2012 Winter A-B Tech Hire Education Journal Issue 2

Winter 2012

INSIDE: • Building for the Future • Announcing A-B Tech South • A-B Tech Rated Exceptional • Business Incubator Grows Jobs

VISION Locally Committed • Regionally Dynamic • World-Class Focused

MISSION

A-B Tech inspires, nurtures and empowers students and the community toward a better quality of life through progressive teaching, bold innovation and supportive collaboration.

VALUES A-B Tech’s core beliefs guide behaviors, decisions and interactions toward accomplishing the mission and achieving the vision. A-B Tech is dedicated to student and community success through:

EXCELLENCE LEARNING SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT INNOVATION INCLUSIVENESS CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

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Adopted by the A-B Tech Community College Board of Trustees February 6, 2012

Greetings!

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Volume 1 | Issue 2 | Winter 2012

Features 4

Building for the Future

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Hemlock Reopens

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Announcing A-B Tech South

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A-B Tech Rated Exceptional

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Business Incubator Grows Jobs

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Helping Students Achieve Dreams

Hire Education Journal is published by the Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College Office of Community Relations & Marketing. Questions about the programs and services described in this publication should be directed to the Director of Community Relations & Marketing, Mona Cornwell, at monalcornwell@abtech.edu.

Publisher Managing Editor Writer

Dr. Hank Dunn Mona Cornwell Martha Ball

Designer

Margaret Hester

Photographers Margaret Hester Kyle Levitan Laura Sellers Josh Weaver All rights reserved. No parts of the material printed may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage retrieval system without the permission of the publisher.

115,000 copies printed at a cost of .13 cents each.

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Board of Trustees Richard Hurley Chair Ray Spells Vice Chair Tom Alexander Troy Ball Joe Brumit Bobby Capps Mary Ruth Fowler William A. Hart, Jr. Don C. Locke, Ph.D Kaye A. Myers John Parham Jr., MD Carol Peterson Mandy Stone David Wyatt

Student Government Association President Lin Orndorf Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (http://www. sacscoc.org/) to award associate degrees and diplomas. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 only for questions about the accreditation of AshevilleBuncombe Technical Community College.

am delighted to share the second issue of Hire Education Journal with you.

As you saw on the cover, A-B Tech recently celebrated a major event – the groundbreaking for a 185,000-square-foot Allied Health and Workforce Development Building.

Since our founding in 1959, A-B Tech has trained more than 8,500 employees for the healthcare industry.

Ninety to 95 percent of those employees have remained in Western North Carolina after graduating. They are the people who draw our blood, clean our teeth, and take our X-rays. They assist our surgeons during operations, prepare our prescriptions, and even care for our pets.

Not only do they keep us and those we love healthy, they also are a major contributor to the health of our local economy. In fact, Advantage West Economic Development Group estimates healthcare workers account for 25 percent of the region’s service sector employment.

Each year, students in A-B Tech’s Allied Health programs make up 30 percent of the College’s total graduates, and 15 to 17 percent are employed by Mission Health System, the region’s largest employer. The remainder typically has little trouble finding positions in dentists’ offices, doctors’ offices, nursing homes, pharmacies, and other healthcare settings.

All this goes to show that the contribution of the healthcare industry to the Western North Carolina economy is nothing to sneeze at. That’s why we’re so excited about our new Allied Health and Workforce Development Building. Scheduled for completion in late 2014 or early 2015, this state-of-the-art facility will allow us to train more students in our existing programs, and to add new programs such as physical therapy assistant and occupational technician.

We hope you will visit our website, abtech.edu, and click on Building for the Future to watch the progress on the construction of this new building, as well as our other sales tax-funded projects. And the next time you visit your doctor, your dentist or your vet, ask them how many A-B Tech graduates they employ. You will probably be surprised.

Dr. Hank Dunn President

abtech.edu

Buildin for the future Allied Health and Workforce Development Building and Fernihurst Parking lot.

A-B Tech has embarked on a major construction campaign that will provide 21st century facilities to train students for 21st century jobs. Funding for the campaign comes from a quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters in November 2011.

Five of the eight construction projects are under way or have already been completed.

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ng New Public Safety Training Classroom, Ballfield Parking lot, and Allied Heath and Workforce Development Building Groundbreaking

• A groundbreaking ceremony for the largest project – a $50 million, 185,000-square-foot Allied Health and Workforce Development Building – was held Oct. 18. The facility is scheduled for completion in late 2014 or early 2015.

• Architects have designed a $7.1 million classroom building to train law enforcement officers, firefighters and other emergency responders. Scheduled for completion by fall 2014, the building will be located at the new Buncombe County Public Safety Training Facility in Woodfin.

• Minor renovations are under way at the former MAHEC OB-GYN offices at 93 Victoria Road, and A-B Tech’s Business Office and IT Department will move to the facility in early 2013.

