By Lora Gray
Kanawha Valley Community and Technical College (KVCTC) has always been known for its innovative students and hardworking staff and faculty members. Since opening its doors as West Virginia State Community and Technical College, KVCTC has been an affordable option for students who need to learn valuable skills that will lead to sustainable, well-paying careers. As a school that is instructing many of tomorrow’s leaders in fields such as nursing, business, law and early education, KVCTC has brought a new excitement to the West Virginia Regional Technology Park. For many years, the technology park has been the home of innovative and creative visionaries and thousands of respectable, high-paying jobs. KVCTC’s move to the technology park will give past, current and future students more opportunities and will supply West Virginians with an abundance of career options for their futures.
KVCTC has been diligently working to provide their 1,700 students with an optimal opportunity to succeed since first opening its doors. By breaking away from West Virginia State University, KVCTC has now gained its own identity and programs, and by becoming an independent college, KVCTC has been able to provide its students a better, more concentrated education that prepares them for life after graduation. KVCTC not only works for the good of its students, but its faculty and staff also work for the good of the entire State of West Virginia.
According to KVCTC President Joseph Badgley, “Ninety percent of people who are educated at a community and technical college in West Virginia stay and work here.” The education that students receive here helps them find work in well-paying fields and provides employers with workers who are excited to stay and work in West Virginia. As they continue to gain more interest and more programs, the move to the technology park will help KVCTC better serve its students.
The facility at the technology park will not only be giving KVCTC new and improved classrooms, labs and offices, but it will also be providing its students with valuable contacts and unlimited opportunities for possible careers upon graduation. The new location, which has 30,000 more square feet than KVCTC’s previous location at West Virginia State University, will give students a great advantage to gain real work experience and understand firsthand what employers in their fields are looking for in future employees. It will also allow for the number of students in classes to expand. Because of the newness of the facility, students will be learning with top-notch equipment and using the latest technology. This will not only prepare students for the competitive job search, but it will also give them an opportunity to work and think outside of the educational box. The use of the latest technology accompanied by the loyal faculty and staff will provide students with a greater opportunity to be innovative and creative. This, in itself, makes KVCTC a perfect fit for the technology park.
Not only is the relocation of this community and technical college good for those involved with KVCTC, but it is equally exciting for the technology park and its surrounding businesses. Students are trained in fields that are in high demand, bringing more work-ready potential employees to the area and creating an added population that will benefit the local businesses.
“Part of what community colleges do is grow the work force and attract business and industry,” says Badgley. “As the results of this move become evident, there is much promise and possibility for it to attract new businesses to the area as well as to the technology park.”
The excitement by all of those involved with KVCTC is evident as they prepare for 2012’s fall semester, the school’s first semester at the new facility. Faculty and staff members are trying to grasp what this move will mean for their students and for the area.
Before, KVCTC had many advantages, including its wide selection of degree programs, its affordability and its skilled instructors, but moving the school’s location to a celebrated center for strong and innovative thinkers will put KVCTC above the other competing community colleges in the state and even surrounding states. When considering where to continue their education, students base their decision on many of the factors that KVCTC possesses, like a curriculum tailor-made for today’s jobs, an experienced faculty dedicated to the care and well-being of the students and a state-of-the-art facility geared toward teaching and training practice as well as theory. KVCTC’s staff members will now have more opportunities than ever for their current and future students. This move will give students what they’re looking for while attending school and, more importantly, what they’ll need after graduation. Students will have more access than ever to well-paying jobs and exciting careers. This move to the technology park will truly change the future of KVCTC and the future of its students, which, everyone will agree, is looking brighter every day.
About the Author
Lora Gray is a graduate of Gilmer County High School and grew up in Cox’s Mills, WV. A four-year Promise Scholarship recipient and a senior at Glenville State College, she plans to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in marketing in May 2013. Gray is currently interning at Maple Creative, and during school she works in the Office of Technology at Glenville State College. In her spare time, Gray enjoys photography, cooking, hunting, fishing and spending time with family and friends.
