Catalyst Magazine

COLLEGE OF THE ALBEMARLE ALUMNI MAGAZINE

IN THIS ISSUE: COA Success Stories Welcome Our 10th President Making Waves at DASH Symposium Engineering Degree Launch PAC Lobby Renovations

SPRING 2017

Letter from Lisa Johnson, COA Foundation Executive Director

4 COA Makes Waves 5 Kelleta Govan 6 College of The Albemarle Welcomes Their Tenth President

COA Success Story

Eli Stokely COA Success Story

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Renovations to Begin on COA’s Performing Arts Center Lobby Rebekah Brown COA Success Story

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Associate in Engineering Degree Launched

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Fouzi Noor COA Success Story

David Twine COA Success Story

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Daniel Midgette COA Success Story

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Glenn Needham COA Success Story

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COA Adds EMS Equipment and Heart Training Center Foundation Giving Statistics Scholarship and Endowment List

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Become a Catalyst!

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Hello COA Alumnus!

I am excited to share with you, Catalyst, our second annual College of The Albemarle (COA) Alumni Magazine. Inside this magazine, you will find stories about successful alumni as they have moved to the university level or have entered the workforce in their chosen profession.

We’ve also shared stories and information with you about what’s happening at the college so you can see how COA continues to grow and expand.

We chose the name Catalyst for this magazine because of what it stands for in relation to the college’s new brand. At College of The Albemarle, “Catalyst” is described in the following way: “There is a spark of potential glowing within every student, and every community that COA serves. Our purpose at COA is to be the

catalyst that taps

and fuels that spark, a community

range of educational offerings, empowering them to achieve their full potential and to make a transformative difference.”

You can share your story and your success to help our students hone their interests and fuel that spark in ways that empower them to achieve the full extent of their potential. I encourage you to guide, challenge and champion others in their pursuits at COA and beyond – illuminating opportunities they may not have even envisioned.

I hope that by reading Catalyst you will get to know some of your fellow alums and see the impact they’re making in our region, our state and our country. I think you’ll be reminded how great COA is – and has been for more than 55 years serving the people of northeastern North Carolina!

Warmest regards,

of mentors and champions who impact students’ lives through our compassionate delivery of a wide

Executive Director COA Foundation and Development

As one of more than 14,500 alum of College of The Albemarle you are a catalyst – a mentor and champion – who can help others find that spark of possibility within themselves.

How you can help the Students of College of The Albemarle!

As a College of The Albemarle alum, please consider helping others who are transforming their lives the same way you did. A gift of any amount will have significant impact on our students’ ability to enroll, complete their program of study and graduate! The financial assistance for tuition, books, fees and emergency needs the Foundation provides can keep our students on the path to success. To make your gift, go to https://give.albemarle.edu or use the enclosed postage paid envelope.

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College of The Albemarle Welcomes Their Tenth President The college greeted Dr. Robert Wynegar, College of The Albemarle’s tenth president as he arrived on Monday, April 17, 2017.

“I am delighted and humbled by the opportunity to serve as the next president of College of The Albemarle”, Dr. Wynegar said. “By providing a quality education for the students in our seven county service area, COA has developed an outstanding record of preparing students for successful transfer to a university or entry into the workforce.”

Dr. Wynegar comes to COA from Western Nevada College, located in Carson City, where he served as Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs. Prior to that position, he served as the Dean of Associate of Arts at Hillsborough Community College in Florida. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Master of Science in Mathematics from Tennessee Technological University, a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, TN, and a Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Valdosta State University in Georgia.

“I know the faculty and staff of COA are committed to the academic success of each individual student as well 4

as the economic success of the region as a whole,” Dr. Wynegar said.

“I am eager to continue the good work done by my predecessors, the COA Board of Trustees, and the Foundation Board of Directors in developing strong supportive relationships throughout northeastern North Carolina.”

In addition to looking forward to the new role, Wynegar is also looking forward to the food in northeastern North Carolina.

“I had forgotten how good sweet tea is,” Wynegar said, explaining he had been reminded during his visit to the area when he was interviewing for the COA post.

“Nobody in Nevada makes sweet tea.”

Wynegar succeeds Dr. Kandi Deitemeyer, who left COA at the end of 2016 to become president of Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte.

COA Makes Waves A year has many highs and lows soon forgotten by most, but thanks to an incredibly unique sculpture created in October 2015 by the College of The Albemarle’s art department, the exact ebb and flow of a year’s worth of waves along the Outer Banks was captured in COA’s Making Waves installation.

During a three-day Design, Art, Science, Humanities (DASH) Symposium, the sculptural installation was on display at COA’s Dare Campus.

