Tri-County Tech Receives $5,000 Grant to Develop Strategies
To Help Technical Students to Make Transition to the World of Work

CONTACT: REBECCA EIDSON, EXT. 2456

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9/3/99
(By Lisa Garrett)

PENDLETON --- Tri-County Technical College has received a $5,000 grant from the S.C. Department of Education (DOE) to develop strategies for helping technical students to successfully make the transition to the world of work.

This new School-to-Work Initiative, called Schools of Excellence, is being spearheaded by the DOE's Office of Occupational Education. The College will use the funds to train personnel in its Continuing Education Division to conduct job profiling for local industries by using Work Keys, a tool for assessing job requirements and individual skills.

Melvin Watson, an instructor in the Division's Business and Industry Training Department, will travel to Columbia for a five-day training course which, upon completion, will certify him as a Work Keys Job Profiler. At the request of industry, Watson will conduct job profiling to assess the skills of a company's workforce.

"These profiles identify the skills needed for success in specific jobs and therefore enable secondary and postsecondary technical students to match their skills with what is needed by local employers, said Rebecca Eidson, executive director of the Partnership for Academic and Career Education. "We hope it will be a win-win situation for students and employers."

The three career centers in the tri-county area will participate in this initiative, also.
-30-