December 22, 2015
“Growing Our Own!” – Eastern North Carolina Community Colleges, School Systems and East Carolina University Collaborate to Fill Classrooms in the East
On December 2, 2015, sixty-six community college and school system leaders gathered with East Carolina University faculty at the East Carolina Heart Institute in Greenville to focus on the collaborative efforts in preparing educators for the region through State Employees’ Credit Union Partnership East (SECU PE). The partnership involves a network of 20 community college partners and 41 school system partners within the Latham Clinical Schools Network with the common goal of providing access to teacher education degrees “close to home.”
Dr. Grant Hayes, dean of the College of Education, brought greetings to the group of community college presidents, vice presidents, and liaisons as well as superintendents, assistant superintendents, and human resource directors of eastern North Carolina public school systems.
“There is a growing need to address teacher shortages in rural areas within the region and ECU is committed to offering innovative ways to provide convenient and affordable access to education degrees for students within their home communities,” said Dr. Hayes.
Hayes also recognized the contribution of the State Employees’ Credit Union Foundation who awarded ECU a multi-million dollar gift for student scholarships that are distributed during the SECU PE students’ senior year. Hayes noted that the scholarship funds from the SECU Foundation are crucial for students during their clinical internship which requires these working adults to quit their jobs to complete clinical field work. Mr. Rich Hudson, the Greenville manager of the State Employees’ Credit Union, was present at the event representing the SECU Foundation. He thanked those in attendance for their efforts in producing educators who later become state employees.
A status update regarding the impact of SECU Partnership East was shared with participants. Since its inception in 2002, SECU Partnership East has prepared 674 teachers. 91% of those licensed and teaching are educating children within eastern North Carolina. These graduates have gone on to serve students well in their districts, have become school level Teachers of the Year, and have demonstrated innovation and leadership. Through this well-established partnership, SECU PE positively impacts families in our region to include those of our graduates and those of the students they teach.
A snapshot of the current students enrolled was also provided to the partners in attendance. SECU Partnership East has 227 students currently enrolled with applications being sought for 2016 for degrees in elementary education, special education and middle grades education. Guests at the event also engaged in a social media activity to learn about recent marketing efforts by faculty within SECU Partnership East. Ideas for capitalizing on the use of social media were also shared by community college and school system partners.
SECU Partnership East supports East Carolina University’s mission to engage in regional transformation through providing access to teacher education degrees for students who otherwise could not attend college. Through the collaborative efforts of community colleges, schools systems, and ECU, students in the partnership are recruited from their home communities, learn in those home communities, and upon graduation, go on to positively impact the lives of children in the East.
For information about SECU Partnership East, please visit our website at www.ecu.edu/pe or contact Dr. Laura Bilbro-Berry at 252-328-1123 or bilbroberryl@ecu.edu