middle management.

Dr. Scott Williams: So directors had their own union. Which was unique. And then you had two different unions for, , office support. And so each,

Ryan Williams (Host): that's very interesting in that structure, how they set up

Dr. Scott Williams: Yeah. Each of 'em had different contracts. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Yeah. Typically where I've worked, it's been just the institution.

Ryan Williams (Host): Or the workplace that had a, a one union, set.

Dr. Scott Williams: Right. 

Dr. Scott Williams: And then, you know, the other, the other difference really is we negotiate locally and so we're really. , Able to identify challenges and issues, work through those and then, you know, put language in place, that kind of benefits the two groups.

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, there, everything was negotiated at the state level. So, you know, when you are at , a high level and you push things down, sometimes you're doing so without the knowledge of, let's say local challenges. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Sure. So when you push down what's happening, boots on the ground. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Exactly, yeah. So when you push down those, those contracts, then the local colleges are forced to try to make 'em work.

Dr. Scott Williams: And then so you, you have this natural push and pull in the implementation of that. And I think in those particular areas where you get really valuable experience. . Because nothing is as simple as what it seems to be. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Oh, of course. Right? 

Dr. Scott Williams: Yeah. And then it also, it puts you in a position where you have to value multiple voices.

Dr. Scott Williams: You got the state voice, your, whichever union voice. You're the person who's actually in that organization's voice. You're institution like, you're getting, you're getting all, all this, , consensus built. . And it, forces you to have a different way of, uh, making decisions and getting to the solution.

Dr. Scott Williams: So I found that to be a very valuable experience. 

Ryan Williams (Host): So how did you end up at Tulsa Tech? I mean, I know you've been at Indian Capital, but I mean, and, and familiar with the career tech system here in the state, but . Why Tulsa? 

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, it was weird. It was a weird deal. , Like I said, I was in Minnesota and then I, they had a change in, and state director.

Dr. Scott Williams: And so I actually,, interviewed for the state director position. , And that was,

Ryan Williams (Host): they meaning 

Dr. Scott Williams: the oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education. And so, um. Interviewed with the state board for that position. And, there was some former colleagues I worked with that, through that process, found out I was interested in coming back to Oklahoma.

Dr. Scott Williams: And so, at that time, Thomas Styles former superintendent, , visited with Steve and told him that and, and, . Then, you know, Tulsa Tech had a position that had, that had come open. Well, I was familiar with Tulsa Tech for my time in, the technology center system, and what appealed to me in regards to the Tulsa Tech district was just the opportunity to have an impact.

Dr. Scott Williams: You know, if you think about our district. In comparison to other tech centers. One, it's a, it's somewhat of a conglomerate, meaning you're, you're countywide, right? 

Ryan Williams (Host): Yeah. 

Dr. Scott Williams: For, a large county. And then you have characteristics of multiple tech centers. So if you compare us to the Oklahoma City market, you know, you got Francis Tuttle, Moore Norman Metro Tech, you know, Canadian Valley, we have characteristics of all of those, right?

Dr. Scott Williams: And then, so you're dealing with another unique set of challenges. , And so just the, the opportunity to have a, a significant impact and, you know, be a contributor to the institution is what appealed to me. The other thing is, you know, you go through a couple winters up north and your perspective changes.

Ryan Williams (Host): Oh, come on. I'm from up north. 

Dr. Scott Williams: I mean. Yeah, there was, there was one I went to one time stands out more so than others, but I went to get gas one time and it was, I think it was like 24 below. And , the, you know, the pump, the hand, 

Ryan Williams (Host): was that wind chill or not? 

Dr. Scott Williams: No, that's without windshield. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Yeah, I know. Yeah, it gets cold.

Dr. Scott Williams: I don't know what it is with windshield, but, so the pump, the handle, you couldn't get gas. It was frozen. The pump was frozen. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Yep. 

Dr. Scott Williams: I don't mean frozen. Like there was, you know, rain and sleet where it's iced, I mean, it's frozen from the cold. . You couldn't lift it off. Yeah. And you could just fill it in your bones.

