| DTAE
2004
Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education
The Office of Technical Education fuels the economic growth and development of the state by providing quality technical training through its coordinated system of technical colleges. This office administers high-quality technical education programs and career transition services that meet the needs of current and prospective students, as well as the business community. The office oversees the administration of all publicly owned technical colleges and works with other public agencies and organizations to provide Georgia's citizens with a seamless educational system that is equally accessible to all segments of the population. Georgia's
technical college system has grown from two
institutions in 1943 to a statewide network
of 34 technical colleges, 18 satellite campuses,
four joint college divisions, and the Georgia
Virtual Technical College.
Instructional Support Services responds to the training needs of current and emerging business opportunities in the community by delivering flexible technical college programs. Programs are discontinued if benchmarks for enrollment, graduation, and job placement are not met.
Over the past two years, the Georgia Virtual Technical College has seen an increase in the number of out-of-state and out-of-country students utilizing its on-line course offerings. During this time, students from 37 states and 21 foreign countries have used GVTC resources to further their educations. The greatest concentration of these students come from Alabama, California, Florida, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Foreign countries represented are the Bahamas, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, England, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad, West Indies, and Yugoslavia. The Georgia Virtual Technical College has maintained a phenomenal retention rate of between 73% - 85.8% since its inception in 1998. For FY04, the GVTC retention rate averaged 84.4%. This far exceeds the national retention rate for on-line courses, which is less than 50%. Student satisfaction is necessary for growth. GVTC affords students the opportunity to offer feedback/input every quarter on instruction, course content and support services through the GVTC Student Satisfaction Survey. Student suggestions/comments have enabled GVTC to initiate positive change and thereby increase enrollment. This past year, 96% of GVTC students were satisfied with their on-line course and 95% of the students were satisfied with their on-line admissions experience. Services provided by the GVTC central office staff include Blackboard training, design and technical support, a portal Web site, a 24/7 help desk, 1-800 telephone number for general information, student services support, incentive grants for instructors to develop programs of study, and an on-line tutoring service for students. The GVTC student services staff continues to offer training on the automated admissions/registration/financial aid process that was developed and implemented last year. GVTC provided training this year for 45 student services personnel from across the state. Professional development opportunities for faculty are offered year-round through GVTC training seminars such as Blackboard, Macromedia Flash, Photoshop, accessibility training and the annual GVTC Summit. To ensure the quality assurance of all on-line courses, GVTC has implemented a process whereby every course must meet quality checklist criteria and course standards, pass a peer review committee, and then be piloted as a web-enhanced course at the technical college before being launched on the GVTC web site for totally on-line instruction. All on-line instructors must attend GVTC Blackboard training. GVTC also offers three continuing education courses in a partnership with BellSouth to provide career-specific training to develop skills that BellSouth and industry require for employment. Other continuing education courses such as computer applications for government employees, desktop applications, Web design and media, network/operating systems, project management, business management skills and workplace safety are also available on-line. DTAE
JobBoard
In FY 04, the Professional Development Center continued partnerships with major vendors including: Microsoft, Cisco, and CIW and expanded offerings in emerging technologies such as wireless and security. In FY 04 with reduced staff due to budgets, the Professional Development Center provided over 100 courses and seminars that were attended by more than 600 people. In addition to this the Professional Development Center facilities and staff were utilized to provide over 115 training courses or seminars for Blackboard training that was attended by over 750 faculty members. A partnership with the GBI was also established that utilized the Professional Development Center Facilities to provide training to more than 100 Law Enforcement Officers for the State of Georgia. To date, the PDC has taught more than 37,500 hours of IT certification training toward more than 1200 exams, which included Comptia A+, Net+, Linux+, Security+, Cisco Certified Network Associate, Cisco Certified Network Professional, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (Windows NT, 2000, XP), Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator, Microsoft Certified Solution Developer, Certified Internet Webmaster, Sun Solaris Administrator, Sun Java Programmer. By providing training in-house through PDC, DTAE realized a net savings of more than $2,500,000.
