Tallahassee Community College (TCC) is uniquely positioned within the state of Florida and services three counties in its region (Leon, Gadsden and Wakulla). Demographically, nearly 21% of the population for whom poverty status is determined in Leon County, FL (56.2k out of 274k people) live below the poverty line, a number that is higher than the national average of 13.4%. The college itself sits within the 32304 zip code, which has been deemed the poorest zip code in the state of Florida. Additionally, the college services a highly diverse student population with 52% identifying as non-white. In an effort to address both equity and access of its largely diverse student population, the college developed a CARE (Connections, Academics, Resources, and Engagement) model in partnership with faculty, staff, and students. TCC partnered with the Myers-Briggs Company to build a personalized learning model for students based upon the results of their SuperStrong Inventory. Through this partnership, academic and learning communities were developed to guide all newly enrolled students. This session will highlight the process the college took to redesign its student experience by building a model of inclusion, academic mapping, personalized learning, and strategic outreach across campus.  Additionally, specific emphasis will be given to the College’s intervention response in light the of the Covid-19 pandemic and shift to virtual learning.

There is a long list of topics that we had initially intended to share with you during this session.  

• Our newly established NCCET membership programs for 2020 has been detailed in our website, but I look forward to providing a more detailed explanation of where we are going.   
• Our commitment to offering an ongoing series of conferences like this will be an important motivation for membership and sustained renewal each year. 
• This year we also kicked off new programs that are free to all members like the Tapestry Learning Place…   

… but we believe the most important new initiative in place this year, that will deliver the greatest benefit to our member schools, is the creation of our new NCCET Regional Field Organization.  While we remain the National Council for Continuing Education and Training, the CE and Workforce Development needs of our schools in different parts of the country will obviously differ.  We now have eleven different regions that can be sensitive to the unique demographics, industries, employers, climates, and member schools within each region.   The driving force within each region will be the Regional Director who will serve as a direct link between the regional areas and the national organization.   NCCET Executive Director, Ed Harper will hold an informal gathering of our first Regional Directors.

We have introduced eleven new NCCET Regions across North America. The primary purpose of these regions is to identify the continuing education and training needs of the member schools within that region and elevate those needs to a national stage. 

Whether you are one of our newly established Associate Member schools or an Institutional Member that has been with us for years, in light of the pandemic, you deserve to know how NCCET plans to move forward in providing you with the conferencing services that justify your membership dollars.   

The challenges facing higher education and the Continuing Education division have disrupted the current practice of work and will change the way programming, instruction, and operations will be conducted in the future.  During my 21 years as a Manager, AVP/Dean, and Assistant Vice Chancellor in three states at community colleges – one constant has been that technology has always been forcing change in higher education. COVID 19 will change the operations, staffing, programming, and instruction forever.