Dr. Scott Williams: And I was like, what? What am I doing here? This is terrible. The weather's terrible. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Welcome to my childhood. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Yeah. And then, and then talking to some staff, they was like, you know, this is the, like the most mildest winter we've had in like 20 years. Yeah. I was like, okay. 

Ryan Williams (Host): So the title, deputy Superintendent for some can sound a bit lofty and mysterious.

Ryan Williams (Host): How would you describe what you actually do day to day? 

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, it's, it is, it's, I agree with what you're saying. For sure. It, it's, , somewhat nuanced, right? There's a, there's a lot of things that fall under that. , If you look at previous models where you have, multiple associate superintendents and then those positions are, are a little more focused in terms of the scope .

Dr. Scott Williams: That, , that they cover. , This one is somewhat more generalized and then those that focus on scope like executive directors are closer to the work. And so I think that helps us make informed decisions because you're trying to. , You're trying to shrink the org chart. You're trying to compress it.

Dr. Scott Williams: Right. And get as close as you can to the work itself because Well, just like in business, if you know what your consumer wants or what the challenge is the consumer is experiencing . Then you're able to make better business decisions, right. To serve that consumer. Same thing if you're serving students 

Ryan Williams (Host): for sure.

Dr. Scott Williams: And so that was part of the consideration with. With the design of the model. , But in terms of, of of my position, it, it is varied because now instead of the three associate superintendents, I'm kind of covering all of those areas. So it may be. You know, like last week, , I was presenting at a legislative interim study trying to get more funding for our system, which then would help Tulsa Tech get funding because we're a big part of that system.

Ryan Williams (Host): We'll get into that a little bit later, 

Dr. Scott Williams: so it goes from, you know, a high level of that to, I'm in a meeting discussing a, uh, a specific issue with a specific student. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Hmm. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Right. And so it's kind of one of those things where part of the time you may be working at the strategic level and then looking at, okay, what can we do to, drive those metrics that are visible at the state level, right.

Dr. Scott Williams: To make sure that, that we're demonstrating a strong ROI for the taxpayer and at the same time. We have a student that has a transportation issue. . You know, and so let's, let's get down to that service level and figure out a solution for that person. 

Ryan Williams (Host): So, just so we can kind of get into some of the details, what are some of those key areas that you oversee and how do those responsibilities connect to that student experience?

Dr. Scott Williams: Sure. So if you look at the org chart in terms of the executive director level. They're all, , mutually exclusive and they're focused in specific areas, right? So you have campus administration instructional support, which is Ms. Peaster area, Debby Peaster. And then, , Randy Craven is, , partner school relations.

Dr. Scott Williams: Right. And, and as well as student services. But, our student affairs is I think, how we, how we worded it. But he also has a delivery arm, which is different. So he also is over a delivery arm of our extension programs, which is a big part of what we do. But what we found is that that is unique enough in that it's so closely tied to our partner schools.

Dr. Scott Williams: That it made so much sense for Randy to kind of be that head, because he's connecting the dots locally with the partner school piece and our extension programs. . And then, uh, Matt Litterell being over Workforce economic development, which, is a lot that flows under and is one of the things that differentiates a tech center from other educational institutions.

Ryan Williams (Host): Right. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Particularly when industry is involved in, recruiting companies to the area and things of that nature. It's very much we do things in, WED. That other institutions, , don't do, it's not just a, , distinctive competency as a differentiator for us. 

Dr. Scott Williams: So it's, it's a very valuable, valuable part of what we do.

Dr. Scott Williams: And then Chris Johnson being over auxiliary services. There's a lot of things that are super important, but that you may not appreciate as much when they work. It's like electricity for sure. Nobody complains about the electric till it goes out, right?

Ryan Williams (Host): That's right.

Dr. Scott Williams: So thing, things like IT and, you know, your, construction area, whether it's new or or remodeling and transportation. I mean, our transportation, challenges for a district this size are substantial. 

Ryan Williams (Host): They are for sure. 

