From the President’s Desk

From the desk of Dr. Scott Williams

Although 2020 is behind us, we are still facing the same issues in 2021. The pandemic rages on, and our nation’s work for social justice is still ongoing. However, I cannot be more proud of our faculty, staff, and students for uniting in the face of those challenges and tackling them head on. Our faculty, staff, and students have embraced our Healthy at Work protocols, and working together, have kept our campus working and learning environment as healthy and safe as possible. To date, we have had the lowest number of positive cases compared to our sister institutions. In addition, our Cultural Competency Work Team has helped to refocus our efforts in equality and inclusion.

Working as a team, our employees and students have risen to the challenge and made a positive difference, not only for our students, but our community as well. The spirit of service and helping others is an inspiration to me, and words cannot describe how grateful I am for their outstanding work in the face of adversity.

While we cannot predict the future, we do know that how we live and work will be changed by the events of the past year. A retooled citizenry and workforce with enhanced skills is needed to meet the demands of a post-pandemic world. Owensboro Community and Technical College (OCTC) is prepared for just that challenge.

Our mission is to improve our community’s economic development and competitive advantage by providing high-quality, world-class learning experiences through career degree programs, workforce development, and transfer to baccalaureate degree programs. By aligning our programming, curriculum, and processes, while engaging with all sectors of our community, we are meeting regional needs. The following are a few examples.

To promote job readiness the college has implemented the “Experiential Learning @ OCTC” project. Supported by a $2.1 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Title III Strengthening Institutions program, the project has 3 primary goals: increase experiential learning across our curriculum, train faculty and staff on developing experiential learning opportunities, and support students with career counselors for career exploration, development, and placement. This innovative program has already increased the number of courses and programs providing real life learning experiences, and through the newly created Experiential Learning Center (ELC), the number of student intern and externship placements has grown. Furthermore, career counselors in the ELC are providing countless hours of career and workplace counseling for students to assist them in career exploration, honing their application and interview skills and employment placements. All of these initiatives support a culture that prepares our students to fill their role in our community and the workplace. Through the generous support of the City of Owensboro, Daviess County Fiscal Court, Mike Horn Family Foundation, and a match from the US Department of Education, we are two-thirds of the way to establishing a permanent endowment to maintain this important work in perpetuity.

In order to support student success and completion, OCTC established a student success center called the Pathfinder Den. Students work with success coaches to ensure they have all the necessary supports they need for enrollment, financial aid, academic, and student success. Students are most often not successful in completing their educational endeavors because of life issues. Unfortunately, many students do not have adequate food, housing, transportation, or financial support. The Pathfinder Den connects students to those resources to reduce those barriers. The creation of a food pantry at OCTC and a partnership with the Owensboro Transit Authority to provide free bus service have helped hundreds of students address their food and transportation insecurities. In addition, the OCTC Foundation has established HELP (Helping Each Learner Prosper) Scholarships for new underrepresented minority students and unemployed students to help alleviate with some of the ancillary costs associated with starting school.

Many potential students need to work and struggle to make time for college. In partnership with the business community, OCTC implemented the acclaimed GO FAME for manufacturing and GO CAREERS for business services programs, which allow students to work full time and go to school full time. In addition, we have created accelerated programs such as Tech X, Construction FastTrack, Automotive FastTrack, and a new accelerated welding certificate program. All are designed to rapidly get people the skills they need to go to work in a high demand field. OCTC continues to provide exemplary incumbent worker training, such as the nationally acclaimed AMTEC program,

Finally, OCTC continues to develop and upgrade educational programming to ensure alignment with the current and future needs of the community. The Project Badge program partners with the Owensboro Police Department and the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office to allow new officers to complete an associate degree while on the force. OCTC has just implemented automation and robotics programming to meet the growing need in robotics, pipe and tube welding programming, and fiber optics programming in response to the needs of our region. The pandemic has reinforced the need to be proactive in working with community partners in order to be prepared for the post-pandemic era.

Every obstacle creates opportunity. The current issues facing us are no exception. As a result, OCTC is even more committed to working with the community to create better lives for a better Kentucky. The OCTC faculty and staff stand united to weather these difficult times and I am confident we will come out of them stronger than ever.