Surry Community College’s Distance Education division has been awarded a $350,000 grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) to serve a local need by providing skill-enhancing distance learning opportunities to the people in Surry and Yadkin counties.

This grant will be used to implement the College’s innovative, adult distance-learning project, which utilizes advanced video conferencing technologies to deliver high-quality workforce training to approximately 12 career pathways as part of the JobsNOW training to unemployed and underemployed adults. This training will be made available at four SCC site locations—Dobson, Elkin, Mount Airy, and Pilot Mountain.

The Yadkin Center video conferencing room will begin in time for the spring semester, January 2010, with the other centers to follow as the new centers in Pilot Mountain and Elkin open. SCC’s main campus in Dobson currently has the video conferencing technologies available.

This technology will make it possible for those who lack personal transportation, possibly as a result of the bad economic times, to have access to the training they need to support themselves and their families. Combined with the lack of public transit in these counties, transportation issues prevent thousands of adults from obtaining the training they need to secure living-wage employment.

This Distance Education initiative will help solve this problem, as it will allow SCC to localize college-level training to those with the greatest need of upgrading or retraining their skill sets.

The career pathways available through the JobsNOW training range from Adult Care Home Aide and Vet Aid/Pet Grooming, to Welding and Maintenance Mechanic/Technician.

In addition, the video-conferencing component will also be made available to other Corporate and Continuing Education programs that will be scheduled at these centers, guided by local needs assessment surveys submitted by individuals and business leaders in both counties.

Each of the four centers will be staffed by a Outreach Specialist who is trained to work with the underemployed and unemployed and is well versed in current programmatic, educational and career opportunities.

For additional information contact:

Dr. Candace Holder
Director of Distance Education
Surry Community College
336-386-3382
holderc@surry.edu