The project theme was “ripples and waves” and was inspired by 365 days of wave data, collected from the UNC Coastal Studies Institute’s Oregon Inlet buoy and the website Surfline’s wave observations from Jennette’s Pier.

COA was a partner in presenting the DASH Symposium, which was sponsored by the UNC Coastal Studies Institute. Event organizers said the goal of the program was to get the arts and sciences communities together using data to create a visual interpretation.

“Our goal was to expose art students to an art-science activity to show them how scientific data can be visualized,” said Gale Flax, former department chair for COA’s Fine Arts and Humanities. Flax coordinated the community college’s participation in the event.

The resulting sculpture was 365 wave-shaped pieces of wire mesh, hand-shaped by 85 students and community volunteer. The wire wave forms were then suspended from the gallery ceiling in COA’s Professional Arts Building, each positioned to the actual max wave height recorded on each day. Over 700 data points were suspended in the three-dimensional space.

“The data was put into a spreadsheet by scientists,” Flax said, “to see the patterns.”

Flax said the art students learned that bigger waves travel at slower frequencies and wave size was

evident based on the season, a principle that was apparent from the sculpture.

“You could see visually where there had been a storm,” Flax said, referring to the wave data collected from August 2014 to August 2015.

“That was actually a pretty low wave year.”

Kathryn Osgood, associate professor and program coordinator for COA’s professional crafts jewelry department, said creating a handformed sculpture – based on scientific data – was a way for art students to work in a different context.

Besides the Making Waves installation, DASH attendees were treated to two hands-on exhibits coordinated by COA in an effort to show off the college’s gallery spaces.

Some learned, and tried their hand at Suminagashi, a Japanese paper marbling process using floating inks on water to create beautiful stationary. They were also able to learn about saltwater etching, a process allowing artists to decorate copper sheets with a design, using a saltwater bath.

“It was a wonderful and educational event for us and involved a lot of people,” Flax said.

COA Success Story

Kelleta Govan Kelleta Govan recently landed the job of her dreams, and she’s hoping her new Associate in Arts degree from College of The Albemarle is going to help her keep it.

Govan, who was recently appointed interim school nutrition coordinator for Dare County Schools, hopes to take on the role permanently after June when her temporary role concludes. It’s a career she’s spent the past 25 years preparing for. That’s when Govan began her career with Dare County Schools after graduating from Currituck High School in 1990.

“I actually had a child in high school, so I did not go to school,” Govan said of her decision to put off college.

Instead, Govan began working as a substitute teacher in Dare County and then was hired by the school division in 1991 as a bus driver. She also filled in as needed in Dare County Schools’ Central Office, assisting with clerical duties. In 1993, she began working in Dare County’s nutrition office as the school nutrition bookkeeper.

It’s a role she filled for 22 years, helping process meal applications for students in need of free or reduced lunches. She held that position until a few months ago when the current school nutrition coordinator retired.

Fortunately, in 2008, Govan heeded the advice of her predecessor and mentor, who urged her to get her college degree at COA. “Initially, I started in in ’93, taking payroll classes, accounting classes, bookkeeping and word processing classes,” said Govan, who attended COA’s Dare County Campus. “I wanted to broaden my knowledge.”

Eventually, in 2008, Govan began working toward her Associate in Arts degree as a part-time student, paying off her tuition as she went along. It was a long road during which Govan also remained active in her community, serving on Dare County’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Council, but it was well worth it.

“She said I had the knowledge of school nutrition but my predecessor stayed on me and encouraged me to get a degree,” Govan said.

Along the way, Govan was also awarded several national scholarships, including one from the School Nutrition Association of North Carolina, where she was recognized during the annual state conference in Greensboro.

In the end, Govan’s timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

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She completed her degree in December 2016, just as the job she had always wanted, opened up. To take on the role permanently, Govan needed a college degree, so her new credentials puts her in perfect alignment to pursue the role permanently in June. Meanwhile, she is busy pursuing her Bachelors in Business Administration at North Carolina Wesleyan University. Through the ASPIRE program, an educational partnership COA has with NC Wesleyan, Govan will be able to take classes for her bachelor’s degree on COA’s Dare County Campus.

“When you stop going to school, it’s easy not to go back,” said the Manteo resident. “It’s easy to say, ‘I’ll do it later’, and later doesn’t come.”

But choosing COA, made that step a lot easier, she added.

“I can’t speak enough about COA – the resources, the staff,” Govan said, “They want you to succeed. COA is a top-notch community college. You’re getting that one-on-one with the instructors. It’s really great for people who work full-time and have families.”

COA Success Story Eli Stokely After dropping out of high school during his senior year, Eli Stokley spent the next decade of his life bouncing around fast-food franchises like Taco Bell and Golden Corral, working in the kitchen helping to prep food.