Accomplishments in FY04 include:
Special Workforce Services helps students achieve their maximum potential through programs such as New Connections to Work and Georgia Fatherhood. New
Connections to Work For 23 years, the New Connections to Work program has offered services to its target population, which includes single parents, displaced homemakers, single pregnant women, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients, and ABAWD recipients. The NCTW program continues its collaboration with the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR), Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS). During FY03, more than 8,000 TANF recipients received services through the New Connections to Work program. In 2002, the New Connections to Work program offered services to a new population, Able Bodied Adults without Dependent Children (ABAWD), through a collaborative agreement with the Georgia Department of Human Resources. This state and federally funded program is offered in 33 technical colleges and 3 colleges with technical divisions. During FY03, more than 11,000 participants were assisted in their goal to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Georgia
Fatherhood Program In Georgia, uncollected child support is estimated to be more than one billion dollars annually. Substantial public funds are currently directed to public assistance payments resulting from non-payments of child support by non-custodial parents. The impact of this problem is a wide range of social and economic issues including children being raised without positive male involvement, continued reliance on taxpayer-funded programs, and an undereducated and often untrained population of non-custodial parents. The welfare reform legislation of 1996 was enacted to strengthen and improve state child support collection activities. During the state fiscal year 03 (7-4-02 to 6-30-03), Georgia’s Office of Child Support Enforcement collected $523.8 million. In the past two years, Georgia has collected over $1 billion in child support payments. Nationally, child support collections have increased 65 percent to a record $18 billion in fiscal year 2000. This reform law also bought about a variety of family formation provisions that includes grants and waivers being made available for responsible fatherhood efforts designed to help con-custodial fathers support their children financially and emotionally. One of these programs is the Georgia Fatherhood Program. The Georgia Fatherhood Program (GFP) provides education, training, and job placement assistance for non-custodial parents with court-ordered child support. GFP offers a statewide systematic delivery of services that enables participants to contribute to the economic well being of their children and the workforce development of the State. The standard is to provide a comprehensive program of services, which includes assessment, workshop competencies, and skills training concurrent with employment. Since its inception, over 15,000 participants have been served. Specifically,
the Georgia Fatherhood Program targets low-income
non-custodial parents court-ordered to pay child
support through the Office of Child Support
Enforcement (OCSE) who: The Georgia Fatherhood Program is offered in 32 technical colleges and 4 colleges with technical divisions. Cited by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Child Support Enforcement Association as the only statewide program of its kind, the Georgia Fatherhood Program serves as a national model of collaboration for comprehensive training and service delivery to non-custodial parents. GFP provides education, training, and job placement for non-custodial parents with court-ordered child support. GFP offers a statewide systematic delivery of services that enables participants to contribute to the economic well-being of their children and the workforce development of the state. The standard is to provide a comprehensive program of services, which includes assessment, workshop competencies, and skills training concurrent with employment. In FY03, the GFP served 9,431 participants. The GFP has assisted 161 participants to further their education. 4,215 of our participants have been able to locate and secure gainful employment. The State has developed a variety of programs to promote responsible, involved non-custodial support particularly among low-income men. The primary focus is education, job training, and job placement assistance for men and women who owe child support and need to increase their labor marketability. The Georgia Fatherhood Program (GFP) is among several of these strategies to encourage responsible non-custodial parents support. As a model to enhance non-custodial parents support as economic providers, the Georgia Fatherhood Program assists low-income parents, who owe child support, in their efforts to qualify for and find employment. Cited
by the U.S. Department of Education and the
National Child Support Enforcement Association
as the only statewide program of its kind,
the Georgia Fatherhood Program serves as a
national model of collaboration for comprehensive
training and service delivery to non-custodial
parents.
Student Support Services provides students with assessment, admissions, career planning and development, registration, placement and federal/state financial assistance.
At the GOAL banquet in May, after a well-received keynote address by Commissioner Kenneth H. Breeden, his last statewide public event prior to his June 30th retirement, the finalists and then the state winner were announced.
Dr. John Pike, President of Okefenokee Technical College, shares, “Candice is an excellent representative of the type of students in our technical colleges. She set her goal early in high school, articulated credit through the Tech Prep program, and was accepted into our Radiologic Technology program via a competitive admission process. We are thrilled that she chose Okefenokee Technical College and that she has now been selected as the GOAL student for all of Georgia's technical colleges. “ Walker
was presented with the GOAL Medallion and
a fully loaded 2004 Nissan Sentra from Rob
Doll Nissan of Columbus, Georgia As the Student
of the Year, Walker will serve as the Student
Ambassador for the Georgia Department of Technical
and Adult Education. “GOAL winners are
our ambassadors,” said Chuck Beall,
assistant commissioner for Technical Education.
“They symbolize what technical education
can achieve and the caliber of individuals
who are choosing Georgia’s technical
colleges.”
