New Commission Member

I am pleased to announce that Mr. Harry M. Miller, Jr. has joined the York Technical College Commission. Since 2000, Mr. Miller has served as the Executive Vice President for Planning and Development for The Comporium Group. He began working with the telephone company after graduating from Clemson University as an Assistant Outside Plant Engineer, working on design and supervision of cable projects. With over thirty-seven years of experience at Comporium, Mr. Miller currently provides oversight to the following areas: Engineering and Planning, Information Technology, Internet Planning and Development, Network Services, New Venture Startup, Purchasing, and Wireless Planning and Development.

Mr. Miller has served eight years as a board member of the United States Telecom Association (USTelecom), the industry’s national trade association. He also serves as a member of Clemson University’s Electrical and Computer Engineering External Advisory Board.

Mr. Miller replaces Mr. Ed Barnes, who retired after 24 years of service to the College.

The other nine governing board seats are held by:

Mr. Bruce “Tony” A. Vaughan (Chair), Retiree
Mr. E. Paul Basha, President & CEO, York Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Mr. James “Jim” C. Hardin, III, Attorney at Law, James C. Hardin III, PLLC
Dr. A. Douglas “Doug” Marion, Ophthalmologist, Eye Associates of Chester, PA
Mr. Robert “Bobby” B. Meek, Owner, Century 21 Palmetto Homes Realty
Mr. G. Thompson “Tommy” Myers, Jr., Retiree
Mr. Charles Z. Robinson (Vice-Chair), Human Resources Consultant, Prosperity Resources, LLC
Ms. Geri H. Rucker, Regional Vice President, Founders Federal Credit Union
Mr. Jeffrey C. Sigmon, President, JEFCO Communications

We currently have one open seat on the Board. Ms. Carolyn Carpenter retired after 20 years of service to the College. We hope to fill that seat by the end of the year.

Kimbrell Memorial Golf Tournament

On May 10, 2010, the York Technical College Foundation hosted the much anticipated William C. “Bill” Kimbrell Memorial Golf Tournament. Mr. Kimbrell was an outstanding Foundation board member, serving continuously for over 17 years. He shared a passion for student success and was an enthusiastic advocate of numerous fundraising projects, helping the community and the college.
(Pictured left with me is Mr. Kimbrell's daughter, Willann, his wife Joanne, and Dr. Ed Duffy.)

The day started with lunch, followed by the tournament, and concluded with a reception and awards. One hundred and twenty-five golfers turned out to play. Alongside the seasoned golfers were Robin Breedon and Jacqueline Drakeford, both students who have received assistance from the Foundation. They each spoke about their return to college, educational goals, and appreciation for the work of the Foundation with regard to scholarship funding. YTC Student Jacquie Wells was also recognized for her work in designing the tournament program.

The event was quite a success raising $110,000 to date for student scholarships. We are very appreciative of all of our generous sponsors, volunteers, board members, faculty and staff that made it happen. Congratulations on a job well done!

CPT Alumni Reunion

The first York Technical College Computer Technology Alumni Reunion was held on Saturday, April 17, 2010, at the Baxter M. Hood Continuing Education Center. Six hundred graduates of the associate degree and certificate programs were invited. Attendees included seventy graduates from the years of 1977 through 2010. Activities for the evening included informal networking and "speed networking" where each graduate introduced himself to someone in the room whom he did not already know.

Former York Technical College president and Computer Technology Department Manager, Dennis Merrell, reminded the alumni of how far computer programming has come since the early days. He engaged the audience by quizzing them to identify relic programming paraphernalia that he had brought with him.

Yung Chou, a Microsoft Information Technology evangelist, conducted a presentation on the Future of Cloud Computing. To encourage the audience to answer questions throughout his talk, Mr. Chou tossed out Microsoft software and other prizes to respondents.

Guests enjoyed an Asian buffet provided by CPT alumnus Thi Le of Thi’s Catering and a cake (left) designed by Department Manager Jyron Baxter’s wife, Aramis. Each alumnus was given a custom t-shirt displaying the College’s new logo.

I greatly appreciate all the work by the faculty, staff, and alumni that planned the event.

YTC Foundation Newsletter

The York Technical College Foundation has developed a newsletter, Overview, that highlights the many initiatives the Foundation is working on for the College. The April 2010 newsletter includes information about the William C. Kimbrell Memorial Golf Tournament that will be held on Monday, May 10. I greatly appreciate all the work that the Foundation and the Development Office does to help support the College's goal to Maximize Student Success.

SCTEA Recognitions

The annual South Carolina Technical Education Association (SCTEA) Conference was held February 18-20 in Myrtle Beach. The following York Technical College employees were recognized recipients of the Educator of the Year award.












Lori Ochsner – Administrator/Manager Category













Laura Sturgis – Teaching Category













Debbie Williams – Staff Category

Each recipient received a plaque and a $100 check.

In addition, the College’s Phi Beta Lambda student organization won third place in the SCTEA Student Community Service Project. In all, twelve projects were submitted for review. Their project titled, Learning to Rebuild for Success, focused on providing workshops to help participants improve their employability skills. Participants learned how to:

Search for jobs
Fill out applications
Create a winning resume
Dress appropriately
Present oneself in a positive manner
Exhibit one’s potential value to the company during an interview

Five PBL students (names are below) attended the SCTEA awards luncheon, along with advisor Cathy Kerwan, where they received an engraved plaque and a $100 check.

Susan Pleasant
Megan Floyd
Tameka Gaither
Tonya Graham - President
Jasmine Humphrey

Special thanks to the PBL advisors Ivan Lowe, Gwen Wilson, Cathy Kerwan, and Dane Loflin for their guidance and support to the PBL students.

Innovation Mini-Grant Program

I am pleased to announce an exciting new opportunity for faculty, staff, and student organizations. Through the Innovation Mini-Grant Program, the York Technical College Foundation will award grants for creative, new approaches to enhance student success. The grants will range up to $1,000 and will be based on anticipated outcomes and the impact of the projects on student success. Applications should be submitted by April 1 to the Development Office. We hope you will take advantage of this unique opportunity!

I appreciate the great support we receive from our York Technical College Foundation and for their leadership in creating this new program.

Mission Statement

A mission statement helps to define the fundamental purpose of an organization, basically describing why it exists and what it does to achieve its vision (Best Place to Work, Best Place to Learn, and Best Partner for Economic Development). Our current mission statement was last reviewed and approved in 2004. The SC Commission on Higher Education (CHE) requires us to include specific information within our mission statement which is why it is a page in length. Although we must have this formal mission statement, I would like to develop a concise and compelling statement that best summarizes what we do. Ideally, it would be a sentence or two that we would be able to quote from memory. What message should we convey to our stakeholders?

Included in the following link is our mission statement for your review and a questionnaire to complete. You have an opportunity to make suggested changes to the current mission statement and to create a one or two-sentence statement that best captures the essence of our mission. Please submit your feedback by Tuesday, February 2. Our goal is to present a draft to our governing board at their annual planning meeting in March.

http://www.yorktech.com/ie/surveys/YTC_MissionQuestionnaire.asp