Alayna Boyer & Darian Beasley | GNP contributors
East Carolina University puts forward a public face of “making progress” on its 2022 agreement with the MrBeast organization to build a content creation program.
But ask for evidence of that progress, and ECU goes silent, mostly.
At the end of March, the university sent a survey to its teachers, asking if anyone among them has any knowledge and skills to contribute to the program.
But still, there’s near silence on the details of it.
For his part, Chancellor Philip Rogers at first answered reporters’ questions by proxy through a short and general statement from the university’s communication office.
But he had time in mid-April to talk about the nascent program at a side event to an education technology summit in San Diego. This time he responded to reporters directly, writing that he spoke about “the importance of finding the right partner when creating something new to address mutually beneficial needs.”
Absent was any mention of progress on ECU’s project with its partner, MrBeast and company.
That sums up what the Greenville News Project found in the four months it looked for answers to the question, “What’s up with ECU’s agreement with MrBeast?” It reached out to the MrBeast organization and key ECU officials, most of whom did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Announcement with fanfare
It has been nearly two years since Rogers and Jimmy Donaldson—MrBeast himself—announced their partnership to create digital content creation program. It captured a lot of media attention, much of it centered on an ECU news release and an announcement video on the university’s YouTube channel.
In the video, Rogers called the Nov. 16, 2022, agreement “groundbreaking ... it's transformative, and a learner-centered innovation that matches education to the workforce in a way I've never seen.”
Donaldson said, “We pulled everything, all of our resources and all of our knowledge and just dumped into this program. You’re not gonna get a more aggregated source of knowledge on how to effectively help YouTubers.”
In the news release, ECU called the YouTube content creator industry an emerging leader in the global economy. It claimed the industry is valued at $104 billion annually, a figure sourced from Fast Company, a business magazine.
ECU’s plan is to make an online micro-credential program that is open to all. It would not require applicants to be enrolled at ECU as traditional four-year undergraduates.
The news release said the program was “expected to launch in six to 12 months.” It did not.
Nearly a year later, in August 2023, Rogers told ECU’s Board of Trustees that the program would launch later that Fall semester. It did not.
The next month Rogers told trustees that ECU is a “first mover” in designing a micro-credentialing opportunity in the creator economy space. A YouTube search turns up lots of videos and courses in “how to be a digital content creator.”
A February 2024 Daily Reflector story reports that Rogers told trustees that the MrBeast agreement is an example of ECU “adapting to the future.” The reference was to an anticipated falloff in revenue from a looming enrollment cliff of fewer students now making their way through high school.
This March he told ECU’s Faculty Senate that “we’re ... making progress in developing a creator economy credentialing program with the world's industry leader that we expect, and hope, will pay dividends now and into the future.” He did not offer senators evidence of progress made.
Over time ECU has called the program by different names. The latest are the “creator economic credentialing program,” “creator workforce education program” and “creator economy partnership.”
Search for progress
GNC started asking about progress in June 2023, when it filed a public records request with ECU for documentary evidence of it. The response came in December in the form of four Excel spreadsheets and two Word documents.
All the items were created prior to the Nov. 16, 2022, announcement of the ECU-MrBeast partnership. Among them:
A December 2021 spreadsheet with the links to and text descriptions of 92 MrBeast YouTube videos.
A December 2021 Word document with two pages of cut-and-paste material from Xcademy and the Influencer Academy, a link to a UNC-Chapel Hill digital marketing program, and a site called “NichePursuits.” The Influencer Academy sells “lifetime access” for 1,121 British pounds, which is about 1,400 U.S. dollars. It includes video training for “equine influencers” and branding for “equestrian influencers.”
A February 2022 spreadsheet with some details of influencer programs at seven universities.
An April 2022 Word document titled “Creator economy” that is five pages of cut-and-paste material from the internet.
A June 2022 “Landscape analysis” spreadsheet that details micro-credentialing programs at 17 universities and businesses. Seven were related in some way to digital content creation.