It was meaningless work, Stokley said, until several years ago when he landed a job working in the kitchen at Greenbrier Country Club in Chesapeake, VA. There, the chefs he worked with took the time to teach him about the industry. Besides teaching him about southern cuisine, Stokley also learned about knife skills, the presentation and execution of meals, how to run a kitchen and how to price inventories. Instead of following the automated and formulaic menus of the fast-food restaurants he was used to, at the Greenbrier Country Club, Stokley was learning how to prepare dishes like molten crab cakes stuffed with cheese and prime cuts of steak served over homemade mashed potatoes with Gouda cheese.

complete his high school education after he wasn’t able to get jobs as head chef, even though he had the knowledge after spending four years at Greenbrier Country Club.

new job wouldn’t have been possible.

Realizing how many opportunities he now has with his high school education completed, he has set his sights on a new goal.

It is a decision he wishes he had made sooner. If he had any advice for other high school dropouts, it would be not to postpone completing their education.

“I came a long way, but I’m still hungry,” said Stokley, adding that he hopes to earn his culinary arts certification from COA within the next year. After that, he wants to earn his Associate of Applied Science Degree in Culinary Arts at the Culinary Institute of Virginia.

“Buckle down now and don’t wait until you’re almost 30,” Stokley said. “You can know a lot, but can you prove it?

I think having it is a definite benefit – it’s a door. It’s having a 100 pounds off your back.”

A month ago, Stokley said his new diploma helped land him the job he has been coveting since working at Greenbrier Country Club. He is now co-head chef at The Bistro At The Pines, a golf club in Elizabeth City.

It’s the job he’s always wanted since working at Greenbrier Country Club.

Without COA, he said, landing his

Realizing how much he’s accomplished, so quickly after earning his high school diploma, Stokley said the most important recipe he learned, is one he discovered as a student on COA’s campus.

“The recipe for success is knowledge,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what you know, unless you have the paperwork to prove it.”

His career and passion for cooking started to heat up.

It was the first time, Stokley said, that he began thinking about his future and what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

“I found my passion there. I started caring more and realized I’m getting older and have nothing to show for myself,” said Stokley, who graduated last summer with a North Carolina equivalency diploma which he earned through College of The Albemarle’s Basic and Transitional Studies program. After spending a year-anda-half taking general math, science, English and reading classes, the 28-year-old Stokley finally completed the high school degree he had set aside over 10 years ago.

Stokley realized he needed to 7

Renovations to Begin on COA’s Performing Arts Center Lobby College of The Albemarle’s (COA) Performing Arts Center (PAC) lobby will be undergoing renovations beginning within days after the college’s May 2017 commencement ceremony. The building, dating back to 1989, is a great facility that needs updating so PAC patrons can more fully enjoy their overall experience as they attend the performances.

Working with JKF Architecture, renovations to the Performing Arts Center lobby include fresh paint, new carpeting and a decorative drop ceiling feature. A new wheelchair lift, which will replace the existing ramp will allow additional space for college functions. A concession stand, coat closet and box office will also be added.

Additional work will be done to the lobby’s electrical wiring, fire sprinkler system and restrooms to ensure they are ADA compliant.

The Performing Arts Center lobby renovations will cost approximately $517,750 and should be completed in November 2017. COA will use both ConnectNC bond funds, and more than $150,000 in private donations.

While lobby renovations are in process, the college has secured an alternate venue for their 2017-2018 theatre season performances scheduled for September to December 2017. The shows will be presented at New Community Church in Elizabeth City. The church is well equipped for the college’s performances and our PAC staff and COA drama instructors are excited to have the opportunity to ensure their theatre season is uninterrupted for season ticket subscribers and the many community members who attend their shows.

To purchase season tickets for the 2017-2018 season, or for questions, please call 252-335-9050.

COA Success Story Rebekah Brown Brown admits memorizing monologues and choreography, and mastering singing roles wasn’t easy, but it’s experience that’s serving her well during her first semester at UNC Charlotte.

“I’m using the skills I learned at COA every day,” Brown said. “I’m more of a valuable team player because I can do so many things.”

When Rebekah Brown watched auditions for College of The Albemarle’s production of “Fiddler on the Roof” in January 2013, she went solely to support her sister who was trying out for a role.

An extremely introverted and quiet person, Brown had no ambition to become a performer in one of the school’s plays. Diagnosed with autism at 15, Brown said she had difficulty being social with people, had no friends and didn’t understand how to carry on a normal conversation. But these days, anyone who meets Brown after four years working at the schools’ Performing Arts Center – acting in plays and assisting with set design in different productions – would have trouble believing that diagnosis.