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• Design work is under way for parking lot, sidewalk and signage improvements on the College’s Asheville campus.

• New twin, high-efficiency chillers were installed and connected to the HVAC system for the Small Business Center and the Technology Commercialization Center at the College’s Enka site.

Still to come are renovations to several buildings on the Asheville campus – Rhododendron, Elm and the Coman Student Activity Center.

To learn more about A-B Tech’s construction projects and to watch our progress, visit abtech.edu and click on “Building for the Future”.

abtech.edu

Hemlock Building Reopens New Occupants began offering classes Oct. 1 A-B Tech Community College celebrated the reopening of the Hemlock Building on the Asheville campus with a walkthrough of the renovated space on Sept. 21.

gency Services Academy.

“Once we got that call, everyone pulled together and found space for the people from Hemlock.

Offices were shared, classrooms rearranged and we The College closed rose to the challenge,” said Hemlock in October 2011 Dr. Hank Dunn, A-B Tech due to lead contamination President. “You can judge from a first-floor firing an institution by how it rerange used by the Emer- acts during the bad times.

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It really tests its mettle.”

The building was cleaned from top to bottom and the HVAC systems, floors, ceilings and paint were replaced.

After the cleanup, Community Enrichment, GED, Human Resources Development, English as a Second Language and

Compensatory Education moved in and started offering classes Oct. 1.

Those programs formerly were located in the Pines/ Madonna Building, which will be demolished this fall to allow construction of a new Allied Health and Workforce Development Building.

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Spring Semester to Offer New Ways and Places for Classes A-B Tech South opening in January A-B Tech Community College has added another convenient way for students to take classes through the opening of its newest location in South Buncombe County. In a partnership with Mars Hill College, students will be able to take courses at A-B Tech South at 305 Airport Road, beginning in January. “This new site is an extension of the long-time partnership that has existed between A-B Tech and Mars Hill to improve educational opportunities for the people of Western North Carolina. We look forward to offering classes in business administration, English, history, math, psychology and sociology,� said A-B Tech President Dr. Hank Dunn.

have created a sequence of courses in which students attend classes two days per week and complete two to three courses per eight-week term.

Students may attend classes either Mondays/Wednesdays or Tuesdays/ Thursdays with classes offered during the day and online.

The College also is offering a new Honors Interdisciplinary Studies Program, which encourages students to view their education as a comprehensive experience. These learning communities allow students to understand the relationships connecting natural and social sciences, humanities, and history. The program includes a leadership course to be taken in one of the summer semesters.

To learn more about A-B Tech Also new at A-B Tech is an option for Associate in Arts students to earn South, the Associate in Arts eighttheir degree in two years by taking week program, or the Honors Proonly eight-week classes. Instructors gram, visit abtech.edu.

Spring Registration is Open Classes start Jan. 14 Register Early to get the Classes You Want!

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A-B Tech earns exceptional rating A-B Tech Community College is one of 16 community colleges in the state to be recognized for exceptional performance for the 2010-11 school year by the North Carolina Community College System.

“We’re very proud to be among an elite group of colleges earning an exceptional rating on the state’s performance standards,” A-B Tech Presi8

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dent Hank Dunn said. “With A-B Tech’s quality and affordability, we have become the college of choice for more than 27,000 students each year and the trainer of choice for hundreds of local businesses. This rating assures them that the training and education they receive from us not only meets, but in some cases exceeds, the highest state standards.”

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The North Carolina Community College System evaluates the performance of each of its 58 colleges in seven core areas. Those areas are: • Passing rates on licensing and certification exams; • Performance of college transfer students; • Passing rates of students in developmental courses; • Success rates of developmental students in subsequent college-level courses; • Curriculum student retention, graduation and transfer; • Satisfaction rate of graduates and early leavers; and • Client satisfaction with Small Business Center services.

To obtain Exceptional status, colleges must meet or exceed all eight standards.

They must also meet or exceed the performance rates of students who began in, rather than transferred to, the UNC System and achieve at least a 70 percent first-time passing rate on all state licensure and certification exams.

Any college not achieving any of the standards is required to submit an action plan for improving performance to the State Board of Community Colleges.

A-B Tech students had the second-highest passing rates in the state on licensing and certification exams, at 95 percent. Three programs, Radiography, Veterinary Medical Technology and Cosmetology Esthetician, posted 100 percent passing rates. A-B Tech also had the fourth-highest student persistence rate in the state, meaning more students graduated, transferred or returned the following semester.

Other highlights of A-B Tech’s performance measures include:

92% of students who trans-

ferred to a public North Carolina university performed as well or better than students native to the four-year institutions.

97% of graduates and early

leavers said they were satisfied with the quality of the College’s programs and services.