Ryan Williams (Host): So if timing and logistics alone a bit, 

Dr. Scott Williams: right? Yeah, a lot goes into it. . So if you think about the, the broadness of those areas, but then again, you go back to my point of where, part of the time you may be at the strategic level, but then when necessary, you gotta jump down, , and then get close to that decision so that you can ensure that we're, we're going down the right path as a district.

Dr. Scott Williams: So, , it may be, I'm talking with Chris Johnson about a water leak. Right. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Yeah. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Or, or, you know, my next meeting is with the state director and we're talking about program modification funding formula. So it, it, it varies, but I think that nuanced approach of connecting the dots when all those things are, are coming into play allows for, I think a greater understanding when you're making those decisions, because you're looking at things holistically. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Is that something that you enjoy being, you know, down in the weeds sometimes, but then up, you know, doing the strategic planning stuff as well? 

Dr. Scott Williams: Yeah, I think, well, yeah, so I think a lot of people would perceive me just to be a data person.

Dr. Scott Williams: Like I walk around with a pocket protector 

Ryan Williams (Host): You don't 

Dr. Scott Williams: No, no, no. But, , but it's what, but think about this, but think about this. The, , my, a lot of times my focus on data is the necessity because I'm trying to make informed decisions. And so many times when you have a district of substantial size, if you don't have data that's generalizable, you can't.

Dr. Scott Williams: Tease out individual themes and narratives to make that informed decision. And so, , it's more about like what you're talking about, that nuanced approach of being at a strategic level and getting down and making really good operational decisions. To me, it just comes back to being well informed.

Dr. Scott Williams: And doing that. 'cause sometimes you don't know what you don't know. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Oh, of course. 

Dr. Scott Williams: And so you have to have a certain level of curiosity and wanting to, . Go into these situations with an open mind. . And let the information and the facts drive where you need to go. 

Ryan Williams (Host): You talked a little bit earlier about the four executive directors and I'm sure there, there's, there's some support from them for our clients and partner schools and all of that, because now they have some one person they can reach out to .

Ryan Williams (Host): When they might have issues. But how do those executive directors. Help you also, maybe with some efficiencies and some of those decision making processes? 

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, they're all super competent, very talented people. They wouldn't be in their positions if they weren't. And so there's a tremendous amount of trust that we share.

Dr. Scott Williams: So when we're talking, you know, something that's from concept to classroom. There's a lot in between that, right? So when you're talking about concept, that may be at the strategy level, but there's a lot of work that has to happen all the way down to the faculty level 

Ryan Williams (Host): devil's in the details, always

Dr. Scott Williams: with whatever innovation we're talking about, or modification or change or whatever it is.

Dr. Scott Williams: There's a lot of work that has to happen, particularly down to the faculty level. So how you bridge that gap, you gotta be able to trust people. Who you work with, that they're going, they're gonna carry the intent with them, right? 

Ryan Williams (Host): Right. 

Dr. Scott Williams: , It's like playing telephone. . The message changes by the time it gets to the last person.

Dr. Scott Williams: So that's the same thing. If we're having a strategy session and we're talking about what we wanna be able to do. The, if, if that goes through multiple layers, it gets diluted a little bit. Right? . And so, and sometimes it should because you're putting more voices into that process. So, so sometimes it's an evolution of it, but in terms of the direction and where you're trying to get, because it, it's a, a solution driven approach, you gotta keep that part in mind.

Dr. Scott Williams: So there's a tremendous amount of trust and, going from concept of classroom with those folks and, and, they're just really, really competent people. That do a good job for us. 

Ryan Williams (Host): What does collaboration look like between you, the superintendent and other district leaders?

Dr. Scott Williams: For me in particular, collaboration starts with, sincerity and trust.

Dr. Scott Williams: And, , when I talk with folks, when I collaborate with them, I'm I'll very easily share my perspective. And be honest about it. There won't be a lot of rhetoric and sometimes, , what I share is not necessarily what someone wants to hear, but they respect what I'm sharing because I can always answer the question why, and I'm not rigid or stuck in that perspective.

Dr. Scott Williams: You know, I could be flexible and change when new information becomes available, when somebody has a better idea. 'cause a lot of my ideas aren't the best, right? I, I can be flexible in that way, but when we collaborate, they know that I'm being truthful, honest with them, sincere, and that they can depend on that type of communication.