During her time as a student at the Elizabeth City Campus, Brown was the community college’s Campus Cup winner in 2014 and she earned two degrees there, an Associate’s in Fine Arts in 2014 and an Associate’s in Drama in 2016. Brown credits her time at COA with helping her tap into skills and talents she never knew she had.

She had significant roles in nearly every campus production, but it didn’t come easily and Brown admits she often felt out of her comfort zone, and frequently had to push herself to continue.

“I was actually in 21 productions at COA,” said Brown, who is now pursuing her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Acting in that first play at COA, Brown said, was completely an accident. She didn’t want to do theater and thought it was crazy, but she pushed herself to try something different, and discovered it was something she loved.

Brown’s evolution at COA was gradual and did not go unnoticed by those she worked with at the Performing Arts Center. In fact, her personality transformation was so profound it was the reason COA honored her with the Campus Cup Award. In addition to the countless hours she toiled away building sets and props as a volunteer with the PAC, she also volunteered to take on additional roles on stage as well.

She was a dancer during COA’s production of “Carousel” and other performances followed, with Brown playing a missionary in “A Christmas Carol”, a member of the chorus in “Little Women”, Sally Brown in “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown”, and Miep Gies in COA’s production of “Diary of Anne Frank”. In addition to acting, dancing or singing in these roles, Brown also designed props for each of these productions.

Because of all her experience, both on-stage and behind-the-scenes, Brown said she is getting more opportunities now, to learn new things. Her experience at COA working in the scene shop, making set pieces and assisting with marketing and customer service at the PAC, has provided her with more opportunities at UNC Charlotte.

“Some students haven’t had as much experience,” said Brown, who hopes to run a theater possibly, after graduation. She is also considering earning her Master of Fine Arts degree eventually.

“A lot of theaters need a Jack or Jillof-all-trades, so that’s kind of what I’m hoping for,” Brown said. “At COA, it’s such a tight-knit family, you do everything. You make costumes, you do acting, you do scene changes – the whole spectrum of everything.”

Brown credits the faculty and staff at COA and their acceptance of her – and their encouragement of her – with helping her develop into the socially active person she is now.

“You can get book learning anywhere, but the stuff I got at COA that you can’t get from a book, has totally changed my life for the better.”

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Associate in Engineering Degree Launched College of The Albemarle students were able to get a head start on their engineering studies in fall 2015, when the community college began a new program, offering students the opportunity to pursue an Associate in Engineering degree.

agreement between the community colleges and the engineering universities was hammered out. She currently serves as the Vice President of the NC Two Year College and University Engineering Pathways organization.

The new program is largely the result of Mathematics and Engineering Assistant Professor Muffy Vestal’s and department chair of Mathematics and Engineering Rhonda Watts’ combined efforts. COA previously had an articulation agreement with East Carolina University’s College of Engineering which provided a pathway to one of the five NC engineering universities. It wasn’t until shortly after Vestal was hired – when administrators realized that not only did she earn a Master’s in Engineering from University of Virginia but had also spent years working in the field as a nuclear engineer – that Watts and Dean Roughton, dean of COA’s Arts & Sciences division, proposed Vestal utilize COA’s share of a Golden Leaf engineering grant money to develop two engineering courses to be offered in fall 2013. This was the beginning of what would eventually become the COA Associate in Engineering degree.

In an effort to ensure COA’s engineering courses are comparable to the equivalent university courses Vestal communicates regularly with university engineering professors during her visits to the five North Carolina university’s offering engineering degrees. These ongoing visits provide insight into what COA’s students will face when continuing their studies and provide information

Vestal was eager to jump in and pursue the engineering vision proposed by the North Carolina Engineering Pathways Organization.

Engineering Pathways is a joint project of the North Carolina Community College System and the University of North Carolina engineering programs to develop pathways for students to begin engineering studies at a community college and then transfer as seamlessly as possible to one of the UNC engineering programs.

Vestal participated as COA’s liaison to the NC Engineering Pathways organization meetings where the final

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about the available engineering opportunities at the university level.

“Because of this communication, the universities have recognized we have a quality program in place,” Vestal said.

“There were many engineering NC community college faculty interested in getting this engineering degree in place,” Vestal continued. “We finally got it off the ground and it’s very exciting. I consider it a privilege to have helped advance COA’s Associate in Engineering degree from a goal to a reality.”

COA Success Story Fouzia Noor Fouzia Noor was always pretty certain she wanted to become an engineer, but it wasn’t until she took the Intro to Engineering class at College of The Albemarle (COA), that she was sure of it.

As part of a group project, she helped create a tiny robot for class. She still remembers watching it in class that day, as it delivered an object as directed and came back to its starting point.

