Investing In Our Community

Despite economic hardship in year 2007, which reduced the amount of contributions by other institutions to the United Way, York Technical College was able to increase its pledges by nine percent over 2006. YTC employees contributed $13,824.50 to the 2007 United Way Campaign. I am delighted to know that in addition to your regular duties, you are also adding value to the community through your charitable contributions. Special thanks to Shahram Mazhari, Teresa Bomar, Brandy Piner, Deborah Jones, Anita McBride, Teresa Smith, Gingery Dewey, Cynde Marshall, Mary Davis, and Julie O'Dell for leading the College’s United Way Campaign.

"Give Kids a Smile"

On February 1, our Dental Health Professions programs, in partnership with the Tri-County Dental Association, provided free dental care to 46 kids as part of "Give Kids a Smile!" Day. Volunteers included nine area dentists, seven hygienists and assistants, and 42 students enrolled in the dental program. According to the American Dental Association, $16,349 in services was provided by these great volunteers. Thanks to the Dental Department faculty, staff, and students for providing such a wonderful service to our community.

Planning Update

We continue to collect stakeholder input in to the College's planning process. Yesterday the College hosted a planning luncheon for leaders of all six of the school districts within our service area. I am pleased to report that 36 representatives, including superintendents, associate superintendents, applied technology center directors, high school principals, and others were in attendance. It was a great opportunity to hear their challenges and opportunities, ideas to improve collaboration and engagement, and to learn what additional services we can provide. It was also a fitting occasion to share and celebrate the fact that York Technical College had the largest dual enrollment of high school students among the 16 technical colleges in fall 2007. This accomplishment would not be possible without the support of the school districts, as well as the hard work of Sherry Glenn and others to increase dual enrollment opportunities. We look forward to working even more closely together in the future.

On January 30, the College hosted a Small Business Providers' luncheon to learn how we can further support small businesses and entrepreneurs in York County. Winthrop and York Tech representatives will meet on February 15 to discuss course articulation. These two meetings were not formally part of our planning outreach effort but will certainly benefit us as we move forward. On February 26, we plan to engage the York County Council in the College's planning process. That meeting will conclude the external stakeholder input piece of the process. In the meantime, I am working with a small group to develop a proposed framework that integrates all of the feedback we have received to develop a new strategic plan that is simple, meaningful, and inspiring.

I am also planning to continue the discussions with you that we began in the fall. I will host sessions in March and April where we can more fully explore our collective values and how they can inform an overall college philosophy. More information about these sessions will be available in the next few weeks.