Dr. Scott Williams: I think if you don't have that type of communication, it's more difficult to collaborate because you don't know where is this person really aligning. Is it? Was it one of those things where they tell me that they support it and then when we leave the meeting. Maybe not so much . , You know, or is it really honest feedback?

Dr. Scott Williams: And then, , we all kind of have a few dissenting points and we deconstruct this idea, we, we put it back together and then when they do leave the meeting, they are really supportive of it and they're going to carry it out of that room. Like it's their idea, 

Dr. Scott Williams: themselves. So that collaborative piece, I think it does come down to effective communication and just being upfront, honest.

Ryan Williams (Host): Yeah. It's hard to read between the lines. So, , being honest and. Forthcoming with everyone is absolutely really important. Yeah. We talked about this a little bit before, but how do you personally balance big picture, strategic work with that boots on the ground decisions that come up every day? I mean, I know it's, it's very different skillset.

Ryan Williams (Host): How do you balance that? 

Dr. Scott Williams: Yeah, I think first you start with the concept, , or the philosophy or the strategy and then, and then you can work down, but you work backwards from that also. And what I mean by that is if you can de deconstruct it, so let's say if I have a strategy or a concept I wanna implement, that goes all the way down to the classroom.

Dr. Scott Williams: Would it great if I could just stop with that one way flow from top to bottom, but I think you have to then work back from bottom up and deconstruct what that means for the student. 

Ryan Williams (Host): What's the impact? 

Dr. Scott Williams: What's the impact? How does the faculty member manage that? We already, we already put a lot on our faculty members.

Dr. Scott Williams: They do a lot. You're talking about advisory committee CTSOs. If you actually cut up a faculty member's day and look at how much discretionary time they have, it's not a lot. . So you gotta be cognizant of. What is what you're doing adding value? And, is it an equal trade for what you're giving up in terms of that faculty member that's putting time on that task versus a different one?

Dr. Scott Williams: So I think if you don't do that two-way analysis, then you're missing a. Big part of the picture. And to me, those institutions that have leaders that don't do that is where they create frustrations in the classroom. Because faculty start to think, well, they don't understand what I have to deal with. Do they understand my schedule?

Dr. Scott Williams: I've got one planning period and then half of that's taken up. But 'cause I'm talking to students and doing this, I don't have a ton of great papers. I gotta take those home. There's all these complications, that are associated with that. And it's because you don't work down and then back up. 

Ryan Williams (Host): So let's get back to the work on the state level.

Ryan Williams (Host): You work on the state level, at the state level on a number of projects, , including an update to the funding formula you mentioned earlier from the State Department. How do all those things help Tulsa Tech? 

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, so you gotta think about the 29 different tech center districts. They're all very unique and I think, I think when you're putting things together at the state level, you need varied perspectives.

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, one of the very perspectives is Tulsa tech perspective. We don't have a lot of, apples to apples comparators in the states. Like I said, it's very different. The, the closest one or the closest thing you could do is I think, combine a lot of the characteristics of the multiple Oklahoma City based tech centers.

Dr. Scott Williams: I think the voice of Tulsa Tech is important to have because it is somewhat of an outlier in the state, unique challenges. Unique benefits too, and a large contributor to the overall, productivity of tech centers. . In terms of enrollments, 

Ryan Williams (Host): one in five enrollments across the state, that sort of thing.

Dr. Scott Williams: Yeah, absolutely. . So it's important to have that voice and we just try to be a good partner because a, a strong state system benefits all the tech centers. We want that. And then, you know, we want a good, a good mix of voices of a smaller rural tech center, you know, a middle size tech center, a large metro based tech center.

Dr. Scott Williams: And that gives you more of a, more of a thorough understanding of, let's say, how a change in the state rule would impact these tech centers 

Ryan Williams (Host): For sure. Is that some of the work that you're kind of doing with, , in the monthly superintendents meetings Yeah. And committees and stuff? 

Dr. Scott Williams: Yeah, so one of the, one of the committees that I serve on is the state rules committee.