“It was the first time I made any robot or took part in it,” said Noor, who attended COA’s Elizabeth City Campus for two years, from 2011 to 2013. In January 2014, she transferred her credits to East Carolina University (ECU) where she is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in engineering.

“When I took that class, I was sure that,

yes, this is what I want to do,” Noor said. “It was pretty satisfying.”

For Noor, starting her college studies at a smaller school like COA was a perfect decision. The native of Pakistan had just moved to the United States in 2011.

She and her family settled in Elizabeth City where she had relatives. Knowing that Noor wanted to start her college studies, they suggested she go to COA for her first two years. It was, Noor said, excellent advice.

“My relatives told me it’s less expensive to go to a community college and then transfer, so I chose COA,” she said. “It was a good experience. I could talk to my professors easily and that helped me a lot.”

Noor often had many questions for her instructors at COA and usually stayed behind after class to find out more. Even now, after taking specialized courses in biomechanics engineering at ECU, Noor still has high regard for her COA instructors.

“Some of my best professors were there,” she said. “They really helped me understand all the concepts and it really helped me in the learning process. It really did put me on the right track.”

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COA Success Story David Twine Four months ago, David Twine began using the skills he developed as a Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) Technology student at College of The Albemarle (COA).

Since then, he’s worked part-time as a computer-assisted drafting technician with E.T. Hyman Surveying. When he graduates in May, with his associate degree, he hopes to start full-time with the company.

Twine has learned to create two- and three-dimensional models and manage the hardware and software required for his job. It is work he enjoys, and now that he has a job, he knows it’s the right program for him.

“The CAD program helped me understand the career choices there are in this field,” Twine said. “There are CAD jobs in architecture, engineering, machining and surveying.”

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Although Twine pursued the two-year degree, COA also offers a CAD diploma and certificate program.

When Twine started working, he was ready, having been well-prepared at COA. “I knew how to use the programs,” Twine said. “But there is still so much I’m learning on the job.”

When he’s not in class, Twine is out surveying sites for new homes. Back at the office, he draws up his site plans, using the skills he learned in COA’s CAD program.

“I feel like I’ve learned a lot from the classes,” said Twine, adding that his nearly completed degree has already helped him start a career.

COA Success Story Daniel Midgette Daniel Midgette juggled a lot of books - and much more - to make history at College of The Albemarle.

Last May, Midgette became the first student to earn a COA associates degree while attending traditional high school. Daniel worked toward both a high school diploma at John A. Holmes High School in Edenton and degree while active in school activities and three sports.

Although COA has dual enrollment partnerships at high schools throughout northeastern North Carolina, Holmes High is not one of them. It meant Midgette’s goal of

simultaneously working toward both his diploma and degree would be a tougher task for him than for his counterparts at other schools that have partnerships with COA. Midgette needed to complete the 61 credits for his Associate in Arts degree. It meant he had to take them online at school or in person at COA’s campus. All the while, he still juggled his required high school classes, sports and extracurricular activities.

Initially, Daniel said he decided to pursue a college degree in high school at the urging of his mom, who realized how much it would save him later in the pursuit of his four-year degree.

“She said it would save a lot of money,” Midgette said. “But then I realized I was doing it for me. When an opportunity presents itself, you don’t let it go to waste.”

The key to his success, said Steve Wood, principal of Holmes High, was Midgette’s unwavering commitment to his academic goal.

“He was a three-sport athlete, and very active in most activities,” said Wood. “He was dedicated to making sure all assignments were turned in on time.”

Midgette’s hard work paid off in May, when he graduated with his associates degree a few weeks before his high school graduation.

This fall, he will be a student in University of North Carolina Charlotte’s mechanical engineering program. Usually, Midgette said, it’s nearly a six year program, but with two years already behind him, he anticipates graduating in three-anda-half years.

“I don’t have to take general education classes – I already took those,” Midgette said. “Being dualenrolled at COA also helped me with my ACT scores, which helped me get into the mechanical engineering program I wanted.”

“It was not an easy track to follow,” Wood said. “Basically, he had to bore his way through the forest to make his path. He is our poster child and we’re encouraging students, who have the capacity and the opportunities, to do this.”

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COA Success Story Glenn Needham Ever since Glenn Needham earned his Associate in Nursing degree from College of The Albemarle in 2009, he he has relied on his education time and again throughout his professional evolution.

Since joining Sentara Albemarle Medical Center in Elizabeth City, where he started his nursing career eight years ago, Needham has consistently climbed the nursing hierarchy at the hospital.

Currently, he is director of patient care services at the medical center, overseeing outpatient services and helping to develop new and existing services for patients. It’s an administrative post that has Needham looking at the bigger picture, providing services for the many patients that come into the hospital.

