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April 1, 2012
Five Decades of Distinction
Student Success, Faculty Engagement Still Points of Pride By Lisa Garrett | Tri-County Technical College By Lisa Garrett Tri-County Technical College Audrey Marshall, right, founding chairman of the Area Commission welcomes TriCounty’s first student, Hughie Dewitt Collins
Tri-County’s First Student It has been 50 years since Hughie Dewitt Collins stood in front of Pickens Hall to pose for a photo with Board Chairman Aubrey Marshall, welcoming him as the first student to enroll at the new Tri-County Education Center. “I had just graduated from Walhalla High School (Class of 1962), and it was a big deal to get to come to Tri-County,” said the Mountain Rest native. “It was exciting to attend the first two-year college in the area. Looking back, being the first to enroll is a proud moment for me, to be part of Tri-County’s history,” added Collins, who enrolled in Electronics classes. “I’m glad I’ve lived long enough to see it help all of the people it has through the years,” reflected Collins. “When I returned to celebrate the College’s 40th anniversary in 2001, it was like a different world, with the expansions and additions. When I was here, there was a room for the electronics classes and another room for the math classes in Pickens Hall.” After earning an Electronics certificate during the first year of Hughie Collins classes, he planned to begin the second year, “but I volunteered for the service before I was drafted,” he said. Collins enlisted in the Army in 1963 and spent four years in the service. He was stationed in the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served in Vietnam. After getting out of the service, he went to work in the Adjutant General’s office in Columbia as a maintenance supervisor, staying there for 15 years. Collins moved back to Oconee County in 1988 when he took a job as transportation supervisor with the School District of Oconee County. After 20 years he retired, but not for long. He now is the camp host for a campground in Cherry Hill. He resides with his wife of 16 year, Sandy, in his hometown of Mountain Rest.
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hen President Ronnie Booth talks about measuring student success, he looks at more than good grades, graduation rates and getting a job. Those three factors always are critical in gauging the success of students, but today the term “student success” has a broader definition than when Tri-County Technical College was established nearly 50 years ago in 1962, he said. “I define student success as taking students from where they are to where they need to be; getting them on the right path at the right time, and equipping them with the tools they need for continued success in life. But our students are here for various reasons—to gain transfer credits, to learn a skill for their job, to retrain for a new career and/or to earn a degree or certificate,” he said. “We have always had support systems to help students get to their goal. Now we are more engaged in the process. We are providing more resources than ever (a robust orientation process, better informed and constructed assessment, in-depth advising, more accessible tutoring, internships, rigorous study sessions to prepare for certification exams, etc.) and working hard to ensure that more students take advantage of the appropriate services in order for them to be successful. The focus is to help students to be successful by getting elbow deep with them in their own learning, not just show them a path. It’s about engaging with students as full partners in their own learning.” What goes on outside of the classroom is just as important as the lectures and the labs. Tri-County’s cooperative education program is designed to help meet the needs of local industries in their search for highly skilled technicians. The co-op experience blends classroom studies with real work experience. Currently, the College has several active co-op education programs with Michelin, Duke Energy, BorgWarner and BMW, among others. “Our world of work is about teamwork and is often project based. So we are modifying how we teach. So much in today’s manufacturing world is done in team-based work cells. That model is huge in terms of engaging how work is done–not in isolation, but in teams,” he said. The Engineering and Industrial Technology (E&IT) Division works on creative team-based projects, service learning opportunities, and community outreach initiatives. This year the Welding students collaborated with the Hanna-Westside Career Center to turn a junk car into an IMCA-class race car. “By expanding their learning opportunities, we are connecting learning to doing,” Dr. Booth said. The College is also working to create more partnerships with fouryear colleges and universities to expand the educational opportunities for graduates. In addition to the Bridge to Clemson program, currently in its sixth year, Tri-County has transfer agreements with Anderson University, Erskine College, USC Upstate, Southern Wesleyan University, and USC’s College of Engineering. “Our partnerships with senior colleges are changing the way we define success for many of our students,” said Dr. Booth. “In the past, it was enough to see them graduate from what we sometimes refer to as terminal degree programs, which are the career-ready programs in our Business and Public Services, Health Education, and E&IT Divisions. We are now creating new pathways that allow our students to take advantage of additional education beyond Tri-County without loss of academic credit. Now we work with senior institutions to develop agreements that provide pathways to baccalaureate degrees for students in applied science programs.”