Since 2010, Professor Tracy Freeman has taught various operations and supply chain management courses at the Poole College of Management. Over the course of her career, she has left an indelible impression on both the worlds of academia and industry. As Freeman plans to conclude her time at NC State and begin a well-deserved retirement, she leaves behind a multitude of contributions worth revisiting.<\/p>\n
Looking back at Freeman\u2019s first year at NC State, SCRC Executive Director Robert Handfield says, \u201cWe knew she would be a right fit for the College because she had the demeanor of someone who is passionate and knows a lot about the subject. And what we look for, especially in our instructors, is that they have a lot of real-world experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Handfield also pointed out that Freeman came to the college from Accenture<\/a> and brought \u201cextensive knowledge in working in supply chain management.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, according to Donovan Favre, lecturer of operations and supply chain management at Poole College, Freeman spent most of her career working firsthand in the world of business. \u201cShe has experience with AT&T and in supply chain working in manufacturing and operations and logistics, where she consulted with large operations in supply chain,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Given her history of working in the field, Freeman has been able to provide her students with a unique perspective grounded in application, which helps them see the world beyond an academic setting and challenges them to think about the utilization of skills in the business world. Because for Freeman, education isn\u2019t just about teaching. It\u2019s also about motivating students to be productive. And she\u2019s demonstrated that commitment in a multitude of ways.<\/p>\n Freeman has devoted a significant amount of time to helping students prepare for a career after graduation. She has done so by managing the Supply Chain Club, as well as playing an integral role in the founding and ongoing management of the college\u2019s bi-annual Supply Chain Recruiting Event\u2014the only concentration-specific recruiting event at the college.<\/p>\n For the Supply Chain Club, she regularly hosts career-prep workshops, plans and facilitates industry site visits, and has representatives from corporations visit the classroom to explain what it\u2019s like working in various areas of supply chain management on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n Freeman has also been proactive in advising student teams as they work on practicum projects for the SCRC\u2019s corporate partners, using the combination of her industry experience and passion for student success to guide them through the challenges of working on a real-world project for a major corporation.<\/p>\n Jeffrey Stonebraker, associate professor of operations and supply chain management, attests to Freeman\u2019s commitment to her students. \u201cShe challenges them to be their best,\u201d he says. \u201cIn my undergraduate class, I ask my students why they are operations and supply chain management majors\u2014most attribute that to her.\u201d<\/p>\n Katie Aten, a recent Poole College alumna, names Freeman as one of her reasons for pursuing a career in supply chain.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can really see the impact she has on students,\u201d Aten says. \u201cShe starts off the class at the beginning of the year by asking, \u2018How many of you are studying supply chain?\u2019 and one to two people will raise their hands, and then at the end of the year, she\u2019ll ask, \u2018\u2026Now<\/em> how many people are studying supply chain?\u2019 and so many more hands shoot up.\u201d<\/p>\n Amanda Meredith, an undergraduate supply chain student currently working on a supply chain practicum project for MetLife, has a similar story. \u201cProfessor Freeman is enthusiastic about her field, and hearing her talk about it made me want to declare my concentration in it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Meredith also pointed out that Freeman is very proactive in communicating job opportunities to students\u2014including those she hears from alumni who make a point to stay connected with her\u2014which Meredith finds very helpful.<\/p>\n \u201cSome professors are just there to grade papers and get in and out, but I feel like Professor Freeman really wants to connect students to resources and get internships to gain experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, Freeman has taught many students during her time at NC State\u2014but she\u2019s had a notable impact on her colleagues as well.<\/p>\n Handfield, who is also the Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at Poole College, says that Freeman has helped him develop materials for his courses, network with former colleagues and offered advice based on her unique experiences.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Professor Favre says that \u201cTracy is far more organized than I am,\u201d which is a skill she has used to help him optimize and streamline his classes for the betterment of his students. \u201cShe has also gotten me more engaged with the students, whether it\u2019s been helping the students get jobs or helping with the Supply Chain Club.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are few people I know who would leave an esteemed corporate position to spend ten years giving back to the profession and students. And she has not only done that for a ten-year period, but she\u2019s excelled and helped thousands of students, both from an academic and career standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n Handfield says Freeman exhibits candor and professionalism, and that her work cannot be easily replicated. As she embarks on a new journey in life, he says the students are the ones who are going to miss out on \u201cthe Tracy Freeman experience\u201d the most.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, Freeman\u2019s values and lessons will undoubtedly persevere through the continued success of the many students and colleagues on which she\u2019s had such a lasting impact over the years.<\/p>\n This post was originally published<\/a> in Supply Chain Resource Cooperative.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false,"raw":"Since 2010, Professor Tracy Freeman has taught various operations and supply chain management courses at the Poole College of Management. Over the course of her career, she has left an indelible impression on both the worlds of academia and industry. As Freeman plans to conclude her time at NC State and begin a well-deserved retirement, she leaves behind a multitude of contributions worth revisiting.