It’s a much larger role than he had when he began as an RN in the hospital’s emergency department after graduating from COA. Back then, he was working with patients one-on-one, helping them individually.

Over the years, Needham completed his Bachelor in Nursing degree and eventually his Master of Science in Nursing degree and his Master of Science in Business Administration degree, earning them both in December 2016.

As he accumulated nursing degrees, he also took on larger roles at the hospital. In 2011, he became patient care supervisor, overseeing nursing across the entire hospital. In 2013, he became the clinical nurse manager for the intermediate care department, assisting those patients not sick enough for the ICU but who were too sick for the medical floor. In 2016, he assumed his current role at the hospital and although it’s more managerial and much different than how he started his nursing career, he said he still relies on 14

the fundamental nursing knowledge he learned at COA.

if becoming a pharmacist was for him.

“That solid foundation of nursing is required to make many decisions,” Needham said. All the fundamentals of nursing he learned at COA – like information on the body systems, how to formulate comprehensive plans of care for patients, and how to perform technical procedures like starting an IV – are facets of his nursing education that he still calls upon almost daily.

“I talked to them about the program,” Needham said, referring to the COA nursing grads who worked at the hospital. “The students were very positive about the program.”

Needham also credits COA and its instructors with helping him find a career he loves. In 2005, after graduating from Camden High School, he was enrolled in Elizabeth City State University’s pharmaceutical sciences program. He was working at the hospital in Elizabeth City as a pharmacy technician where he slowly got to know some of COA’s nursing instructors who worked at the hospital.

Interacting with those instructors and the nurses who had graduated from COA’s nursing program, Needham said, changed his life. Two years after starting at ECSU, he began to wonder

COA’s nursing instructors also told him about the strong, critical-thinking skills he would develop in the program and he saw the high percentage pass rate COA’s graduates scored on their nursing licensing exams. As he looked into different RN programs, he realized that COA was going to give him the best result and enrolled soon after.

“The program prepared me with the clinical skills and knowledge I needed to make safe decisions for my patients,” Needham said.

“And to provide and share that knowledge with them.”

COA Adds EMS Equipment and Heart Training Center EMS Program Receives New Training Equipment College of The Albemarle’s Paramedic and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) classes have a new training tool which provides students a real world experience.

Thanks to a new simulator, EMS classes have been transformed into an interactive accident scene, in which students assess and provide medical attention to “victims”. They work in the interior of a virtual ambulance with industry standard equipment and radios. The simulator was delivered last year and Sam Mickey, COA’s EMS Education Coordinator, couldn’t be more excited.

“The simulator looks and works like the ambulances used in this area,” said Mickey, a local Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) with 40 years of experience.

This new, interactive piece of equipment has brought the school’s program into the 21st century.

American Heart Association Moves to COA

“It definitely helps students,” Mickey said. “Now, they arrive on a virtual scene which makes a big difference in their thought process and how they handle a situation.”

College of The Albemarle is proud to be the new home for the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Training Center. The location on the Elizabeth City Campus may be small in squarefootage, but its outreach has been huge since opening last October.

COA’s EMS program already has interactive, talking mannequins that can be programmed to exhibit different symptoms and maladies.

Being able to use both technologies together, Mickey said, has provided students with training that mirrors what they will actually face.

“It’s proven that new technology definitely helps students in this line of work to see and feel what will be expected of them in the field,” said Mickey.

COA operates the facility which was previously housed at Sentara Albemarle Medical Center. Michael Whitehurst, R.N., B.S.N., Training Center Coordinator, transferred with the facility and now manages it for COA. - a position he’s held since 2002.

He’s excited at the facility’s growth under this new partnership between the hospital and COA. “The Training Center was located at the hospital since the late ‘90s,” Whitehurst said. “Our outreach in

the seven-county service area is significant.”

COA’s AHA Center has more than 200 instructors who teach first-aid and basic, child and adult CPR courses for those seeking the training for job requirements. Advanced CPR classes are also available for nurses and paramedics in need of certification.

Stephanie Loftis, the facility’s Education Operations Coordinator, arranges the classes offered at COA, and coordinates off-campus training at different businesses and agencies, taught by Training Center instructors.

“I feel like we’re reaching new people,” Loftis said.

“Moving to the college has made us more visible, which is good.”

