A MESSAGE FROM THE
President
T
he year 2019 marked my first full year as president of Edgecombe Community College, having joined the College family in August 2018. With the help of trustees, faculty, staff, and educational and community partners, we have expanded educational and training opportunities available to students. We renewed, strengthened, or created a number of partnerships with institutions of higher education, including our neighbor North Carolina Wesleyan College and our regional allies East Carolina University, Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, and University of North Carolina Wilmington. Program directors developed short-term training courses to equip students with the skills they need to join the workforce. New program options include Baking and Pastry Arts, Forklift Training, Construction Academy, Residential HVAC Service and Repair, and Welding. ECC became the first community college in the area to offer students advanced certification in auto body repair through the College’s I-CAR curriculum. By merging I-CAR curricula with what is already in place at ECC, students will earn industry-standard I-CAR certifications while they achieve ECC credentials. The College began a new certificate program in unmanned aircraft systems (drones). ECC is the only community college in the state that offers the program, which emphasizes training in mapping and other geospatial data uses, in addition to preparing students for certification testing. Construction continued on the Center for Innovation located on the Tarboro campus. This facility, scheduled to open in 2020, will enable ECC to better develop and sustain a skilled manufacturing workforce. The Center for Innovation will provide high school and adult student populations with hands-on access to the latest technologies and practices found in advanced manufacturing today. Please read more about these and other developments in the pages that follow on the people, events, and initiatives that shaped 2019 at Edgecombe Community College. We can accomplish great things when we commit ourselves to them and work together for the common good. I look forward to continuing to grow and strengthen our partnerships across the region to continue to achieve higher heights for the benefit of our students and local communities.
Gregory K. McLeod, Ph.D. President 2019 PRESIDENT’S REPORT
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