Research

William's academic curiosity and thusly his culminating scholarly work emanated from a personal mission which is centered on the philosophy of educating, empowering and connecting communities of interest. By acknowledging the varied implications of uneven population growth in North Carolina, his research explored social and economic indicators and their predictive capacity on net migration in North Carolina counties with a specific focus on the state’s Black Belt region over three decades of US Census data. The author's lived experience offered a peek into what results were expected. 

Since completing his dissertation, William has researched (1) the relationship between recent North Carolina per pupil spending changes and education outcomes, (2) class, race and gender and quality of life outcomes in the South, (3) migratory trends and its effect on rural students, (4) differential academic expectancy in student achievement spatially stratified across North Carolina and its outcomes, as well as (5) applying his predictive correlational model across Southern states with old cotton-producing counties, also known as the Black Belt.

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Practice

That which is discovered in the halls of the academy should never endeavor itself to remain tucked away in said halls of enlightenment. Academia should avoid at all costs siloing itself from the community it serves. It is imperative that once a solution for a societal problem is born out of research it be piloted and applied for the good of society. 

William has applied community development and leadership theory into practice to foster a holistic approach to promote community and individual empowerment to include information/ data sharing, education and consultation. Further, he has built and sustained relationships with key community stakeholders to promote better governance and quality of life outcomes. As a social scientist, William naturally monitors and researches how federal and state legislation impact diverse groups of community stakeholders.