95% of the businesses and

A-B Tech’s exceptional ratings help students land good jobs.

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industries surveyed reported satisfaction with the services provided by the College.

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Spotlight on

Business IClient ncubator Boomer Sassman Owner and founder of internet consulting and web design firm, Big Boom Design, Boomer Sassmann is one of several business owners based in the A-B Tech Community College Business Incubator for the past 15 months.

Sassmann’s initial search for professional and affordable office space that could enable him to grow his fouryear-old business, led him to join the Incubator in 2011.

He quickly realized that it was more than affordable office space. “It was close to where I lived, and the resources that get dropped in my lap are a big benefit.”

Since relocating to Asheville, the company has grown its market and reach considerably. Big Boom Design got its start providing educational web design and internet consulting to clients in Boone and the High Country’s tourism industry, including chambers of commerce and economic development commissions. “We carved out a niche in the tourism market, but our business has grown to include many more clients in other areas such as sustainable construction, medical systems, and property management, to name a few.”

Currently, Sassmann maintains a staff of five, each with their own specialty, and keeps busy with approximately 30 projects at any given time, and just under 300 client accounts. Staff includes A-B Tech alumni and Lead Coder Mike Hunnicutt, Art Director, Sarah Bonner, Dir. of Content Carolyn Ellison, Content Migrator Chloe Satter, and newest member to the team, PHP Developer Michael Hull.

The team at Big Boom Design provides user-friendly website and blog design, with a focus on empowering and educating the client. “We educate the client throughout the planning and construction process. We do a lot of in-person training with businesses, helping to break down some of the barriers that people have built up regarding the Internet and business.”

Big Boom Design makes sure clients, businesses, and organizations understand what resources the internet provides to their business, and how to access and uti10

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Business Incubation is designed

to increase business success through consultation services, coaching, access to shared resources and office, wet lab or manufacturing facilities.

For more information, email SBCIncubator@abtech.edu or call 398.7950.

lize those resources. “We help businesses overhaul their existing website, or build a new one with a heavy focus on educating the client throughout the entire process.

We place a great deal of importance on the analytics collected through the website so that we’re tweaking the site content appropriately,” notes Sassmann.

In today’s business world, understanding and utilizing changing technology is crucial to maintaining a successful business. “One of the biggest difficulties working in this industry is that it never stops evolving, never slows down, or stagnates. You have to stay a couple of steps ahead of the game so that when the public becomes aware of a certain internet trend you aren’t left in the dust.”

abtech.edu

Investing in the

Future Entrepreneurial Development

through the

Foundation

A-B Tech Community College has created an Educational and Entrepreneurial Development Foundation to grow businesses and create jobs in the region by enhancing and promoting existing entrepreneurial support activities of the College and other community groups.

According to Marilyn McDonald, the Foundation’s Executive Director, the Foundation is one of a few in community colleges across the nation that focus on entrepreneurship. “We are taking an innovative approach. As funds from the state diminish, the College will be prepared for the long-term by investing in great ideas and supporting the creation of new companies in Western North Carolina.”

Steven Schain, founder of Spectralight Images, LLC, is one of the partners that collaborates with the Educational and Entrepreneurial Development Foundation at A-B Tech.

Foundation is Blazemark Labs, Troy Tolle, co-founder of Digi- LLC, a mentorship driven, seed tal Chalk, is the Foundation Board stage investment model, 12-week Chair, a position he readily ac- accelerator program. Blazemark cepted. “They (A-B Tech) came to will accept a cohort of 10 compame and asked for ideas and for par- nies to participate in the intensive ticipation and they showed me that program, which will launch in sumthey are interested in more than just mer 2013. trying to graduate as many people The Foundation has also partas they can; they’re also interested nered with Spectra3D Advertising in making sure this is the best place and founder Steven Schain for sellin the nation to start and grow your ing glasses-free 3-D advertising and business – the most supportive comis providing management services munity for entrepreneurs,” he said. for a number of local programs.

The first major initiative of the Projects in development by the 11

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Foundation include a Hacker Space to provide programmers with the software, equipment, and specialized training to elevate skills in the regional technology workforce and an Institute for Professional Studies to offer training opportunities for higher level certifications.

For more information about the Education and Entrepreneurial Development Foundation, contact the Executive Director, Marilyn McDonald, at 828-398-7439 or via email at marilynimcdonald@ abtech.edu. abtech.edu

Meet Scholarship Recipient

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Jeremy Jackson

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A-B Tech student Jeremy “Tj” Jackson is one of the first recipients of the 100 Men and Women Minority Scholarship awarded through the A-B Tech Community College Foundation.

Sponsored by the Presidents’ Roundtable of the National Council on Black American Affairs, the institute selects applicants on the basis of their cumulative GPA, community service, a letter of recommendation and a written or video essay. Students at the institute

attend sessions on career readiness, personal health and wellness, financial literacy, entrepreneurship and other topics.

