From the commissioner, Vol. 2, no. 4 (Fall 2003)

TECHNICAL COLLEGES
Albany Technical College Albany, Georgia Altamaha Technical College Jesup, Georgia Appalachian Technical College Jasper, Georgia Athens Technical College Athens, Georgia Atlanta Technical College Atlanta, Georgia Augusta Technical College Augusta, Georgia Central Georgia Technical College Macon, Georgia Chattahoochee Technical College Marietta, Georgia Columbus Technical College Columbus, Georgia Coosa Valley Technical College Rome, Georgia DeKalb Technical College Clarkston, Georgia East Central Technical College Fitzgerald, Georgia Flint River Technical College Thomaston, Georgia Georgia Aviation Technical College Eastman, Georgia Griffin Technical College Griffin, Georgia Gwinnett Technical College Lawrenceville, Georgia Heart of Georgia Technical College Dublin, Georgia Lanier Technical College Oakwood, Georgia Middle Georgia Technical College Warner Robins, Georgia Moultrie Technical College Moultrie, Georgia North Georgia Technical College Clarkesville, Georgia North Metro Technical College Acworth, Georgia Northwestern Technical College Rock Spring, Georgia Ogeechee Technical College Statesboro, Georgia Okefenokee Technical College Waycross, Georgia Sandersville Technical College Sandersville, Georgia Savannah Technical College Savannah, Georgia

South Georgia Technical College Americus, Georgia Southeastern Technical College Vidalia, Georgia Southwest Georgia Technical College Thomasville, Georgia Swainsboro Technical College Swainsboro, Georgia Valdosta Technical College Valdosta, Georgia West Central Technical College Carrollton, Georgia West Georgia Technical College LaGrange, Georgia
TECHNICAL DIVISIONS
Bainbridge College Bainbridge, Georgia Clayton College and State University Morrow, Georgia Coastal Georgia Community College Brunswick, Georgia Dalton State College Dalton, Georgia
Web-based courses of Georgia's technical colleges are accessed through Georgia Virtual Technical College (GVTC), http://www.gvtc.org.
From the Commissioner Fall 2003 Vol. 2, No. 4 Published quarterly by the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education 1800 Century Place, Atlanta, GA 30045 Kenneth H. Breeden, Commissioner Editor: Donna Maddock-Cowart dm-c@mindspring.com View From the Commissioner online at http://www.dtae.org/fromthecommissioner

FROM

THE

A QUARTERLY PUBLICATION

COMMISSIONER FROMGEORGIA'S COMMISSIONER OF TECHNICAL AND ADULT EDUCATION
VOL. 2, NO. 4 FALL 2003

Our only business is workforce development.

Our technical college system's 2003 Leadership Conference included an important Legislative Forum, shown below. (From left) Rep. Richard Royal
(D-Camilla)
Rep. Ann Purcell (D-Rincon)
Rep. DuBose Porter (D-Dublin)
Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah)
Sen. Jack Hill (R-Reidsville)
Sen. Bill Hamrick (R-Douglasville)
Rep.Terry Coleman (D-Eastman)
Moderator Sonny Dixon at the podium.

In last winter's issue of this publication, I told you a story one that
continues to mean a lot to me in part because I feel it is an important part of the history of our system, and I wanted to be sure that all of you were familiar with it.That story is the Nehemiah story, the one about staying focused on our mission and our goals.Well, it came to mind again as I considered that I must discuss with you a situation that is much in the news all over our state these days. By now, everybody knows that something must be done to address the impending crisis with HOPE. But it's difficult to find agreement as to what that something is.
Most people are familiar with the HOPE Scholarship program; it is the future of the HOPE Grant that many of you are probably a bit concerned about. Let me review a few facts for you. First, the benefits from the HOPE Grant are real and measurable. Fifty-one percent of all students served by HOPE Grants and Scholarships are technical college students, but only 26% of the funds are used for these students. However, most HOPE Grant money goes to students attending the state's technical colleges. Because most HOPE Grants are used in the technical college system, our exemplary performance
continued on page 2

INSIDE
3 Georgia
Excellence in Public Service Award
PROFILE:
4 Albany
Technical College and its business partners equal strong workforce development
6 Around the
State

COMING NEXT ISSUE:
Last spring we featured how we evaluate our system through an external agent. In our winter issue, we examine our internal performance accountability measures.