Padgett has several notable achievements, including the Lighthouse Institute for Excellence in Teaching in 2004 and Certification as the Lead Instructor for Customer Service Specialist in 2000. Padgett’s local activities include involvement with the membership committee of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, Berry College’s Child Development Center Advisory Board, the March of Dimes’ Walk America Board, and the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon Committee. Committed to a life-long career as an instructor/educator, Padgett helped guide the opening of the Coosa Valley Technical College Service Industry Academy, graduating 29 consecutive classes with 90 percent placement. In recognition of her accomplishments, Padgett received a beautiful crystal award and a gift of $1,000. “The GOAL and Rick Perkins winners are a testimony to the quality of our students and the dedication they have shown to technical education,” said Dr. Kenneth Breeden, commissioner of the DTAE. “They represent the best talent in our state, and the great promise that lies ahead in our state’s future.” State Board Chairman, Harold Reynolds expresses support for the GOAL and Rick Perkins Award programs in that “the State Board believes that job creation is a cycle that begins with technical education. Motivated, qualified, and skilled employees are the greatest asset any business can possess. The students and instructors honored through the GOAL and Rick Perkins Award programs exemplify these qualities - and are Georgia's future workforce. We are proud of their achievements and support them in their determined strides toward excellence. Each success brought about by one of these students or instructors is significant both individually and collectively - for these combined successes represent the success of a strong Georgia.” The GOAL and Rick Perkins Award programs are functions of the Strategic Operations and Projects Unit and are guided by the Presidents’ STAR Committee. DTAE, FOX 5 Atlanta, GA REAL, DeVry University and Rob Doll Nissan are the statewide GOAL and Rick Perkins Award sponsors.
Selection for the privilege of attending the Lighthouse Institute is based on criteria established at each individual technical college. Lighthouse participants have an opportunity to share teaching skills, which promote learning, and to be exposed to national innovators in the teaching field. In 2003, 88 of Georgia’s technical college instructors, representing 34 technical colleges and three University System technical divisions, attended the Lighthouse Institute for Excellence in Teaching, held in Columbus, Georgia. Conference evaluations quantifiably show that the program continues to improve each year. Professional development leaders included: Dr. John E. Roueche, professor and director of the Community College Leadership Program at The University of Austin; Dr. Amy Caison, an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Adult and Community College Education at North Carolina State; Dr. David Ryback of EQ Associates International; Dr. Timothy S. Mescon, partner in HA&W Mescon and Dean of Kennesaw State University’s Business School; and Mr. Robert Dubill, executive editor, retired, USA Today. Additionally, the 2003 GOAL and Rick Perkins Award winners, Dr. Ken Breeden, and several business & industry panel presentations highlighted the week. The
Lighthouse Institute is a function of the
Strategic Operations and Projects Unit and
is guided by the Presidents’ Technical
Education Committee.
The Office of Technical Education has been engaged in establishing the appropriate infrastructure to support and accurately account for DTAE's high school/technical college collaborative programs. Focus has been given to identifying processes and procedures that facilitate seamless transitions and establishing an accountability system to accurately capture this movement. The Office of Technical Education has particular emphasis on expanding, strengthening, and connecting successful existing high school/technical college collaborations. This office has been significantly involved
in forging new and significant partnerships
to increase awareness of and interest in technical
education on the part of Georgia’s young
people who are involved in alternative education
programs, educational facilities within the
Department of Juvenile Justice and youth organizations;
fostering collaborative programs that help
high school students complete high school
requirements, gain real world experience,
and earn credits that can be applied to technical
college programs; connecting the work of WIA
Youth Councils and the Family Connection Partnership
with Georgia School to Work partnerships to
develop a statewide Comprehensive Youth Development
Strategy among the state, regional and local
partners involved in supporting youth; leading
the Early Childhood Care and Education collaborative
initiative involving the state’s leading
childcare agencies with the goal of providing
statewide coordination of systems for professional
advancement in early childhood care and education;
and contributing to the Health Care Workforce
Policy Advisory Committee.
Georgia STW state staff and the University of Georgia’s Occupational Research Group (ORG) held a grant closure workshop in November for local STW Coordinators and fiscal agent representatives. The workshop included instruction on closing grants and on evaluation for sustainability. ORG focused instruction on evaluation methods that would result in evidence of the impact of strategies on schools and communities, including parents, students, and employers. To follow up on the workshop, the state office contracted with four consultants to conduct on-site reviews of grants and provide technical assistance in the area of impact evaluation. The consultants with three state staff conducted fiscal and program reviews on all 40 active Partnerships. Technical assistance was provided in the areas of evaluation, grant closure, and final reporting. The Comprehensive Youth Development Strategies (CYDS) initiative continued to gain momentum in FY04. In September, 2003, as a result of meetings of the CYDS State Level Partners Group on leadership and organization, a suggestion was made to join a private non-profit initiative, the After School Network (ASN). By combining the efforts of these two groups, both found that each supported the others’ objectives and gave strength to both initiatives. The CYDS-ASN alliance began working together on similar goals and objectives:
A Steering Committee of public interagency representatives and private non-profit agency representatives led the new alliance. New funding from private foundations enabled the group to hire a coordinator to facilitate meetings and handle the day-to-day work of the group. Work groups were formed to meet the goals and objectives:
By June 30, 2004, the Youth Policy Framework was developed and ready for comment by the public. The governance structure was developed and approved on June 20, 2004 meeting of the Steering Committee. Ten regional meetings were held and feedback is to be presented to the Committee in August, 2004. The funding committee completed a proposal to the Mott Foundation for a grant of over $500,000 with match over the next three years. Georgia
School-to-Work will continue under its third
no cost extension through September 30, 2005.
