cation, and workforce solutions. “We strive to be responsive to the
needs of the community,” says TCC President Edna V. Baehre-Kolovani, who in 2012 became TCC’s fifth president. “In the last 30 years, we’ve had a much greater focus on workforce training, and we’ve become more flexible and respon- sive to the business community in ensur- ing that our curricula and degrees meet the needs of the economy of our area.” She adds that TCC has expanded
its global and technological reach during the past three decades, establishing an exchange program with a Danish busi- ness college and increasing the use of smartphones, iPads and other technolo- gies in instruction. “It’s fundamentally changed how we deliver education, specifically with our online degree programs.” TCC also offers dual enrollment
programs that give local high school students a jump on college courses. The school also provides Hampton Roads’ only mechatronics program preparing workers for jobs in advanced manufac- turing and other industries, a ground- breaking maritime technologies degree and a textbook-free degree program. Along with technical skills, the college develops communication and problem- solving abilities, giving students a leg up in the crowded job market. “These are employable graduates,” Baehre-Kolovani says. “Employers know our students are skilled and have the related competences to make them employable.” One-third of TCC’s students are
military, National Guard and reserves personnel, veterans and their families. Earlier this year, Military Advanced Education named TCC the nation’s top school for military. TCC also serves about 14,000 vet-
erans and active-duty personnel through its Center for Military and Veterans Education, which helps vets transition into private-sector jobs. The college regularly sponsors training programs on military bases, including a recent four- month program that prepared students to become solar energy repair technicians or installers. “We try to anticipate the labor market needs and how to meet those needs,” Baehre-Kolovani says. That includes designing a maritime
TCC serves about 14,000 veterans and active-duty personnel through its Center for Military and Veterans Education.
Barbara Murray, the center’s executive director. “The region’s shipbuilding industry needs tugboat workers, truck drivers, welders, pipefitters, ship fitters. By the end of the decade, 18,000 of these jobs will need to be filled. When you save those jobs, it helps our economy.” TCC trains more than 1,300 mari-
time apprentices annually, giving stu- dents real-world experience at shipyards and the Port of Virginia in areas ranging from maritime welding to marine logis- tics and truck driving. That attentiveness to industry needs sets TCC apart from other colleges, says Brad Mason. He’s the director of maintenance, modernization and technical services for AMSEC and chairs the SMART Center’s Maritime Technologies Consortium, a group of industry and education representatives. “TCC is very responsive. If we go to them and say we have this need, they’ll develop the academic curriculum.” About 450 representatives from local businesses serve on advisory com-
www.VirginiaBusiness.com
“There’s a career at the end of it,” Stout notes. “Employers need mechatronic technicians and don’t want to just hire an electrician and a mechanic. They need someone who understands the processes.” TCC mechatronic students finish
the program as technologists ready to work on electrical and mechanical sys- tems. Many transfer to Old Dominion University and other schools to complete their bachelor’s degrees. “Our graduates are coming out as more than a techni- cian but not quite an engineer,” Stout explains. “With a four-year degree, you’re more qualified to be the person in charge of a maintenance team. That can be a pretty lucrative job.” Last fall, TCC and Chesapeake Pub-
lic Schools launched a dual enrollment program in mechatronics, a first for the college’s career and technical programs. Students will attain their high school diploma along with a career studies certificate in mechatronics and then earn
VIRGINIA BUSINESS 103
technologies degree to augment the num- ber of skilled technicians for Hampton Roads’ shipbuilding and port-related industries. TCC also hosts the Southeast Maritime and Transportation Center, one of more than 40 National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education centers across the country. “We’re preparing people for exactly what the maritime industry needs,” says
mittees for each of TCC’s technical programs, helping the college develop curricula and respond to industry changes. “They tell us what they need, and we respond,” says Thomas Stout, dean of science, technology, engineering and math at TCC’s Chesapeake campus. Demand for advanced manufactur-
ing workers led TCC to develop its highly successful mechatronics program.
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