Georgia's Technical College System's Performance Accountability System

DTAE 2003 LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE LEGISLATIVE FORUM

FROM THE
COMMISSIONER
Reprinted with the permission of Georgia Trend Magazine, which retains all rights.

2

continued from cover

metrics are in part a testimony to the success of the HOPE Grant program. Last year alone,

76% of the graduates from our technical college programs received the HOPE Grant.What

benefit does Georgia gain by this spending? We gain qualified workers filling high-demand

jobs.

For one example, consider the graduates of our technical colleges last year. 98.6% either

went to work or went on to continue their education. Consider, too, the jobs they filled: the

top 10 certifications included Patient Care Assisting, Emergency Medical Technician,

Phlebotomy Technician and Certified Nurse Assistant.With the national crisis in healthcare,

these jobs are critically important, and they are good jobs, jobs that can provide a bright future

for our graduates as they support the businesses we serve.

Last year alone, 76% of the graduates from our technical college programs received the HOPE Grant. What benefit does Georgia gain by this spending? We gain qualified workers filling highdemand jobs ....98.6% either went to work or went on to continue their education.

As you may know, as a member of the HOPE Scholarship Commission, I have been close to the study of all the various issues being considered.We issued our final report during the second week of November, and you can read a summary of the recommendations at www.dtae.org/fromthecommissioner. I think these recommendations will help guarantee the viability of HOPE so that it can continue to guarantee, far into the future, the tuition support it was designed to supply. One thing I discovered during the commission's work is that a lot of people think that the growth of the technical colleges is because of the HOPE program. The HOPE program has been incredibly valuable for students and for people who need training. It has not driven the growth of the technical colleges. I can show you the growth curves for the five years before HOPE and then continuing on for the ten years since,

and you can't see a perturbation on the curve.The foundation was

strong and enrollment was increasing at an exponential rate before HOPE came on the scene.

That growth is attributable to customer responsiveness, to the business partnerships that

are a cornerstone of our system. Providing programs that people and businesses need and

then doing so extraordinarily well:That is what has made our technical college system

what it is today. However, the HOPE program is extremely important to thousands of

technical college students; it's essential that we preserve the financial integrity of this program.

The Georgia Excellence in Public Service Award
As I said at the Georgia
Excellence in Public Service Award ceremony on November 6th, it was an incredibly humbling experience to receive this award. The Carl Vinson Institute of Government and Georgia Trend magazine developed this award to: "publicly honor outstanding state and local elected, appointed, and career
public-sector service professionals; to foster a culture of recognized excellence in Georgia's professional public
service, drawing attention to exemplary service and distinguished achievements in government; and to help raise the public profile of state and local public service as a career pursuit, while enhancing the prospects of future service by potential and already serving public-sector professionals."
This award is a tribute to our whole system and to all of you who labor with me in this part of the public sector. I appreciate all you do, and I look forward to the work ahead.
--K. B.

START

1961
Albany Area VocationalTechnical School opens
with 12 programs

1972
merger of...

& Monroe Area Technical

Albany Area Technical

School

School

1980
60,000 sq. ft., $1.2 million Healthcare Building added in response to business demand

1988
DTAE is formed, with
Albany Technical Institute
under its direction.

GO

Albany Area Chamber of Commerce continues to
facilitate teamwork between Albany
Technical College and workforce needs of regional businesses
Center for Excellence in Electronics and Information Technology, a $6.5 million, 51,000 s/f building to open 2004

PLAYINGto WIN The primary mission of Georgia's technical colleges is workforce development.The Albany area has a healthy mix of industries--from candy to paper products to pharmaceuticals--and Albany Tech partners with these industries to fulfill their workforce training needs.