With remaining local funds, eleven Partnerships
have been funded to operate Transition Strategies,
model strategies proven to be successful in
STW Partnership area schools and communities.
Tech Prep is a DOE/DTAE Collaborative which is designed to improve seamless student transition from high school to postsecondary technical education. Each of the 37 Tech Prep consortia involves a technical college or a college with a technical division with the secondary school systems in the college service delivery area. In FY04 local consortia received more than $3,000,000 to implement components of the Tech Prep program. In FY04, significant efforts were made to improve the data collection strategy so that our student information system more accurately reflected the number of students that entered a technical college as a tech prep student. FY04 data indicated there were 6,509 Tech Prep students enrolled in technical colleges. Dual
enrollment enables students to enroll in postsecondary
classes and earn Carnegie units of credit
that count toward high school graduation requirements
and postsecondary credit hours through collaborative
initiatives between high schools and colleges.
This broad classification of secondary student
crosses over several program lines (i.e.,
Postsecondary Options, Tech Prep, Youth Apprenticeship,
and Dual Enrollment - HOPE). Over the past
several months, the Office of Technical Education
has been working with DTAE data staff and
technical college student services staff to
ensure that data collection processes and
procedures reflect accurate representation
of these populations. FY04 unduplicated data
indicate 8,539 secondary students were participating
in this high school/technical college opportunity.
DTAE’s ECCE Program also continued it’s partnership with the University of Georgia’s Adult & Nontraditional Student Resources & Services (ANSERS) to provide academic assistance to early childhood professionals who are planning to apply for admission to a technical college. This six-hour refresher course was designed to help students perform well on ASSET, the college’s placement exam which measures the applicants’ basic skills in the areas of writing, reading, and mathematics (numerical reasoning and some algebra). The ASSET Preparation Workshop provides nontraditional students, who may have been away from the classroom for a number of years, with a secure and supportive atmosphere in which to review these basic skills and receive test-taking tips and strategies. Since ASSET is used by schools to determine the level at which students will begin their course of study, students who do well on the test are more likely to go directly into the early childhood academic credit program they choose. Ten workshops were held across the state in Atlanta (2), Decatur, Dublin, Swainsboro, Augusta, Brunswick, Tifton, Americus and Savannah. The workshops were free of charge and the training for the workshop is DHR accepted credit in Competency areas ECE-7, SAC-7 and ADM-7. Continuing Education Units (CEUs) were also available for participants. Increased
Enrollment
Again, summer quarter showed the greatest increase in enrollment. Summer '03 increased by more than 51% from Summer 02. The program that showed the greatest increase in numbers was the diploma program which increased by a whooping 83% from Summer of 02. Fall 03 was up 18%, Winter 04 was up 11% and Spring 04 was up 10% compared to the same quarters last year. Increased
Graduation Rates
Expanded
Program Offerings Development
of New Technical Certificate The purpose of the TCC is to provide a solid Early Childhood Care and Education foundation of knowledge, skills, attitudes and techniques that will improve the quality of care for children who are cared for by family child care providers. And to provide guidelines and responsibilities for professional business practices associated with the successful establishment and administration of a Family Child Care Home. The TCC includes three existing ECE Courses: Introduction to Early Childhood Education; Human Growth and Development; and Health, Safety and Nutrition and two newly developed courses. After visiting family child care homes and informally surveying family child care providers, DTAE discovered that the providers were most in need of program and business management courses. To this end, two newly developed ECE courses were designed to speak directly to the needs of the family child care provider. The first course developed was Family Child Care Program Management with competencies that include: DHR rules and regulations, Curriculum development and implementation, social issues and family involvement, communication, professional practices, ethics and observations. The second course developed was Family Child Care Business Managements with the competencies: business; budgeting; taxes; marketing; record keeping; and professional qualifications. Increased
Awareness for High School Students Articulation Children's
Defense Fund The mission of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) is to Leave No Child Behind(r) and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.
