{"id":16534,"date":"2025-12-01T01:50:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T09:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/?p=16534"},"modified":"2026-02-16T15:59:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T23:59:18","slug":"techready-collaborative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/2025\/12\/01\/techready-collaborative\/","title":{"rendered":"New TechReady Collaborative Moves Carson Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Robert Crossler<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

As technology continues to reshape every industry, the Carson College recognized a need to better communicate and coordinate its tech-forward initiatives. Launched this fall, the new Carson College of Business (CCB) TechReady Collaborative aims to align strengths across research, teaching, and industry partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cParents want to hear that we are paying attention to what their students need to be successful when they graduate,\u201d says Robert Crossler<\/a>, chair of the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship, and inaugural director of the collaborative. \u201cWe’ve been doing that, but we needed to do a better job of communicating how we\u2019re preparing students to meet new challenges, especially related to new technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bringing a unified vision to emerging technology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Crossler had observed a recurring issue\u2014Carson faculty, staff, and students were engaging with artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, but their efforts were often siloed. Without a coordinated way to share new processes and projects internally, the college risked duplicating efforts and missing opportunities to collaborate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address these issues, the college launched the CCB TechReady Collaborative to provide a central hub that brings together student-facing innovation, faculty development, research, and external engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its name is deliberately broad. While artificial intelligence may be a driving force now, Crossler says the goal is to prepare the college for whatever comes next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTechnology doesn\u2019t stop advancing,\u201d he says. \u201cWe need to be intentional about looking forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hub for learning, research, and collaboration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The TechReady Collaborative employs students to help faculty test tools, troubleshoot workflows, and document processes so best practices can be shared more widely. Faculty interested in experimenting with AI tools\u2014whether for research, instruction, or administrative work\u2014can access support tools created by peers and the student assistants. When it comes to instruction, Crossler says Carson students will benefit from instructors who are purposeful and informed and from classwork that\u2019s more relevant to emerging technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, those same students gain valuable exposure to industry-relevant tools and knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November, the collaborative launched AI@Carson, a hands-on workshop where students learned how to craft effective prompts, critically assess AI-generated content, and explore ways generative AI can address real business challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen these students are seeking internships or jobs, they\u2019re going to be able to speak directly to employers about how they foresee utilizing these technologies in the workplace,\u201d Crossler says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparing for What Comes Next<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While it is a key focus, Crossler says the collaborative\u2019s mission extends beyond AI. Technologies like robotics and quantum computing are already on the horizon, and the collaborative aims to build the relationships and internal culture that will help the college stay ahead of the curve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crossler envisions a flexible platform that evolves with both campus needs and global developments. Fireside chats, external speaker series, asynchronous learning opportunities, and industry input are all on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initiative is grounded in a mindset of lifelong learning\u2014teaching students not just how to use tools, but how to leverage, adapt, and build new systems as they emerge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudents really develop the skill of learning\u2014like how to use new technologies and other things,\u201d Crossler says. \u201cI could teach you a programming language today and before we know it, the industry is using a different programming language tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the long run, the collaborative may become a way for the Carson College to speak more clearly to prospective students, employers, and donors about advances it\u2019s making in the tech space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf parents see how we\u2019re thinking, they\u2019re going to say, \u2018I want my kid to go there,\u2019\u201d Crossler says. \u201cIf our alumni are seeing this, they\u2019re going to talk about how WSU actually is leading the way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As technology continues to reshape every industry, the Carson College recognized a need to better communicate and coordinate its tech-forward initiatives. Launched this past fall, the college\u2019s new TechReady Collaborative aims to align strengths across research, teaching, and industry partnerships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":[629],"featured_media":16631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[627,425],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16534"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/629"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16534"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18385,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16534\/revisions\/18385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16534"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/author?post=16534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}