Snead State Community College recently entered an agreement with Gadsden State Community College and Northeast Alabama Community College to provide career technical opportunities for students at Marshall Technical School.
The agreement is the first of its kind in each of the college’s history and is an example of the colleges’ commitment to serving students.
During a signing ceremony held at Marshall Technical School, Phillip Cleveland, the Supervisor for Career and Technical Education for Marshall County Schools, called the event one of a kind.
“We have worked to establish relationships between secondary and postsecondary. This will be something new that will be focused on students,” he said.
The agreement will “break down barriers” to providing opportunities for students earning both high school and college credit while they are still in high school. Under the agreement, Gadsden State and Northeast may offer and teach career tech courses that are not already offered by Snead State at Marshall Technical School. The three colleges will communicate and address what courses and programs will be offered and how the courses will be conducted.
“There is no way Snead State could meet the needs of Marshall County students on our own, so I appreciate my colleagues stepping up. I’m thankful that we have this new opportunity to serve students,” said Snead State President Dr. Robert Exley.
“The Alabama Community College System has an initiative entitled Dream and Do It,” Gadsden State President Dr. Martha Lavender said. “You can’t ‘do it’ if you don’t have a pathway for that to occur. We know jobs in Alabama and across this nation are going to largely career technical jobs that will meet the needs of our workforce. We are very pleased to be a part of this partnership.”
“I’ve always admired what Marshall Technical School does,” Northeast President Dr. David Campbell said. “It’s a very progressive school, and I could tell just being here how organized it is. So, we look forward to accomplishing some very good things in the future. Working together with Dr. Lavender and Dr. Exley, I think we can offer just about any career tech program that’s needed here in Marshall County.”
Dr. Exley said the next step is for the colleges to take an inventory of the programs at Marshall Technical School and determine what is needed for dual enrollment.
“Anytime we can come together and remove barriers for students and provide a seamless pathway for them, that’s what we need to do,” said Marshall County Schools Superintendent Dr. Cindy Wigley. “I have looked forward to this day for a long time.”