Behind the Scenes

THE LEADERSHIP OWENSBORO CLASS OF 2022 KICKED OFF ON SEPTEMBER 23-24 WITH A LOCAL RETREAT COMPLETE WITH ENGAGING AND INFORMATIVE SPEAKERS AND TEAM BUILDING ACTIVITIES.

OUTDOOR ROOSTER BOOSTERS WOULDN’T BE COMPLETE WITHOUT THE CHAMBER LOGO! VISIT OWENSBORO, THE CHAMBER AND CHAMBER YOUNG PROFESSIONALS WERE ALL PROUD TO LEND A HAND AT THIS YEAR’S ROMP FEST. BRIGHT AND EARLY ON THE KENTUCKY LEGEND PIER PREPARING FOR OUTDOOR ROOSTER BOOSTER

COMMUNITY ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION WITH CONGRESSMAN BRETT GUTHRIE

CANDANCE JOINED KENTUCKY WESLEYAN COLLEGE PRESIDENT THOMAS MITZEL ON THE WESLEYAN AIR-WAY

OCTC: FOCUSING ON WORKFORCE NEEDS NOW AND FOR THE FUTURE

FFor 35 years, Owensboro Community and Technical College (OCTC) has been the primary provider of transfer and career technical education in our region. Recent examples of being responsive to workforce needs include additional cohorts of GO FAME due to employer demand, Fast Track Plumbing, and the recently established CDL program. We continue to focus on “Improving 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.”

Two recent milestones speak to our efforts. First, OCTC has surpassed serving more than 80,000 individuals in our community since 2000, having reached more than half of the citizens in our four-county service area of Daviess, Hancock, McLean, and Ohio. Second, OCTC was named a 2021 Great College to Work For by The Chronicle of Higher Education. We were recognized as a top performer in 4 categories: Supervisor/Department Chair Effectiveness; Confidence in Senior Leadership; Faculty & Staff Well-being; and Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging. I am particularly proud of the last two as they were earned during a pandemic and a year of increased social equality awareness. Both are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our faculty, staff, and students.

These milestones demonstrate our commitment to improving our region’s economic and competitive advantage by creating and maintaining a talent pipeline. We are working to ensure that all community members take advantage of educational opportunities and we must engage and attract individuals from diverse backgrounds. OCTC has implemented a new diversity plan that the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) scored 31 out of 34 possible points, one of the highest in the state. This year, in partnership with Owensboro High School and the Owensboro Black Expo, OCTC has implemented an Academic Career Exploration (ACE) mentoring program for underrepresented minority (URM) high school students. The initial cohort of the ACE program has 20 students, and it will be expanded to Daviess County Public Schools next fall. We are conducting career exploration camps focusing on local family-sustaining wage careers in advanced manufacturing, computer information technology, and healthcare for URM youth. OCTC has restructured its diversity training and recruitment to attract more URM students and employees. Fall 2021 enrollment so far has shown an increase of over 100 more URM students compared to Fall 2020.

For a successful talent pipeline, graduates need to 1) be aware of available career paths, and 2) understand the professional behaviors—soft skills—critical to success in the workplace. To facilitate this, OCTC secured $2 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education to create an Experiential Learning Center (ELC) that supports experiential/work-based learning, engages educators and employers in collaborating on experiential learning, and provides wraparound career exploration, development, and placement services. The ELC has increased the number of students engaged in career exploration and placements in internships/practicums. Through its new Handshake software, students will have additional opportunities for engagement with employers. In addition, the ELC continues to use its “Am I Job Ready?” program with hundreds of students annually to ensure that OCTC graduates gain the essential professional behaviors/soft skills necessary to be successful in today’s workforce.

In its first two years the ELC has already helped to improve student outcomes. The number of faculty offering experiential learning opportunities has increased 70%, students enrolled in an experiential learning course/program has increased to 33%, and our fall to fall retention percentage has increased 5%.

OCTC’s commitment to diversity and experiential learning are helping to enhance and sustain our region’s talent pipeline. Working together we are ensuring our community’s economic development and competitive advantage, creating better lives for everyone.

DR. SCOTT WILLIAMS

OCTC PRESIDENT