\r\n Since 2010, Professor Tracy Freeman has been going above and beyond to prepare her students for life beyond the classroom. As she plans to soon begin a well-deserved retirement, she leaves behind a multitude of contributions worth revisiting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":732,"featured_media":18569,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"ncstate_wire","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"caption\":\"\"}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1784],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-18568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-and-staff","tag-_from-newswire-collection-59"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/732"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18568"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19317,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18568\/revisions\/19317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18568"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=18568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Introducing students to industry<\/h3>\n
How students have been personally impacted<\/h3>\n
But what has Freeman taught her colleagues?<\/h3>\n
A unique perspective for Poole College<\/h3>\r\nLooking back at Freeman\u2019s first year at NC State, SCRC Executive Director Robert Handfield says, \u201cWe knew she would be a right fit for the College because she had the demeanor of someone who is passionate and knows a lot about the subject. And what we look for, especially in our instructors, is that they have a lot of real-world experience.\u201d\r\n\r\nHandfield also pointed out that Freeman came to the college from Accenture<\/a> and brought \u201cextensive knowledge in working in supply chain management.\u201d\r\n\r\nIn fact, according to Donovan Favre, lecturer of operations and supply chain management at Poole College, Freeman spent most of her career working firsthand in the world of business. \u201cShe has experience with AT&T and in supply chain working in manufacturing and operations and logistics, where she consulted with large operations in supply chain,\u201d he says.\r\n\r\nGiven her history of working in the field, Freeman has been able to provide her students with a unique perspective grounded in application, which helps them see the world beyond an academic setting and challenges them to think about the utilization of skills in the business world. Because for Freeman, education isn\u2019t just about teaching. It\u2019s also about motivating students to be productive. And she\u2019s demonstrated that commitment in a multitude of ways.\r\n
Introducing students to industry<\/h3>\r\nFreeman has devoted a significant amount of time to helping students prepare for a career after graduation. She has done so by managing the Supply Chain Club, as well as playing an integral role in the founding and ongoing management of the college\u2019s bi-annual Supply Chain Recruiting Event\u2014the only concentration-specific recruiting event at the college.\r\n\r\nFor the Supply Chain Club, she regularly hosts career-prep workshops, plans and facilitates industry site visits, and has representatives from corporations visit the classroom to explain what it\u2019s like working in various areas of supply chain management on a day-to-day basis.\r\n\r\nFreeman has also been proactive in advising student teams as they work on practicum projects for the SCRC\u2019s corporate partners, using the combination of her industry experience and passion for student success to guide them through the challenges of working on a real-world project for a major corporation.\r\n\r\nJeffrey Stonebraker, associate professor of operations and supply chain management, attests to Freeman\u2019s commitment to her students. \u201cShe challenges them to be their best,\u201d he says. \u201cIn my undergraduate class, I ask my students why they are operations and supply chain management majors\u2014most attribute that to her.\u201d\r\n
How students have been personally impacted<\/h3>\r\nKatie Aten, a recent Poole College alumna, names Freeman as one of her reasons for pursuing a career in supply chain.\r\n\r\n\u201cYou can really see the impact she has on students,\u201d Aten says. \u201cShe starts off the class at the beginning of the year by asking, \u2018How many of you are studying supply chain?\u2019 and one to two people will raise their hands, and then at the end of the year, she\u2019ll ask, \u2018\u2026Now<\/em> how many people are studying supply chain?\u2019 and so many more hands shoot up.\u201d\r\n\r\nAmanda Meredith, an undergraduate supply chain student currently working on a supply chain practicum project for MetLife, has a similar story. \u201cProfessor Freeman is enthusiastic about her field, and hearing her talk about it made me want to declare my concentration in it,\u201d she says.\r\n\r\nMeredith also pointed out that Freeman is very proactive in communicating job opportunities to students\u2014including those she hears from alumni who make a point to stay connected with her\u2014which Meredith finds very helpful.\r\n\r\n\u201cSome professors are just there to grade papers and get in and out, but I feel like Professor Freeman really wants to connect students to resources and get internships to gain experience.\u201d\r\n
But what has Freeman taught her colleagues?<\/h3>\r\nIndeed, Freeman has taught many students during her time at NC State\u2014but she\u2019s had a notable impact on her colleagues as well.\r\n\r\nHandfield, who is also the Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at Poole College, says that Freeman has helped him develop materials for his courses, network with former colleagues and offered advice based on her unique experiences.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, Professor Favre says that \u201cTracy is far more organized than I am,\u201d which is a skill she has used to help him optimize and streamline his classes for the betterment of his students. \u201cShe has also gotten me more engaged with the students, whether it\u2019s been helping the students get jobs or helping with the Supply Chain Club.\r\n\r\n\u201cThere are few people I know who would leave an esteemed corporate position to spend ten years giving back to the profession and students. And she has not only done that for a ten-year period, but she\u2019s excelled and helped thousands of students, both from an academic and career standpoint.\u201d\r\n\r\nHandfield says Freeman exhibits candor and professionalism, and that her work cannot be easily replicated. As she embarks on a new journey in life, he says the students are the ones who are going to miss out on \u201cthe Tracy Freeman experience\u201d the most.\r\n\r\nNevertheless, Freeman\u2019s values and lessons will undoubtedly persevere through the continued success of the many students and colleagues on which she\u2019s had such a lasting impact over the years."},"excerpt":{"rendered":"