Tom Collins, maintenance manager with Miller Brewing Co., awards a Tools for Success scholarship to Jonathan Lott, a
paramedic tech graduate. On Nov. 6, 18 tools awards were made to Albany Tech graduates.

Albany Technical College is mastering the workforce development
game

One example of these mutually beneficial partnerships that Albany Tech enjoys is the Miller Brewing Co.Tools for Success program. Since 1993, Miller Brewing Co. has contributed $25,000 annually to a competitive scholarship program that awards 14-20 graduates with tools for their trade. For the past three years, the Albany Tech Foundation has matched that amount, and a Tools for Success Instructor of Excellence award was added.
Another prime example of Albany Tech's productive industry relationships is that with pharmaceutical giant, Merck and Company.When industry demand called for Albany Tech to institute a pharmacy technology program, Merck's Flint River plant provided the funding for equipment and computers and to construct the pharmacy lab. Merck also provided $100,000 for a live, interactive, distance-learning project, the Georgia Virtual Classroom, Inc.
Albany Technical College has a presence at numerous plant sites,

including Procter and Gamble (P&G). Albany Tech and P&G have part-

nered to provide training to P&G's approximately 1,500 hourly work-

ers. Albany Tech's applied manufacturing technology program is offered

at the P&G plant site.The program was designed to meet the needs of

CORPORATE PARTNERS

(Left to right) ATC President Dr. Anthony Parker; ATC Board Chair Paul DeLoach and Albany Chamber of Commerce President Tim Martin work as liaisons between industry and the college; Merck Plant Manager Randy Hall received the 2003 Friend of the College award; and Mayor of Blakely A.J. Gentry was instrumental in starting up a welding program at ATC's Early County campus.

all of P&G's workers, improving their skill sets, which helps them with promotions while also helping the company increase its efficiency and profitability.
The applied manufacturing technology program is designed to be a flexible tool that will keep pace with the industry's evolving technicalskills needs.This college-to-industry relationship is an excellent example of how Albany Tech is reaching out to meet the needs of area industries and how they access the college's resources for their training.
Albany Technical College has a strong partnership with the Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany (MCLB), also. MCLB recently made available to Albany Tech's diesel technology program a front-end loader for training purposes. In addition, almost all area industries participate in Albany Tech's career fairs, and many in internship programs. FTC

ATC Board of Directors & Foundation Trustees selected... $3 million Manufacturing Technology Center constructed, with input from local
industry.
1997
$3.4 million Kirkland Building
opens, with administration, conference center
& executive training facilities

GO

2003
Early County becomes Certified Literate Community Participant, joining Terrell, Randolph & Dougherty Counties

2000 Albany Technical Institute becomes Albany Technical College

1999
$3.5 million, 34,000 s/f facility opens in Early County

GO

FROM THE
COMMISSIONER

Students in Altamaha Technical College construction programs are building a mock-up house.The advisory board for Altamaha Tech's air-conditioning program recommended this project in its long-range plan for the HVAC program. The house will be about 1,000 square feet and built on pressure-treated pillars so that it is moveable. A wood-frame structure with wooden siding, it will have interior walls of sheetrock covered with paneling and a white-shingled roof. In addition to providing construction students with handson building experience, once complete, the house will provide an appropriate space for simulated on-the-job training for HVAC students. Funding came from the Altamaha Technical College Foundation through the DTAE matching grant program.
Appalachian Technical College is proud to announce that Annamariea Thompson and Debbie Mashburn of Fannin County have been awarded Pace Learning System Scholarships, marking the first time Georgia students have won. Both students, dislocated Levi workers, studied at Appalachian Tech's Adult Learning Center in Fannin County to earn GEDs, then enrolled as full-time students. Each student will receive a $500 scholarship; their teachers, Barbara Logan and Bev Whitmer, will receive a $500 product voucher. Thompson and Mashburn are now enrolled at Appalachian Tech.
Students at Coosa Valley Technical College will begin classes in the new state-of-the-art Allied Health Education and Library building in early 2004.The two-story facility is nearly 54,000 square feet, a "huge improvement" according to Dr.Teresa Resch,Vice President of Instructional Services. "The current CVTC Allied Health Building is approximately 11,000 square feet and presently houses 12 health programs of study. The new educational facility conference center will be able to accommodate between 400-450 people." In addition to providing more room for CVTC's Allied Health Programs, the new CVTC Library will also provide more room for books, periodicals, computer workstations and study areas.
Caterpillar's Griffin Power Systems has presented two 3400 model diesel engines to Griffin Technical College. The two engines, valued at approximately $50,000, are used in electric power applications, marine vehicles, and off-highway equipment such as bulldozers and wheel loaders. Griffin Tech will use the engines for classroom training and to provide additional assembly training to Caterpillar employees.

