Built to Last

Honoring
Dr. Kenneth
Breeden's
contribution
to Georgia

By Dr. Diane Harper
East Central Technical
College President

ike an oak tree from a little acorn, the DTAE has grown from humble beginnings. When Dr. Kenneth Breeden began building this agency as executive director of the State Board of Postsecondary Vocational Education, only a handful of technical institutes were a part of the state system. But as each year passed, more schools came under state governance and new initiatives were launched, such as the statewide warranty program in 1989 to guarantee the competencies of graduates, and the Work Ethics concept, which was integrated into the system in 1990. Fast-forward to 2004. What we know today as the DTAE has grown to include 34 technical colleges with multiple campuses and four university system colleges with technical divisions, and the world looks to Georgia as a model for technical education and workforce training programs. Today, Georgia’s Technical College System serves more than 153,000 students, and has a graduate placement rate of 98 percent. Last year, Adult Literacy graduations totaled 63,271, and our world-renowned Quick Start program was involved in 304 economic development projects.

How have these impressive feats been accomplished? Anyone who has had an affiliation with the DTAE can easily attribute its development to a leader who has been committed from the start to a “Built to Last” philosophy that insists upon a strong, solid internal framework. From the beginning, Dr. Breeden instilled these concepts in his presidents. I believe the DTAE owes its success to the following things.

First, there are some timeless fundamentals. The DTAE has preserved its guiding principle that our only business is workforce development. Our basic purpose — our reason for existing — will serve as a guiding beacon for years to come. From the beginning, there existed a framework of core elements that included students, faculty and staff, facilities and physical plants, businesses and industries, and local and statewide supporters of postsecondary adult education. These elements are the building blocks upon which Dr. Breeden has built a superstructure of opportunities for Georgia, the nation and our world.

We constantly ask ourselves, “How can we improve?” No matter how much we achieve, and no matter how far in front of our competitors we are, we never think we’ve done enough. The DTAE has a powerful drive for progress that has enabled us to change and adapt without compromising our values. Dr. Breeden has been clear on his expectations and on our purpose. We are all driven to respond to our customers and to meet the needs of our customers. We understand completely that our goal is to be the best in the world at developing our workforce.

Second, we believe that the essence of greatness does not lie in cost-cutting, restructuring or the profit motive, but in peoples’ dedication to building an agency around a sense of purpose and a set of core values that give meaning to our lives and work. We have had to respond to budget reductions and downsizing while still maintaining readiness for the future. Dr. Breeden has worked hard to create a superb management team, to develop a sustainable economic engine, to cultivate a culture that could withstand adversity and change and to be the best in the world at what we do. Through his leadership, we have been able to balance resources and energy between today’s problems and tomorrow’s.

Finally, Dr. Breeden was not about simply building an agency that would last. His dream was to build something worthy of lasting. It was a dream about building an agency of such intrinsic excellence that the world would lose something important if the agency ceased to exist. The great irony of all of this is that we now enjoy the best opportunity in 20 years to build great colleges that will change the world in which we live. Historian James Truslow Adams once wrote that Americans believe life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.

On June 30, 2004, DTAE faculty, staff and students will officially bid farewell to Dr. Kenneth Breeden. I, along with all of the presidents, extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to Dr. Breeden. His steadfast drive to make a better life for Georgia’s citizens has paved a never-ending path for us to carry out his dream that every person, no matter their status in life, should be provided the opportunity to receive a quality education. As James Mason Wood once said, “Education today, more than ever before, must see clearly the dual objectives: education for living and education for making a living.” The DTAE and the state of Georgia are losing a “warrior for the people,” but we will remain strong because Dr. Breeden has instilled in each of us the uncompromising commitment to keep true to our mission and values.

In quiet moments, we all wonder what our lives will amount to, what we’re going to leave behind. Dr. Breeden has built an agency that is big and long-lasting. He has left his legacy. He has built an agency worthy of lasting — one that will continue making a contribution to the lives of our students. He has created an agency that truly is “Built to Last.”

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