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2015-2016 FOUNDATION GIVING

0.5%

5.6%

$1,723

$20,285

Currituck

Chowan

15.4%

4.1%

$54,895

$14,660

Dare

Camden

0.1%

Gates $160

49.4%

Pasquotank

2015-2016 FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS

Giving

by County Total: $356,085

$175,715

Scholarships Awarded From

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Funds

22.3%

Outside COA Service Area $78,918

2.7%

Perquimans $9,729

194 28.2%

23.3%

College Support

Scholarships

Types of Giving 48.5%

Unrestricted

The The purpose purpose of of the the College College of of The The Albemarle Albemarle Foundation Foundation is is to to aid, aid, strengthen strengthen and and further further in in every every proper proper and and useful useful way, way, the the work work and and services services of of College College of of The The Albemarle, Albemarle, and and to to provide provide broader broader educational educational opportunities opportunities to to is is students, students, faculty faculty and and staff, staff, and and to to the the residents residents of of the the seven seven county county service service area area served served by by the the college. college. We We hold hold more more than than $9M $8M in in assets assets designated designated for for scholarships scholarships and and college college support. support. Our Our goals goals include include securing securing new new donors donors and and raise raise more more funds funds each each year year for for the the college, college, which which helps helps close close the the gap gap between between the the college’s college’s needs needs and and our our state state funding. funding.

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Scholarships Awarded

131

Students Received Scholarships

Value of Scholarships Awarded

$179,570.85

COA Foundation Scholarships Endowed and Annual Scholarships Albemarle Hospital Volunteer Services Scholarship Alexandra K. Boada Scholarship Allen Aldridge Memorial Endowed Scholarship Robert D. and Patricia A. Aldridge Endowed Scholarship Cyrus and Elton Aydlett Endowed Scholarship Anna W. and Clifford E. Bair Endowed Scholarship BB&T Directors Endowed Scholarship Alma and Chester Biggs Memorial Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Charles C. Blades and Dr. and Mrs. Julian W. Selig, Jr. Memorial Endowed Scholarship Vera Thompson Bosomworth Memorial Endowed Scholarship Melvin W. Bright Endowed Scholarship Mildred Russell Bright Endowed Scholarship Lynne M. Bunch Presidential Endowed Scholarship Johanna Poulos Cannon Endowed Scholarship* Donna D. Cartwright Memorial Endowed Scholarship Childers Nursing Endowed Scholarship Chowan General Scholarship Christ Episcopal Church Women Endowed Scholarship City Beverage/Elisha Coppersmith Scholarship Miles Clark Distinguished Professorship in Music Endowment COAST Players Drama Scholarship Lurana Cowan – Outer Banks Woman’s Club Scholarship Harriette M. Crump Scholarship Dare General Scholarship Dana Lee Darnell Scholarship H. G. Davenport/W. A. “Pig” Foster/ Red Men Scholarship Jewel H. and Lee J. Davenport Endowed Scholarship Mabel Hardison Dudley Memorial Endowed Scholarship Elizabeth City Area Networking Entrepreneurs Elizabeth City Junior Woman’s Club Scholarship Elizabeth City Morning Rotary Scholarship Elizabeth City Morning Rotary/Rufus Abeyounis Scholarship Elizabeth City Morning Rotary/J. C. “Buddy” Hunt Scholarship Elizabeth City Morning Rotary/Thomas J. Watts Scholarship Dorothy Scott Townsend Fletcher Annual Scholarship Edna Fenstamacher Nursing Endowed Scholarship Willard O. Forbes Memorial Endowed Scholarship*

Robert E. Foreman Endowed Scholarship Forty and Eight of the American Legion Scholarship Reverend Charles L. Foster Scholarship Ruby Mitchell Foster Scholarship William G. Gaither, Jr. Memorial Endowed Scholarship General Scholarship Fund Jean George Memorial Endowed Scholarship Gregory AVID Scholarship Fund Roy and Mary Frances Gregory Endowed Scholarship Gene Haas Computer Integrated Machining Annual Scholarship Bennie Vance Halstead Endowed Scholarship Bonnie S. Hawkins Memorial Endowed Scholarship Marion Heller Memorial Endowed Scholarship Hertford Savings Bank Scholarship Robert I. and Jean M. Hislop Memorial Endowed Scholarship Hockmeyer Equipment Annual Scholarship HONSA Aviation Scholarship Hughes, Morrison, Edwards, Knight Annual Scholarship Captain Alfred M. Howard USN Ret. Endowed Scholarship Jo and Buddy Hunt A/C, Heating & Refrigeration Scholarship Jo and Buddy Hunt Business Scholarship Milburn M. James and Edna S. James Memorial Endowed Scholarship Vernon and Selma Harris James Family Endowed Scholarship Joe and Ann Lamb Endowed Scholarship Jaquelin Jenkins Memorial Endowed Scholarship for Visual Arts Louise and George Lecka Memorial Art Endowed Scholarship Living Legends Annual Scholarship Lower Currituck Volunteer Rescue Endowed Scholarship Manteo Lions Club Scholarship Don and Roberta McCabe Endowed Scholarship Josephine C. McDonald Memorial Endowed Scholarship Charles R. McEver and William M. McEver Memorial Endowed Scholarship George Dixon McKecuen Memorial Endowed Scholarship William E. and Sara W. Meiggs Memorial Endowed Scholarship Lorimer and Margaret Midgett Trust Scholarship Jule C. Modlin, Jr. Endowed Scholarship M. G. Morrisette, Jr. Endowed Scholarship B. Holt Muir Endowed Scholarship Ginny Crutcher Nash Endowed Scholarship