AROUND
The State





4) Caterpillar presents

two diesel engines for

classroom training at

Griffin Tech

(5) North Georgia Tech celebrates its 60th



anniversary

(6) The nursing pro-

gram at Okefenokee

Tech reports another

successful pass-rate

outcome

(7) Valdosta Tech train-

ing class for BP Fabric

and Fibers Nashville

mills







(1) Altamaha Tech's "mock-up house" supports construction

and HVAC training

(2) Appalachian Tech's Pace Learning System's scholarship

winners, flanked by Jill Key, director, Fannin County Literacy Group and Dr. Sanford Chandler, president of Appalachian Tech



(3) Coosa Valley Tech's new Allied Health Education facility

"We are fortunate to have a willing and resourceful partner like Griffin Tech for our community.They were a key element in the successful start-up of the Griffin facility, and we are excited that we will continue our partnership with them as we meet the new challenge of building engines here in Griffin," said Bob Glinke, general manager of Caterpillar's Griffin facility.
North Georgia Technical College is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Changing times are reflected in program offerings. First programs included dry cleaning, watch repair, appliance services, and radio and television repair. Programs today include environmental technology, pharmacy tech, aquaculture,

and turf and golf course management.
The North Georgia Tech Foundation has set a goal of raising $60,000 during 2003 in honor of North Georgia Tech's 60 years. North Georgia Tech has campuses in Clarkesville and Blairsville, with a new campus under development in Stephens County.
President Dr. Ruth Nichols commented, "This 60th Birthday just gives us another reason to celebrate what technical education has meant and continues to mean to the State of Georgia."

The Okefenokee Technical College nursing program is celebrating the success of its graduates during the past year.The most recent three classes to graduate all had 100% pass rates on their board exams.The winter day class had 22 graduates with 95% job placement and a 100% pass rate on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). The evening class graduating last summer reported job placement of 100% and pass rate on the NCLEX of 100%. The first class at the Alma Campus completed in March of this year with the same excellent report 100% pass rate on the exam and 100% job placement. Along with the classroom and theory hours, the students rotated through many facilities and doctor's offices in the area for their clinical experiences.
Valdosta Technical College is one of five Georgia technical colleges that will train the maintenance and production staff at five BP Fabric and Fibers plants in Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina to maintain and operate new highly automated equipment recently purchased by the company. With the help of Quick Start, the group assessed needs, set a goal for high standards, defined the gap, and designed a curriculum for one and a half to two years of training. The BP plants all produce erosion cloth the black plastic and fiber product seen on the sides of highways during construction projects and carpet backing. Valdosta Tech will provide training for BP Fabric and Fibers Nashville mills. The other four colleges include Bainbridge College, West Georgia Technical College, North Georgia Technical College, and Altamaha Technical College.
Harvey's Supermarkets has contracted with Valdosta Tech to train managers throughout the company in supervisory management from top corporate management through mid- and entry-level managers in all 44 stores in south Georgia. Valdosta Tech will also provide customer service training for the chain. FTC

7

AROUND THE STATE