Dr. Scott Williams: I don know, I don't know if. , Folks know, but we do have, , a state rule book for a career tech. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Oh, wow. And, , how thick is that guy? 

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, it's not that thick. It's not that thick, but it's, it's, there's quite a bit to it. But an interesting, um, fact is that actually goes all the way to governor's desk for approval.

Dr. Scott Williams: . So the, the state rules go to the state board and ultimately goes to the governor, just like your SDE state rules would. Right? . And so, um. The, the, uh, state director Brent Haken, he appreciates, , feedback from the field and, and he's very, . , He's a very good leader in that. He, he looks at those challenges and he tries to land on, , a solution that has the greatest benefit.

Dr. Scott Williams: I mean, you're never going to check all the boxes, but kind of the greatest benefit. So one of the things he does is leverages committees to inform some of his work. And so the rules committee is an example of that where you have multiple, . Tech center sups that are, that are on that. And, we work through kind of like what you would do policy work here.

Dr. Scott Williams: Okay. You're working through, okay. What language needs to change? What are the implications of that change in language? How would this be operationalized? You know, you see

Ryan Williams (Host): from a legal perspective or just more, 

Dr. Scott Williams: Not just from a legal perspective, but from an operational perspective in terms of, let's say if you made a change on, .

Dr. Scott Williams: , Let's, let's, this is a hypothetical. Right. Not that it's happening, but let's say you put some restrictions on, , capacity for a program type. Let's say there was a, , an increase in concern for safety. Because this particular program was, prone to having occupational hazards and a lot of accidents, right?

Dr. Scott Williams: So you decrease the capacity. So one of the things you would look at is how that would impact tech centers, right? Things like wait lists locally, , you know, is that a, would that cause you to have a lot of unused square footage and labs? I mean, you try to operationalize these things to understand the implications, 

Ryan Williams (Host): for sure.

Ryan Williams (Host): Well, let's take a quick break. When we come back, we'll look even bigger picture. Maybe have a little fun. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Sure.

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Ryan Williams (Host): All right. Welcome back. We are chatting with Deputy Superintendent and Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Scott Williams. Scott, before the break, we talked about your work on the state level and your role with executive directors. What's your why? What do you find most fulfilling and rewarding about your role?

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, my why I think goes back to just why I really enjoyed career tech when I first got into it. Combining that workforce development piece with education and I personally believe that a lot of the challenges we have socially. are economic derivatives, meaning, , people in poverty have challenges.

Dr. Scott Williams: And then the things that we can do in career tech to get people out of poverty to a well-paying job where they're part of the middle class working group, I think solves a lot of issues. It breaks a lot of cycles, and so the why for me, , whether we're talking about, so lemme give you an example, Ryan, if I'm looking at, .

Dr. Scott Williams: You know what our return on investment is for a program? Yeah. There's metrics behind it, there's data behind it. But the why behind all of that is I wanna be sure that we're giving as many students as we can an opportunity to have a direct path to that middle class. Because for a lot of 'em, it's life changing, it's cycle breaking, and it sets them and their kids up for success in the long term.

Dr. Scott Williams: So the why for me goes down to that student level and the outcome that they get from the work that we. That we do here in the district. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Yeah. We see a lot of those stories each and every year and, and we're lucky enough we get to share those stories with the general public. So it is so cool to see those lives changed.

Ryan Williams (Host): When you look at, where education is headed, what trends or shifts do you think will have the biggest impact on students in the next five years? 

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, the term that's used all over the place right now is artificial intelligence for sure. And I think the challenge with AI is that it's, , so broadly defined at the moment.

Ryan Williams (Host): Yeah. You know, it's hard to tell what it is, right?

Dr. Scott Williams: It, yeah. It's, it's all over the place and it's being, it's becoming embedded in everything we do, even in our, , email system when you have predictive text to finish your sentence. . 

Ryan Williams (Host): Yep. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Google, you know, if you do online searches or whatever.

