Florence, Ky. – The Bellwether College Consortium (BCC) announced Gateway Community & Technical College as one of ten finalists in the Instructional Programs and Services category of the Bellwether Awards for Gateway’s River Cities Project. The category recognizes programs and services that foster or support teaching and learning in the community college.
Bellwether Finalists represent leading higher education institutions whose outstanding and innovative programs and practices in community college education were selected among competitive submissions as exemplary and will undergo a rigorous second and final round of rigorous peer review at the 2020 Community College Futures Assembly in February.
Gateway’s River Cities Project is a three-year plan developed by a partner network consisting of the six River Cities’ school districts, Navigo College and Career Prep, and Gateway. The project addresses educational and economic challenges to ensure all students, regardless of income or circumstance, have post-secondary opportunities that lead to a successful life beyond high school.
In-demand, industry-specific hubs have been established and housed primarily at Gateway’s Urban Metro campus. The hubs offer dual-enrollment opportunities, soft skills training and work-based learning experiences where students apply academic and technical skills to develop their employability.
Before the River Cities Project, these school districts had very limited access to career and technical education. The goal of the project is to help students transition into college and/or the workforce into a career that pays at least a living wage and offers advancement opportunities through continued education.
Gateway started the Logistics/Supply Chain and Computer Information Technology/Cyber Security training hubs in August 2019 and all six of the River Cities high schools participated. Paid co-ops are in place for all students in the logistics hub for January 2020. Healthcare and Construction/Skilled Trades hubs are on track to begin in 2020.
All finalists will be presented at the 2020 Community Colleges Futures Assembly and one winner will then be selected from each category by a panel of national experts. The assembly convenes annually as an independent national policy forum for key opinion leaders to work as a “think tank” in identifying critical issues facing the future of community colleges, and to recognize Bellwether Winners and Finalist as trend-setting institutions.
BCC is a group of colleges charged with addressing the critical issues facing community colleges through applicable research and the promotion and replication of best practices addressing workforce development, instructional programs and services, and planning governance and finance. The Bellwether Award is proudly sponsored by the Alamo Colleges District in San Antonio, Texas.
For more information, visit bellwethercollegeconsortium.com or gateway.kctcs.edu.
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Gateway Community & Technical College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate degree. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Gateway Community and Technical College.
The Commission is to be contacted only if there is evidence that appears to support an institution’s significant non-compliance with a requirement or standard.
GCTC is Northern Kentucky’s only public, two-year comprehensive community and technical college, and its SACS accreditation has been reaffirmed through July 2023. SACS is a U.S. Department of Education-recognized agency that evaluates academic programs at two-year and four-year institutions to ensure the quality and acceptability of each institution. SACS accreditation means that Gateway students can transfer their course credits to four-year colleges and universities throughout the nation.