In FY04 the Office of Technical Education continues to identify the technical college student recruitment and/or marketing activity that has resulted in technical college enrollment for this population. Statewide many of the technical colleges continue to have a high level of activity with these populations. Each year, for the past 5 years, technical colleges have consistent and extensive recruitment/marketing activities in secondary alternative education programs (i.e., ASSET testing, tours, on and off campus visits, summer career awareness programs, instructor/counselor/administrator contact, etc.) that have resulted in an increase of the number of students being informed of postsecondary technical education opportunities each of those years. Many technical colleges are also sponsoring youth centered events, holiday celebrations, sports events and more. Virtually every technical college had some student recruitment/marketing activity with youth organizations within its service area. Surveys were designed to determine the level of this activity, specifically with the Boys and Girls Clubs located within the area. Many technical colleges provided information on other youth organization activities as well as information regarding technical college sponsored youth centered events, holiday celebrations, sports events, etcetera. The results were impressive. Some of these activities highlighted career information and educational opportunities and options, others focused on specific technical and academic preparation, others celebrated holiday seasons, and still others supported sports events and teams. All exposed the community's youth to technical education, the faculty and staff, and, more importantly, to a dedicated group of citizens and educators that care about the community's youth and their future. DTAE and the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) signed a state-level Statement of Agreement designed to explore the options available in providing postsecondary technical education programs for incarcerated youth located at DJJ Youth Development Centers. These opportunities provide the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to successfully transition from secondary education to postsecondary education and beyond and provide access to the job market. An attachment to that agreement was the Operational Guidelines between DTAE Technical Colleges and DJJ - Youth Development Center for Providing Postsecondary Technical Education Instructional Services. Both of these documents serve as "roadmaps" to assist technical colleges and youth development centers, located in their service areas, in developing collaborative instructional services relationships. Within DTAE, Augusta, Central Georgia, East Central, Flint River, Gwinnett, Heart of Georgia, Sandersville, South Georgia and West Central, have the most developed relationship with DJJ sites. East Central and Sandersville Techs are working with sites that provide educational services to these students, and they both are consistently enrolling students. Gwinnett and West Georgia Tech have established relationships with ancillary facilities to provide GED services. Healthcare Workforce
Policy Advisory Committee Through the Office of Technical Education, DTAE is an active participant on the Healthcare Workforce Policy Advisory Committee. Although DTAE is engaged in each of the four key dimensions, particular attention was given to the marketing and recruitment and program development during FY04. Through the Georgia StW Initiative, the statewide AHEC system will be able to expand the implementation of a variety of careers programs aimed at youth and also a expand a model summer training program for teachers that provides intensive instruction and tolls to promote classroom skills and counseling in health careers education. In a collaborative effort between DTAE, DeKalb Technical College, Ethica HealthCare, Inc., the Georgia Department of Labor, the Georgia Department of Community Health, the DeKalb Workforce Investment Board and the Atlanta Regional Commission, efforts are underway to develop and implement a Certified Nursing Assistant to Licensed Practical Nurse Bridge program. The purpose of this program is to move the CNA professional into a nursing career pathway, and thereby eliminating the “dead-end” nature of the profession. To do this, the aforementioned partners are creating a tiered ladder for the CNA workforce which takes entry level CNAs through various levels of CNA practice and, ultimately, into the LPN workforce. FY04 Enrollment by College
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The
2004 GOAL winner is Ms. Candice Walker, a
Radiologic Technology student from Okefenokee
Technical College. Winning the GOAL title
was not the first honor for Walker, whose
achievements include the National Technical
Honor Society; Okefenokee Technical College’s
President’s List; Lions Club Honor Society;
National Honor Society, Georgia Merit Scholar,
and National Marine Corps Scholastic Achievement
Award at Ware High School; and Who’s
Who among American High School Students. "I
am extremely honored to be chosen as the 2004
State GOAL Winner, and I look forward to representing
Georgia’s Technical College System as
an ambassador for technical education throughout
the year.” Walker continues, “Technical
education has so much to offer, and now I
have the prospect of sharing its benefits
in a unique way. I know that many new and
exciting opportunities await me this year,
and I plan to enjoy each and every one of
them to the fullest."
The
recipient of the 2004 Rick Perkins Award is
Beverly Padgett, the director and lead instructor
for the Certified Customer Service Specialist
program at Coosa Valley Technical College.
“I am so excited and honored to be the
2004 State of Georgia Rick Perkins Award winner,”
commented Padgett. “I see every day
the impact a technical college education has
on both the students and business and industry
in the state.”