Ryan Williams (Host): It's predicting what you want, what they think you might wanna say. Yeah. So that's, 

Dr. Scott Williams: that's artificial intelligence itself. And so what will be interesting to see, is post projections where that goes. And the reason I say that, and the reason why I don't jump too far out in front of industry, is because if you think about what we do, we align to.

Dr. Scott Williams: Particular jobs, right? Like every one of our programs on the full-time side has to have a SOC code, for example, 

Ryan Williams (Host): right? Uh, 

Dr. Scott Williams: so we align to particular jobs and our training mirrors what you experience in industry. So as industry adopts these technologies, so will we in the classroom, 'cause you train for that industry.

Dr. Scott Williams: The reason I say it'll be interesting to see what happens post projection, I tie it back to, . The early two thousands when nanotechnology was gonna take over the world. Right? Yeah. I remember going to a workforce conference and they said, , you're gonna have, you know, , self-repairing paint, self-repairing auto panels, , what's that gonna happen to auto collision professionals?

Dr. Scott Williams: . They said that you were going to take a, satellite instead of launching into orbit, you're gonna bounce it into orbit. And so nanotechnology was gonna rule the world. At the time they said Norman was in the top 10 in terms of areas from nanotechnology research. , You had a couple institutions that went heavy in that area, very expensive equipment.

Dr. Scott Williams: And so as things developed and that industry matured, it started to develop in ways that weren't what was projected. So imagine if you preceded industry adoption like some institutions did, and then all of a sudden, your training that you're providing is not what's needed in the industry. Not only that, you spent a lot of money on some equipment.

Ryan Williams (Host): I Mean, it's, I was just gonna say that investment, right? 

Dr. Scott Williams: Right. So I, I think it's a balance of being, being ahead of understanding where you think it's going. Things are going to go, but hurry up and wait until you see the adoption occur. 'cause what what we don't want to do is train people for jobs that don't exist.

Dr. Scott Williams: Right. We have a 94% placement rate, and that's a great outcome for the students. So we typically work backwards. You start the job and you work back to the program. Now, there's some things where there's transferable skills, for example. In our BIS division, , you know, we have a, a grant program where they're doing training on drones, drone systems, and things of that nature.

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, there's not a lot of drone work that's prevalent through throughout the US right now. There's projections for that to be, however, the, the components and the competencies, the components you work on, the competencies that you develop in the drone program are transferrable to other areas. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Such as 

Dr. Scott Williams: industrial maintenance.

Dr. Scott Williams: So if you've got hydraulics, pneumatics, , sensors, things of that nature, your competency is transferable. So while you may be trained for an emerging industry, you can go get a job in an existing one. 

Ryan Williams (Host): What does success look like to you, not just in terms of data, but in the kind of culture you hope to build across the district?

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, first lemme say I, I think when you get down to the classroom. We already have a great culture, I think our faculty care about their students. You hardly see, students talk with such pride about their faculty members as you do here . I mean, you know that when you interview 'em.

Dr. Scott Williams: And matter of fact, lemme tell you, , we were in a legislative presentation just yesterday and there was an individual that, he was an elected official. Right. , Younger guy. So he was very, he's been very successful thus far. , Started his own business, ran for office, and you know who he said his favorite teacher was?

Dr. Scott Williams: Arlynda Sexton. He went through, he went through her, program, ended up starting his own business and, you know, done a lot of things since then. But still remembers Arlynda still remembers the impact she had on him, and he carried those skill sets and that tutelage with him on into his , position as an elected official.

Dr. Scott Williams: That's one of a ton of examples, but my point is, I think culturally, you, you are in a really good place with what we do. And how we do it. I think a lot of times, just like any, . Any family, any large family, there's always areas for improvement. , And then, you know, if you poll somebody, they could probably tell you 10 to 20 areas they'd like to see improved.

Ryan Williams (Host): Which could change on a given day, could 

Dr. Scott Williams: change on a given day. Yeah. And so I think what's problematic is if you, if you misconstrue, , some of our team members desire to improve and get better, if you misconstrue that with culture, then you're, then you're, you're merging two concepts that aren't the same.

