VGCC Advisory Committees hold annual meetings
Citizens from Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties came together at the Main Campus of Vance-Granville Community College on Oct. 28 as the college’s advisory committees held their annual meetings.
VGCC’s 37 advisory committees are made up of people from the communities served by the college who have worked in the fields for which the college offers training. Committees are also established to advise VGCC’s South, Franklin and Warren campuses, as well as the Small Business Center and other departments. Many committee members are VGCC alumni. Each fall, these committees meet on campus with the heads of the programs they advise.
At the Oct. 28 meetings, VGCC faculty and staff communicated with advisory committee members about new developments in the academic programs, about how to tailor classes and training to meet employment needs, and about changes in the workplace. Committee members made suggestions on what the college should be doing to enhance or adapt instruction.
The newly renamed Engineering Advisory Committee held its first meeting this year. The committee formerly advised the Electronics Engineering Technology program, but has been expanded to include the new Mechatronics Engineering Technology program. Shawn Nutter of Revlon in Oxford chairs the committee.
Students in VGCC’s Culinary Arts program prepared hors d’oeuvres and desserts for a reception in the Civic Center, preceding the meetings. The Southwestern-inspired menu included beef mochatas, garlic and corn mashed potatoes with shoestring onions, mesquite grilled barbecue chicken, shrimp in Phyllo cups with leeks, jalapenos and cilantro, country sweet apple and parsley slaw, baked beans, mini-cobblers and Southern-style strawberry shortcake.
During the reception, Dr. Stelfanie Williams, the president of VGCC, thanked the advisory committee members for serving and supporting the college. “We could not live up to our name as a ‘community’ college without input from you, our community and business leaders,” President Williams told the attendees. She also noted that VGCC’s 2014-2019 strategic plan, called the “Vanguard Vision,” emphasizes the importance of the college’s collaboration with local partners. The vision statement reads, “In partnership with our community, Vance-Granville Community College will lead the economic development of our region, be nationally-recognized for educational excellence, and improve our world through stewardship and sustainability.”
Above: The first meeting of the newly renamed VGCC Engineering Advisory Committee was held Oct. 28 in the Electronics lab on the college’s Main Campus. Members include, seated from left, Shawn Nutter, Manufacturing Controls and Project Engineering Manager at Revlon in Oxford; Joey Bailey, Senior Manufacturing Engineer from Corning Life Sciences in Durham; and Don Bowman, Engineering Manager for Wake Electric in Youngsville. Standing, from left, are VGCC Applied Technologies department chair Wesley Williams, TAACCCT grant project manager Kenneth Wilson and Mechatronics Engineering Technology program head/instructor Keith Shearon. Other members of the committee not pictured are Tewonn “Mike” Brown of Procter and Gamble Pet Care, David Martin of Bridgestone/Bandag and Crystal Weaver of Onin Staffing. (VGCC photo)
