Technical Community College Update

Enhancing the quality of life in Northwest Pennsylvania

November 2006 - Vol. 1, Issue 1

In This Issue
	Response is Favorable Sharing the Concept Start-up Funding Provided List of Endorsements Regional TCC Contacts

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Quick Links
	1) NWPA Technical Community College Concept Paper 2) 1991 Erie County Technical Institute Application 3) Support the Concept: Pass a Resolution 4) Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges

Greetings!

The lines of communication necessary to start a technical community college are vast. There are business representatives, school district administrators and board members, legislative representatives, workforce and economic development officials, public service agencies and other interested parties to keep informed. It is important that timely and meaningful dialogue exist between the stakeholders, especially during the early stages of the community college’s development. This newsletter is presented to keep all interested parties up-to-date with the progress of a Technical Community College for Northwest Pennsylvania. While the newsletter has school administrators as its source, any of the stakeholders are invited to submit comments and relevant information for inclusion in this publication.

Response is Favorable

Imagine convincing a majority of 378 people that an idea is a good one. That is the challenge in working with school board members at 42 school districts across the region. To date, their response has been very favorable with 16 school districts passing resolutions in support of the development of a technical community college for NWPA. The school boards at three career & technical schools have also passed resolutions. They include Clarion County Career Center, Erie County Technical School and Venango Technology Center. Eleven of thirteen Erie County school districts and five of seven Clarion County school districts have passed the resolution. We expect similar results from the other counties as the presentations and discussions begin in Crawford, Forest, Mercer, Venango and Warren counties. A list of all districts passing resolutions is provided at the end of the newsletter. The Board of Governors of the Manufacturers’ Association of Northwest Pennsylvania also formally endorsed the concept. They are the first business group to offer their support. Other business groups, public service agencies and the like are encouraged to formally offer their support in the form of a resolution.

Sharing the Concept

The technical community college concept continues to be shared with various individuals and community groups. The list of recent recipients includes: July 31-- Senator Jane Earll Aug. 31-- Training Strategies Group, Regional Center for Workforce Excellence Sept. 11-- Erie County Workforce Development Group Sept. 14 -- Corry Industrial and Community Roundtable Oct. 3-- Dr. Eric Randall, Edinboro University Oct. 11-- Dr. Robert Towsey and Dr. Hugh Dwyer, Warren County School District

Start-up Funding Provided

The board of directors for the Erie County Technical School Foundation authorized $25,000 to be used for the start-up of the technical community college. After reviewing the Foundation’s mission, the board concluded the financial support fit squarely within the mission of the foundation.

List of Endorsements

As of November 6, 2006 Clarion County Allegheny Clarion Valley Clarion Limestone Keystone Redbank Valley Union Erie County Corry Area Fairview Fort LeBoeuf General McLane Girard Harbor Creek Iroquois North East Northwestern Union City Wattsburg Business & Community Groups Manufacturer's Association of Northwest Pennsylvania

Regional TCC Contacts

For more information on the technical community college initiative, contact any of the individuals below: Clarion County Bill Powell Clarion County Career Center 447 Career Way Shippenville, PA 16254 814.226.8975 wpowell@ccccntr.org Crawford County Neil Donovan Crawford County AVTS 860 Thurston Road Meadville, PA 16335 814.724.6024 ndonovan@ccvts.org Erie County Aldo Jackson Erie County Technical School 8500 Oliver Road Erie, PA 16509 814.864.0641 ajackson@ects.org Judy Sharer Corry Jr.-Sr. High School 534 East Pleasant Street Corry, PA 16407 814.665.8297 jsharer@corrysd.net Mercer County Rachel Martin Mercer County Career Center 776 Greenville Road Mercer, PA 16137 724.662.3000 rmartin@mccc.tec.pa.us Venango & Forest Counties Rod Tarr Venango Technology Center 1 Vo-Tech Drive Oil City, PA 16301 814.677.3097 rtarr@vtc1.org

For Your Consideration . . .

"The idea of leveraging the resources of the school districts and career and technical schools, to provide postsecondary technical education, makes a lot of sense."

Select the hyperlink below to review the concept paper:

A Technical Community College for Northwest Pennsylvania

Feel free to download, print and share the concept!

Newsletter contact information:

email: ajackson@ects.org

phone: 814.864.0641 ext. 346