Established by Samuel AbdulAllah and Johnnie Grant, the 100 Men and Women Minority ScholJackson is enrolled in the Assoarship Program provided ciate in Arts program two $1,000 scholarships with plans to pursue a for the 2012-13 academic bachelor’s degree in exyear. Additional funds were ercise psychology. He is contributed by community an active member of the members who want to proMinority Student Leadvide educational opportuership Academy at A-B nities for African-AmerTech, where he helps ican students enrolled in to coordinate activities that through the curriculum programs at such as campus tours, generosity of many donors, the A-B Tech A-B Tech. workshops and conferCommunity College Foundation awarded ences.

250 scholarships to deserving students Abdul-Allah was inJackson volunteers for this school year? Unfortunately, more spired to start the scholarship after listening to a with the Developing than 900 students applied for financial radio show discussing the Future Male Leaders assistance and we couldn’t meet all their disparity in jobs, quality of program at the Grant needs. life and education between Center, where he menAfrican-Americans and tors young males in third As you determine your year-end conCaucasians. “We needed through fifth grades. “I tributions, please consider a gift to the to get something done would like to motivate A-B Tech Community College Foundation rather than talk about it. and inspire youth. Youth We set up the scholarare the heart of the to support a student’s dream of a better ship to close that gap,” he community, so I would future. What greater gift than the gift of said. “We were told about encourage them to get education! Supporting education is a students already here (at a superior education. I way to make a difference in an individuA-B Tech) that needed the want to ensure our youth al’s life and make Asheville a better place help.” remain in school, gradufor all of us. ate, and enroll in college.

If you are interested in My aim is to mentor supporting the 100 Men future generations,” he and Women Minority said.

Scholarship Program, you at abtech.edu or send can give online at abtech.

Jackson was selected your donation to A-B Tech Community edu or mail your donation to participate in the inCollege Foundation, 340 Victoria Road, to A-B Tech Community augural Men of Color Asheville, NC 28801. Have additional College Foundation, 340 Student Leadership InstiVictoria Road, Asheville, tute, Man-Up: Educating questions or need more information?

NC 28801. For additionMinority Males for LeadCall 398-7176. Thank you! al information, call 398ership and Service Oct. 7176.

26-28 in Phoenix.

You Can Help Students Achieve Their Dreams

Did you know

Give online

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Economic and Workforce Development Reaching Out to Businesses Of All Sizes A-B Tech Community College has strengthened its Economic and Workforce Development Program by expanding its outreach efforts to businesses of all sizes.

“The College has more people available for outreach to mom and pops all the way to larger businesses,” said Cynthia Hamilton, Director of Economic and Workforce Development at A-B Tech. “The benefit is businesses are able to receive the training they need at a convenient time and in a convenient format. We are able to address the needs of smaller businesses the same way we always did for the larger industries.”

James Lee, Workforce Outreach Coordinator, works with clients Block by Block Industries.

Hamilton works closely with Workforce Outreach Coordina- classes can now be offered at the tors James Lee and Steve Lockett business’ site, which is a plus for to build partnerships with indus- busy employees,” Hamilton said. tries and support job growth.

The intent is to support a larger A-B Tech offers training at the variety of industries, including College or at the business in com- healthcare, hospitality, governputer skills, safety classes, leader- ment, manufacturing, general ship, customer service and indus- business and the burgeoning beer try-specific training. “Most A-B industry. A-B Tech is able to proTech Workforce Development vide skills to businesses’ work-

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force to support them in their growth. “The bonus is we also receive a closer understanding of the needs of local businesses,” Hamilton said.

For more information about customized training and workforce development, contact Hamilton at cynthiakhamilton@ abtech.edu or 398-7923.

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Want more information?

Give us a call!

Admissions ................................................................. 398-7520 Corporate and Economic Development ..........398-5823 Disability Services ......................................................398-7141 Financial Aid............................................................... 398-7162

December 4-18................ Lighting of the Green 6-9 p.m. nightly

Foundation (Scholarships)...................................... 398-7176

20.....................Tuition and Fees for Spring

Registrar ........................................................................398-7291

22-Jan. 6.....Winter Break

Semester due by 5 pm

(College closed)

Small Business Center .............................................398-5849

January

Student Accounts .......................................................398-7155

12.....................Tuition and Fees for late registration

Student Activities .......................................................398-7203 Transfer Center ...........................................................398-7580 Veteran’s Service Office .........................................398-7206

due by noon

14.....................Spring Semester classes begin

(16-week classes, four-week minimester 1 and eight-week minimester 1)

19-21............Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

(College closed)

All numbers use the (828) area code.

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ASHEVILLE, NC

Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College 340 Victoria Road Asheville, NC 28801

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