SPCC's grant will help workers get marketable skills
By Carolyn Steeves, The Enquirer-Journal
Dec. 15, 2011
South Piedmont Community College received a three-year “Accelerating Opportunity” grant from Jobs for the Future. They are one of eight community college in North Carolina to be chosen.
The North Carolina Community College System was awarded $1.6 million. SPCC is expected to receive $75,000 a year for three years.
The money is to give more workers marketable skills. It is in preparation for 2018, when 59 percent of all jobs in North Carolina will require workers with some form of higher education.
SPCC’s Basic Skills staff will assess each participant in the program and develop a transition plan for moving them from their current skill level into college coursework. Participants can choose from three areas of study: computer information technology, medical office administration or early childhood education.
SPCC explained in a statement that they chose those three areas because the programs provide certificates that can be earned in one or two semesters with the credits transferring into diploma programs.
Participants will earn 12 college-level semester credits and tuition support. They will also be prepared for additional college-level courses.
The certificate will enable students to seek entry-level employment. Once they have jobs, they can continue their studies, perhaps beyond the associate degree level.
“The way we deliver adult basic education is changing,” Denise Wilson, director of Basic Skills, said in a statement. “The ultimate goal is not only for a student to receive the GED or adult high school diploma, but for students to continue on to some form of post-secondary education and be college-ready and ultimately obtain a good job.”
SPCC has had a full-time Breaking Through counselor since 2007 as part of Jobs for the Future and National Council for Workforce Education initiative. The counselor helps laid off and unemployed workers and Basic Skills students re-enter the work force with new job skills. The Accelerating Opportunity grant will allow more students to access this kind of support.