An August 2022 list of 10 professions that need a North Carolina state license to perform.
In its original announcement news release, ECU said that “program updates will be available at https://creator.ecu.edu.” The site is a web-based registration form for an update listserv. It includes an offer to send student recruiting information to anyone who signs up for the updates.
GNP registered for the updates early in the Spring 2024 semester. It has received none.
Progress, as ECU says it
On Feb. 22, GNP sent an inquiry to Rogers about the progress between ECU and MrBeast YouTube LLC. ECU Chief Communications Officer Jeannine Hutson responded on his behalf on Feb. 27 with a brief statement.
“Since entering this partnership with MrBeast, East Carolina University has worked to understand the creator economy and the industry that fuels it,” statement said.
“We are relying on our experience and expertise in delivering high-quality online education as well as through other modes of instruction. And industry experts are providing insight on what types of instructional delivery are likely best to meet the needs of learners engaged in this program.”
GNP followed up, asking Hutson about those industry experts and for any reports or memos she could provide about the work.
On March 11 she sent GNP the same set of documents it received from its public records request. Reporters sent a reminder about the industry experts, and on March 14 she said in an email: “I don’t have access to any materials ... beyond what I’ve already provided.”
Work on ECU's content creator initiative is housed in the university's Research, Economic Development and Engagement agency. On March 12 GNP asked the agency's acting chief, Dr. Sharon Paynter, for an interview, and on March 14 she agreed to answer questions via email.
GNP sent its questions and reminder emails. Paynter did not respond.
In a March 26 ECU Faculty Senate Meeting, Provost Robin Coger brought up the MrBeast content creation program. “Using your expertise and interest, ECU faculty are encouraged to contribute in developing a creator workforce education program,” she said, adding that a survey asking for help would be sent to all teachers later that day.
The survey form asks recipients for their names, contact information and academic departments, and a brief description of their fields of expertise and research interests. It asks them to submit “curricular contributions” to the creator workforce education program.
GNP contacted Coger to ask about the timing and motivation to send the survey, and whether she had signed an NDA with the MrBeast organization. It sent reminders. Coger did not respond.
Reporters contacted Hutson, asking if she or any other faculty member or administrator at ECU had signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement with the MrBeast organization about the content creator program. She did not respond.
Reporters touched based with the schools of entrepreneurship, art and design, and communication as they seemed the most likely to be involved the content creator program. They had not been contacted by ECU administrators about it. Nor had the office of Continuing & Professional Education, which oversees credentialing courses.
Search for MrBeast
GNP also wanted to ask the MrBeast organization about its role in developing the content creator program. Its search for contact information started with the latest business registration filing from MrBeast YouTube LLC to the N.C. Secretary of State.
The document lists a phone number, but it answers with a recorded voice that says no one has set up a voicemail for it. The address of the company’s principal office is the UPS Store at Pirate Pointe Center on Greenville Boulevard.
GNP contacted the president of the MrBeast company, Marc Hustvedt, via LinkedIn. He did not respond.
It contacted the CEO of MrBeast Philanthropy, Darren Margolias. He did not respond.
It contacted the company’s Los Angeles-based publicist. He did not respond.
The latest
On April 14, Chancellor Rogers appeared on a panel at the annual ASU+GSV education technology summit, which was in San Diego this year. Later, GNP asked Rogers about his remarks.
He responded April 23 and said that ECU’s content creator workforce program “is not ready for launch,” but the conference gave him an opportunity to talk with “innovative leaders” in industry and education.
“One of the points I made during our on-stage conversation is that every relationship with an industry partner is different,” he said. “The only way to build it authentically is to learn from your partners and take a problem-solving approach. ... What ultimately develops is a set of shared goals and, most importantly, I’ve found that leads to shared trust.”
Still, no details on progress.
Boyer and Beasley produced this story for the course, In-depth Reporting Capstone, at the School of Communication, East Carolina University.
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