Ryan Williams (Host): Sure. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Right. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Yeah. I mean, I think our culture is, um, is in a really good place. And the important thing is to, uh, just foster that. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Right, . Build that momentum. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Continue to build on that momentum. Yeah. And the folks that want to improve that see deficits, take those seriously. You know, some of the, some of the, some of the best feedback you ever get is sidebar conversations of, Hey, have you ever thought about ?

Dr. Scott Williams: Hey, one thing I noticed. , Man, some of those ideas are great 

Ryan Williams (Host): outside the office. Dr. Williams, what do you do to relax? Do you have any hobbies that help you unwind? 

Dr. Scott Williams: You know, , I wish I, my time is, , completely consumed with my kids' athletic schedule. It really is. , 

Ryan Williams (Host): Yeah. As it as it's going to be. Yes.

Dr. Scott Williams: And so it's a grind. And I feel, I mean, there's, there's weekends where I feel like I played the games because I'm so tired. And, , that's going to get worse as he gets out of middle school into high school with travel ball and multiple sports. And when you get on these, , national travel teams, you're in a different state every weekend.

Dr. Scott Williams: . And so it's a grind and, and, um, I don't have a lot of hobbies. I mean, I'm a. 

Ryan Williams (Host): I've heard rumors about classic cars and working out and things like that. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, well that's true, but here's the, but here's the deal. Yes. You know, so yeah. Lifting weights and stuff, we, I do that every morning with my wife. .

Dr. Scott Williams: But in terms of, in terms of hobbies, I'm a car person, but as my wife will tell you, my truck has been sitting in my garage and I have, I haven't, , I haven't replaced the brake booster and master cylinder. It's been like a year and a half. And it's not that I don't want to do that because I enjoy it, but it's every, if it's not pitching practice, it's hitting practice.

Dr. Scott Williams: It's a tournament. And, and so, , but here's, here's what I've learned, Ryan. And I, I went through that same thing with my daughter when, when she was playing travel softball on into college. , It goes by so fast. 

Ryan Williams (Host): It does. 

Dr. Scott Williams: And so my And you've had a son that you've done that with. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Yeah. 

Dr. Scott Williams: And so my perception with, the time I spent on my son is different because I know it is fleeting.

Ryan Williams (Host): It's finite for sure. It goes by so quick. 

Dr. Scott Williams: And so while I'm always tired and it's a grind, I really enjoy it. And I, I know it's gonna be shortlived. 

Ryan Williams (Host): So I had an old colleague that told me one time, and I tell this all the time, , to other folks, , think how fast those first 10 years went, and then remember that the, the second 10 till they hit 20

Ryan Williams (Host): are gonna go high so much faster. . Not only 'cause they get older, but then they can drive and then they're gone. They're just gone. . So, , it's really wild how finite that time is. . Okay. Latest book you have read. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, so I, I've got, so here's the, here's the catch, here's the deal here. Um, I've gotten in more, you can 

Ryan Williams (Host): say you haven't read a book, right?

Dr. Scott Williams: Well, no. Here's what I'm getting at. I've gotten into audio books. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Oh, me too. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Yeah. And, and so I do that on my commute a lot of times, and then I, I got into, well, how can I consume more information and less time? 

Ryan Williams (Host): Did you, do you fast forward 'em? 

Dr. Scott Williams: No, I, there's an app that I'll use called Blinkist. Okay. And so what Blinkist does is it'll give you like a 15 to 20 minute.

Dr. Scott Williams: Um, overview or like cliff note version of, of books. 

Ryan Williams (Host): And so we're not reading books,

Dr. Scott Williams: well, we're reading the summary, so to speak, but here's what happens. You can get all these, you can get all the great concepts and kind of get the gist of these books. And then what happens is if you become really interested in, in one of those, you can go get the full book and do a deep dive and, and do that kind of thing.

Ryan Williams (Host): So have you found one recently that's. Interesting.

Dr. Scott Williams: I've been, to be honest, I've been listening to like three or four different books at the summary level. Oh, wow. Concept wise. But I will tell you this, I, , and then like Malcolm Gladwell podcast and Freakonomics Radio. Sure. I listen to all the, but I will tell you this, for whatever reason, I never, I never read fiction.

