WVACHE Hosts Candid Community Conversation: Education and Workforce: WV Working Together
The West Virginia Access Center for Higher Education (WVACHE) of Bluefield State College recently hosted an informal Candid Community Conversation: Education and Workforce: WV Working Together at the Erma Byrd Higher Education Center, Beckley, WV. A concerned audience comprised of local educators, workforce development partners and community development agencies joined the Appalachian Higher Education (AHE) Network—a peer learning group composed of postsecondary programs and/or resource centers in 10 states of the Appalachian region.
A robust discussion, co-facilitated by Dr. Amelia Courts, President and CEO, Education Alliance and Heather McChesney, Coordinator of Curriculum and Professional Development, WV Higher Education Policy Commission, was supported by facts disclosed in several current reports to ensure a stronger sense of the connection between education and the economy in West Virginia.
The group identified and focused on the six greatest challenges for West Virginia which included substance abuse, closed mindset, lack of statewide leadership focused on solutions, lack of prepared abundant workforce, lack of living wage jobs, and low English and math ACT scores.
WVACHE Executive Director, Dr. Sarita A. Rhonemus, invites other interested parties to join the conversation, keep the momentum going to identify resources and turn these challenges into opportunities. For more information, call 304-929-5458 or send an email to sarhonemus@bluefieldstate.edu. Please join us on Twitter @AppalachianNetw.
