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| Appalachian joins CVCC
in metro education |
Sam Calhoun
Academic Affairs Beat
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Strengthening
Appalachian State University’s commitment to the people of
North Carolina, the Hickory Metro Higher Education Center (HMHEC)
on the campus of Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) will work
to continue Appalachian’s mission of providing education to
those who need it most.
For over 40 years, Appalachian State has offered undergraduate and
graduate programs in Catawba County, tailoring them to fit the schedules
of daytime workers.
In addition, Appalachian’s outreach has a presence at 10 state
community colleges and its sister university, Winston-Salem State
University.
“Of the seven largest metro statistical areas of the state,
[Hickory] is the only one without a campus of the University of
North Carolina,” Division Director of Continuing Education
Dr. Richard B. Parrott said Wednesday. “We see service to that
area as part of this institution’s mission.”
Catawba County is in desperate economic plight. The loss of jobs
in the textile, furniture and fiber-optic industries, mixed with
the general economic downturn, has resulted in a large, unemployed
workforce that needs new skills to advance to the next level.
“The [HMHEC] is seen as one way to address some of those issues,”
Parrott said.
There are three cooperating institutions involved in this project.
Appalachian State, Lenoir-Rhyne College and CVCC have banded together
to meet the needs that have been identified in the Hickory area,
Director of the Office of Extension and Distance Education Thomas
W. Fisher said Wednesday.
“The HMHEC is a cooperative agreement between the three participating
institutions to try to provide educational opportunities in the
Hickory metro area,” Fisher said. “If there are needs
outside of what the [three institutions] can offer, then we would
hope we could find other institutions to offer the programs.”
Fisher said the HMHEC is there to provide programs that have jobs
in that community, thus retuning the existing workforce to function
financially better in changing times in different jobs.
The undergraduate and graduate programs offered work in a cohort
fashion, which means that one group of students go through a program
together, entering and graduating at the same time.
Fisher said this works best for working adults who have daytime
duties and children. These same students need the knowledge that
their classes will be offered at the same time on the same day for
the next two or more years.
“We make a commitment to this location for this period of time
to this group of people,” Fisher said.
An old department store building on the east campus of CVCC is being
recycled to house the HMHEC along with other community outreach
activities. A 21,000 sq. ft. space in the building will act as the
HMHEC base of operations, although classes will continue to be held
at CVCC, Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert L.
Shaffer said Wednesday.
Shaffer sees the HMHEC as not only an extension of Appalachian’s
educational outreach, but also an extension of the university’s
commitment to re-invent the North Carolina workforce.
This is a great example of higher education and economic development
meeting, Shaffer said. There is a need for North Carolina adult
learners to learn new and broader skills, making them entrepreneurs,
thus putting more focus on growing jobs locally.
Students participating in these programs will have all the physical
and electronic resources that Appalachian State students enjoy,
and graduates will receive an Appalachian State University degree,
Fisher said.
Overall, this project is all about helping people; “it’s
not a capital intention of effort,” Parrott said. |
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