Woodisbest.org, Of Course

By ERIC HANSEN, Department Head, Wood Science and Engineering / Acting Director, College of Forestry International Programs, Oregon State University

The biggest issue facing the wood products industry is maintaining a skilled workforce. University graduates with wood-focused Bachelor of Science degrees are a key source of skilled employees. Similar to your challenges in finding a skilled workforce, recruiting students into our majors is a huge challenge. A high school student knows (or thinks they know) what it means to study business or engineering. They often do not know that wood-focused degree programs exist. Because of this, we often refer to our degree programs as “Discovery Majors.” Once we reach prospective students, selling them on our programs is possible. Once you join us, a world of opportunities opens! 

Speaking of opportunities, they are nearly endless. Opportunities begin within our programs and extend to amazing careers. Strong historical industry support for our programs means significant scholarships are available, making university degrees more financially feasible. The upsides of our small programs are that students receive individualized attention, are often involved in undergraduate research, gain real-world experience through internships, and generally come away from their educational experience with a built-in network of industry professionals. It is not unusual for our graduates to receive multiple job offers before accepting their first position. Unfortunately, opportunities are only available to those who have the chance to learn about us. 

Adapting to the vernacular of the 21st-century student population, many of us have renamed our majors. What were once Wood Science or Forest Products are now Sustainable Materials and Technology, Sustainable Biomaterials, Sustainable Bioproducts, Forest and Sustainable Products, or Wood Innovation for Sustainability. The commonality is staking a claim on the sustainability of wood-based products, tying ourselves to a topic that the next generation is passionate about. 

www.woodisbest.org

Starting in 2021, ten major, wood-focused programs began collaborating on a holistic promotion effort to reach young adults across the U.S. We are: 

• Auburn
• University of Idaho
• University of Maine
• Michigan Tech University
• Mississippi State University
• North Carolina State University
• Oregon State University
• Purdue
• Virginia Tech
• West Virginia University

The foundation of our promotion efforts is the website www.woodisbest.org. A video that constitutes the heart of the site provides an overview of what prospective students can expect from a major/career in the field. A social media campaign focusing on TikTok, Google Ads, and Snapchat has been quite successful (above industry averages) in driving “customers” to the Woodisbest site. From there, students can connect to the most relevant universities for their geography and/or interests. 

How can you help? To safeguard the future of our programs and to continue addressing the growing demand for expertise in sustainable, wood-based products, we are in need of support from our industry partners. Your collaboration and investment are essential in helping us recruit talented students and secure the long-term success of our programs. We are asking industry associations to assist (NHLA is already on board!) with financing our promotion efforts and convincing members to co-promote our efforts. This is where you come in. In your communications and on your websites, please post and promote the Wood Is Best website. Share this information with your customers so that the value chain becomes more aware of our universities and our recruiting efforts. Ultimately, we want you and your customers to hire our graduates. 

Our students are the pipeline for your future managers. Join us in increasing the enrollment of wood-focused students across the country!