Dr. Scott Williams: And, , I'll watch documentaries and, and, , listen to kind of that factual based, , stuff. Even, even the book, 

Ryan Williams (Host): you don't really 

Ryan Williams (Host): seem to be a fantasy land kind of guy 

Ryan Williams (Host): anyway,

Dr. Scott Williams: so, , I'm really, I'm really not. I don't know. It's just kind of a weird thing I guess. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Do you have a book that you, um, kind of always recommend?

Ryan Williams (Host): No more what to someone? 

Dr. Scott Williams: I always, yeah, 

Dr. Scott Williams: and this is an old one, but I always recommend Jim Collins. Good to Great. That's an old one. Jim Collins was a, was a Stanford professor and if you track that book. It basically takes companies that were in a good position, but then made a transition to be a great company, and then they looked at commonalities between them to, to tease out different concepts.

Ryan Williams (Host): What's your 

Ryan Williams (Host): summary of that, book well, what are the things that. Yeah, they tease out 

Dr. Scott Williams: well. So one of them, one of 'em is level five leadership and it, it breaks down the different types of leaders. But one of the characteristics of level five leadership is they always put the institution first. So if they were a CEO of a very large corporation, , it wasn't that they were this boisterous personality.

Dr. Scott Williams: They always put the institution first or put their teammates first. And so, um, that was a good concept. There's a, this, this, hedgehog concept, , the flywheel, there's a lot of stuff that come outta that book, but the best thing if someone wanted to dig into that is like their first leadership book.

Dr. Scott Williams: They also, we also produce a, a nonprofit monograph or monogram that that, that goes with it, that takes all the concepts from the business leadership side and applies, applies them in a nonprofit setting so that you can make, that, you can kind of jump that chasm and, connect the dots on that for sure.

Dr. Scott Williams: So, that, that, that's always a good one. I read a book a long time ago that I thought was a great leadership book called is by Jack Welch, who was the former GE, CEO. . And had tremendous growth at GE during a time when the industry wasn't growing. It's called Straight From the Gut. And it was just interesting for me to see how, , how they looked at things at a high level.

Dr. Scott Williams: And down into that operational level. So straight from, it's an old book, but it is still a good one. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Well, it was a time when I think GE was pretty, it was struggling. It was such a large conglomerate. . And they were, they were having problems being so large, I think at that 

Ryan Williams (Host): time.

Dr. Scott Williams: Yeah. And then see Yeah, you're exactly right.

Dr. Scott Williams: See, Jack Welch was actually a, a PhD , chemist. 

Dr. Scott Williams: . 

Dr. Scott Williams: And so if you think about, , your normal CEO, they're typically not PhD chemists, usually not from the hard sciences. And, you know, those, those folks tend to be researchers and, and things. So that part appealed to me because I kind of have a natural curiosity to dig into, to issues and try to understand them.

Ryan Williams (Host): Okay, it's December and that means the holidays are almost here. Um, let's play a little rapid fire. So which one do you think is better? Rudolph or Frosty? 

Dr. Scott Williams: . Rudolph. It just sticks in my head. More 

Ryan Williams (Host): Chocolate chip or iced cookies. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Chocolate chip 

Ryan Williams (Host): eggnog or Nah, that's nasty. 

Dr. Scott Williams: That's nasty. 

Ryan Williams (Host): I agree.

Ryan Williams (Host): Real tree or artificial? 

Dr. Scott Williams: Artificial. Just easier. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Do you like giving or getting gifts? More. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Give, get getting, getting gifts. I went back and forth on that one. 

Ryan Williams (Host): What song instantly puts you in the holiday Spirit? 

Dr. Scott Williams: Mm, probably Silent Night. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Best holiday movie. And don't say Die Hard. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Oh, the one, no. Yeah, exactly.

Dr. Scott Williams: Is that a Christmas movie? Uh, no. It's the one with the, um, Christmas story. 

Ryan Williams (Host): Awesome. Well, Dr. Williams, thanks again for joining us today on Tech Times Podcast. We appreciate you being here. 

Dr. Scott Williams: Sure. Thank you. 

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