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© 2003, Rotary Club of Charleston P.O.
Box 21029 Club
secretary:
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Trident
Tech will boost growth, Thornley says APRIL 29 - Trident Technical College offers more to more students than ever before, President Mary Thornley told members. "Since 1996, we have increased by 50 percent what we do and much of it is in career high-tech jobs that didn't even exist five years ago," she said. The college currently is preparing to offer its first four-year degree - in culinary arts. While the program will help fill a coming void when Johnson & Wales University moves to Charlotte in 2006, the college has been planning to boost its culinary program for several years, she said. Thornley emphasized, however, that the college is not preparing to become a four-year institution. It is, she said, a two-year technical college that will offer one four-year degree to help the Charleston area remain competitive in the hospitality industry. One of the college's current big challenges is a $31 million renovation project to create a Complex for Industrial and Economic Development. The 200,000-square-foot renovation will include an Electro-Mechanical Skills Laboratory, expanded space for Information Technology, a Learning Center, and the Culinary and Hospitality Training Center. Thornley says the college has about $9.5 million to raise to complete the project. Other challenges facing the college include: Lottery-funded education. Thornley described how difficult it was to predict how much the state would pay each semester in lottery-funded tuition assistance. In Fall 2002, for example, the state picked up all but $254 for full-time students. Currently in Spring 2003, the lottery picked up the total cost. In Summer 2003, lottery proceeds will pick up all but about $170. "It's difficult to come across as providing good customer service if you can't tell your students how much is going to cost to attend," she noted. Increased
mandate. Over the years and continuing today, the college has increased
its course offerings. Increasing comprehensiveness provides challenges
and opportunities, she said. -- Andy Brack |
The Rotary Club of Charleston meets 12:30 p.m. every Tuesday in Holliday Hall adjacent to The Citadel's football stadium on Hagood Street. All Rotarians are invited to visit with us.
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