Atlanta Technical College’s International Exchange Program is in the sixth year of its partnership with Felix Fechenbach, a college located near Frankfurt, Germany. For two weeks in early February of this year, 12 German exchange students and 4 instructors were on campus, attending classes and participating in business-and-industry learning opportunities. Last year, Felix Fechenbach hosted Atlanta Tech students and faculty.

Another partnership for Atlanta Tech was formed when the Atlanta Fire Department turned to Atlanta Tech for help with ideas for marketing disaster-preparedness training to city residents. With a $60,000 grant from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the Atlanta Fire Department will implement strategies developed by Atlanta Tech marketing students and faculty.

Griffin Technical College, in partnership with area companies Caterpillar and NACOM, has made it easier for some area employees to continue their education efforts. Fifty-three Caterpillar employees completed requirements for a Technical Certificate of Credit, with 38 completing the Certified Manufacturing Specialist program, and 15 completing the Certified Warehousing and Distribution Specialist program. Twenty-eight NACOM employees earned a Supervisory Management Specialist certificate and ten completed the Industrial Maintenance Technician certificate program. To show NACOM’s commitment to education and company growth, each NACOM employee completing the course received a monetary award and a Palm Pilot.

Gwinnett Technical College has two new programs designed to prepare students for careers currently in high-growth mode: childcare services and sport management. For the years 2000 through 2010, jobs in childcare services are projected to grow 42%, and jobs in the recreation industry are projected to grow 36 percent. The early childhood care and education offering is an associate degree to prepare students to become K-3 paraprofessionals, preschool teachers, early childhood program directors and childcare workers.The associate degree in sport and recreation management will prepare students for a variety of careers, including parks and recreation manager, recreational leader, sports marketing director, collegiate and professional sports operations jobs, sports facility manager, grounds manager, and sport and recreation administrative assistant.

The Heart of Georgia Technical College Tools for Success program – initiated by Miller Brewing Company at Albany Technical College – last year awarded tools to nineteen students.The Louie and Evelyn Livingston Family Foundation and Morris State Bank are new sponsors.They will underwrite the 2003 program and have pledged their continuing support.

Heart of Georgia Tech’s Adult Literacy Department recently held a resource fair for the Hispanic community.This fair, the first of its kind in the area, drew participation from area businesses and community and governmental organizations. Bilingual volunteers served as interpreters and an English literacy instructor translated informational brochures and fliers into Spanish for the event.

Middle Georgia Technical College and Houston County Career Technology Center (HCCTC) won the Georgia Economic Developers’ Association TERRIFIC Education Award. HCCTC is a career and technical high school which shares a campus with Middle Georgia Tech at Corder Road.This initiative utilizes joint funding, facilities, instructors, equipment and supplies to provide classroom and lab space and has resulted in dual-enrollment opportunities for high school students. HCCTC provides an alternative high school setting that gives students special opportunities, including these: to earn, simultaneously, a high school diploma and technical college credit; support for a smooth transition into the workforce or a postsecondary educational institution; and a chance to take vocational courses not typically available in the traditional high school setting.

South Georgia Technical College has received a $5,000 grant from the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation to support the South Georgia Tech’s Foundation annual drive seeking resources to upgrade instructional equipment and training aids. Weyerhaeuser is one of the world’s largest integrated forest products companies, with offices or operations in 18 countries. Anna Skrobecki, Vice President and Mill Manager for Weyerhaeuser’s Flint River Operations in Oglethorpe, who presented the check to President Jon Johnson, noted, as she said that Weyerhaeuser “applauds” South Georgia Tech’s efforts, that the technical college provides area students the opportunity to gain “skills valued in today’s demanding work environment,” and that the company was pleased to be able to contribute to the “purchase and maintenance of state-of-the-art equipment for South Georgia Technical College.”

Southwest Georgia Technical College celebrated enrollment growth of 156% over a ten-year period with state officials, area legislators, community members, faculty, staff, and students at a groundbreaking ceremony for the $11.75 million two-story building – the first multi-level teaching facility – that will house classrooms, student services, and administration when it is complete. Southwest Georgia Tech currently serves over 3,000 annually; enrollment is predicted to reach 5,000 in the next several years.

West Central Technical College, specifically the Central Educational Center (CEC), won the Georgia Economic Developers’ Association TERRIFIC Award in the Technical College category. It was announced that the CEC won the award because it uses technical-college resources to educate high-school students, connects secondary and post-secondary education seamlessly, and because CEC was planned with the assistance of local business leaders. As such, CEC represents just the sort of high quality, exemplary program TERRIFIC was developed to recognize.