Dr. Frazier Smith finds joy in teaching and technology

Around Central Piedmont Community College’s Central Campus, Dr. Frazier Smith often has a companion in the form of a robot dog. That’s fitting for the department chair of cloud and networking technology, cybersecurity and technical support. But although he makes a living in the world of IT, his passion is education. 

“It's the teaching that I love; tech is just my subject matter,” he said. “If you want me to teach project management, if you want me to teach music, I'll teach it.”

Dr. Smith is originally from west of Charlotte in Gastonia and still lives in Gaston County. He attended a technology magnet high school, Highland School of Technology, where he trained for a variety of IT certifications. However, finding himself burned out in the field, he attended Wingate University for his undergraduate studies and earned a degree in music education. He still plays piano sometimes at church.

He remained interested in technology throughout his college years and fixed computers and iPhones. Upon graduation, a friend asked Dr. Smith to create a series of e-learning modules for a chemical company, which he parlayed into a lengthy career in IT training in the private sector, primarily working with tech companies. 

Along the way, he received a doctorate in instructional design and technology from South College in Knoxville, Tennessee, and always knew he wanted to return to teaching after spending time in the corporate world. He eventually became an adjunct professor at Central Piedmont and served on the college’s advisory board after receiving a LinkedIn message from Associate Dean of Technology Joe Little. 

When Dr. Smith was forced to consistently cut staff from his full-time role after an acquisition, he and his wife decided he would pursue the education route for good. He began his tenure as an adjunct faculty member at Central Piedmont in 2023 and is now in his second year as a department chair.

“I tell students all the time what keeps me interested is that, for the first time in a decade, I'm having to learn as much as they are,” he said.

Among the emerging technologies is the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence.

“AI is going to be integrated into every flow,” he said. “I think people need to look at it as a tool. I tell people it's math, not magic.”

With that in mind, he and the entire Information Technology Division staff are continuously exploring ways to train students in how to understand the tools and acquire the knowledge to use them effectively. 

With his passion for education, it’s no surprise that people and relationships are at the heart of Dr. Smith’s mission. It matches well with Central Piedmont’s student-centered approach.

“I did a lot of night school classes here when I started,” he said. “I would have the 16-year-old dual enrollment student and the 70-year-old who just wanted to learn how to fix a computer.”

He also notes the affordability of a Central Piedmont education and its ability to prepare individuals through rigorous career-focused training in a short amount of time. In fact, his wife has firsthand knowledge, having gone through the college’s nursing program. 

For Dr. Smith, some of his proudest moments as an educator are when he sees something click for students and they understand a process or task they hadn’t previously grasped. He has also developed an internship program within the IT department, where interns help run the student data center that handles all the department’s labs. Each student that completed the internship moved onto permanent employment in the industry or joined Central Piedmont as a lab assistant.

“I care about the science of education,” he said. “I care about how to create those experiences for students where they're going to be able to walk away from the table having learned and be able to apply it to their job.”