Norman L. Norfleet, Sr. Memorial Endowed Scholarship Peggy O’Brien Annual Scholarship Tom O’Brien Annual Scholarship Dr. Zack D. and Martha A. Owens Nursing Endowed Scholarship Outer Banks Community Foundation Scholarship Regina Annette Peal Endowed Scholarship Glenn W. and Treva P. Pendleton Endowed Scholarship Pepsi-Cola Honors Endowed Scholarship Pepsi Ventures Scholarship Milton C. and Helen H. Prentiss Endowed Scholarship Presidential Scholars Program Endowed Scholarship Providence Extension and Community Association Endowed Scholarship Rebekah Lodge First District Association Scholarship River City Fraternal Order of Police Scholarship James Llewellyn Roberson Memorial Endowed Scholarship C. O. Robinson, Sr. Endowed Scholarship Eloise Robinson Endowed Scholarship Carrie M. Roebuck Nursing Endowed Scholarship Rotary Club of Hertford Scholarship Frank W. Selig, Jr. Memorial Endowed Scholarship Gaston E. Small, Jr. and Beverly M. Small Endowed Scholarship Addison Whidbee Stanton Endowed Scholarship State Employees Credit Union Annual Scholarship Martha W. Swain Memorial Endowed Scholarship Lucy Vaughan Memorial Endowed Scholarship VFW – Ladies Auxiliary Post 6060 Endowed Scholarship Charles W. Ward, Jr. Occupational Education Endowed Scholarship Evelyn Weeks Endowed Scholarship Weeksville Vegetable Growers Association Endowed Scholarship Grover C. White Scholarship Marvenia G. White Memorial Endowed Scholarship Robert J. White Scholarship Andrew “Drew” W. Winslow Memorial Endowed Scholarship George J. Winslow Endowed Scholarship George M. Wood Memorial Endowed Scholarship Jerry S. Wright, Sr. & Marjorie V. Wright Business Endowed Scholarship * Still maturing

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Become a CATALYST! As a COA Alum, You Can Be a CATALYST to Transform Someone’s Life!

The COA Foundation supports the institution’s mission to “become a premier college that inspires excellence, transforms lives and impacts the region.”

We are singularly focused on being the catalyst for the transformation of lives and communities in northeastern North Carolina – strengthening the regional economy and improving quality of life for all.

With the continuing pressures on public funding, I need your help to support COA. Your gift, no matter the amount, can make you “A Catalyst Who Transforms Someone’s Life!”

Casey Bundy, Second Year Student and COA Ambassador “I am so grateful for the scholarships I received as a COA student. I worried less about paying my tuition and thought more about my future. I am transferring to NC State University this fall to work towards my Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.”

Barbie Sawyer, Coordinator of Compliance Services/ Program of Study “As COA employee, I am pursuing an advanced degree and received Professional Development funds from COA’s Foundation to pay some of my tuition. Without this support, I would not have this opportunity to engage in higher learning.”

Rodney Wooten, Director of Library and Learning Services “COA’s Elizabeth City Campus Library is getting ready to be completely renovated. This long overdue project will be funded by the Connect NC Bond funds and the COA Foundation Library Fund. Funds are needed for furnishings, technology and décor.”

Celebrate the Year of Your Graduation With a Donation!

It’s that simple! By giving a gift that correlates to the year you graduated from COA, you have a real connection to your gift.

For example, a 1965 graduate would make a gift of $19.65 while a 2008 graduate would make a gift for $20.08. And as a COA Alum – Class of 1990 - I would make my gift for $19.90.

Donate Today!

Making your gift by check or credit card is not only convenient, but also provides you a tax deduction for the current year. Please return the enclosed envelope with your gift or visit https://give.albemarle.edu to make your gift on-line.

To learn about how your gift is transforming someone’s life and other ways of giving, please call the Foundation Office at 252-335-0821, extension 2263.

College of The Albemarle Foundation presents its 7th Annual Fundraising Event

Foundation

Foundation PO Box 2327 Elizabeth City, NC 27906-2327

SHARE YOUR STORY!

Help us tell the incredible story of COA by sharing your experience and life journey with us!

We invite you to let us know a bit more about you, where you are and what you’re doing, and share a little about your COA experience.

Log on to www.albemarle.edu/alumni-profile