Delaware State University, the historically Black educational institution in Dover, has entered into a partnership with SAP SE Corporation to create a Center of Excellence on the university’s campus. SAP SE was founded in Weinheim, Germany, in 1972 by five former employees of IBM. Today it is the second largest independent software company in the world. It serves nearly 300,000 customers in 190 countries around the world.
The new center at Delaware State will train the university’s students in state-of-the-art business software applications, giving them an edge in the career marketplace after graduation. In addition, the center will host faculty and staff from HBCUs all over the nation who will come to Dover for instruction in business enterprise software. SAP will benefit by having a diverse group of students who are familiar with the company’s software systems and would be candidates for employment after graduation.
Donna Covington, dean of the College of Business at Delaware State University, said that “this is going to give our students a massive advantage in their career applications.” Dean Covington added that “Delaware State University is going to be the center of an effort to improve HBCU students’ access to technology. It’s a big, big honor for us.”
Dean Covington was named to ger present position in 2014. Previously, she was interim dean of the College of Business and Computer Science at Kentucky State University. Covington is a graduate of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where she majored in chemistry. She holds a master’s degree in analytical chemistry from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and a master’s degree in Christian leadership from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.
