Expanded Vision of the Future

Ahead of the Curve - Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC) will lead the southeast in providing technical and adult education designed to meet the workforce needs of the future by focusing on preparation for emerging and transforming careers. CGTC will infuse innovative technologies and business practices into all programs and services, enabling CGTC to stay consistently "ahead of the curve." Because new technologies, processes, and jobs emerge almost daily and employment requirements constantly evolve, the curriculum in all career fields will be rooted in fast-moving and ever-evolving technological and business innovations. CGTC's challenging, personalized, and web-enabled learning environment will facilitate sound occupational training that will be complimented with development of far-reaching academic, professional, and technological skills that will be useful in current and future employment. Graduates will be able to apply their learning to present and emerging workplace demands. Development of these advanced skills and abilities will make graduates valued employees in the current workplace and future workplace.

Eight-County Seven-County Learning Community - CGTC, with its large service area and multiple sites, will use high-tech communications among campuses, and maintain active involvement in all communities throughout the service area to produce Georgia's foremost technical education community. The CGTC service area will be recognized as Georgia's model multi-campus learning community in which each community will benefit individually and jointly as part of the larger learning community. Technical instruction will be offered at each CGTC site, and dual enrollment programs will be offered in all service area high schools. CGTC's economic development programs will extend throughout the service area, addressing the unique needs of each business community while helping companies to benefit from the combined strengths of the entire area. Continuing education programs will be designed to meet local community demands while sharing learning resources among all communities. Adult literacy, GED, and English Literacy services, supported by active community participation in the Certified Literate Community Program (CLCP), will help students in all CGTC counties. A multi-campus IT network will provide technological parity, high-level e-content, and speedy communications allowing all CGTC instructional sites to function as a one technologically connected learning community. Web-enabled learning networks and e-tools, along with traditional collaborations, will bring together instructional professionals from all sites to create a dynamic learning environment in which faculty and staff will work collaboratively, and students will benefit from an esprit de corps. Students from eight seven counties will share insights, working together to achieve learning goals. CGTC's community outreach and local civic and cultural involvement will encompass the entire service area.
CGTC will sponsor and/or become involved in special events, educational activities, and community efforts in each community, and all service area communities will be able to come together for events and activities that will enhance and enrich the larger community.

Comprehensive, Innovative, Advanced Programs - CGTC will offer a wide range of high-quality, high-demand standard TCC, diploma, and associate degree programs and post-degree technical programs in career fields including health care, business, industrial technology, safety and security, personal services, information technology, and trade technologies. CGTC will open new and specialized technical programs in fields such as radiology technology, advanced skills nursing, visual communications, criminal justice, fire science, network security, and eldercare. Unique training programs will serve the area and a wider geographic region in career fields such as hospitality/tourism and music/entertainment businesses. CGTC will provide strong leadership in medical and information technology training. CGTC will also take a leadership position in the development and delivery of post-degree programs to meet the training needs of people who are experienced workers, people with prior postsecondary education, and people that must meet specialized and/or advanced industrial, medical, and technological professional training requirements. A wide variety of standard entry-level certificate, diploma, and associate degree programs and post-degree program offerings will be shared among multiple sites via traditional delivery or the Internet, creating the most comprehensive, innovative, and advanced technical college curriculum in Georgia. These extensive program offerings will be possible through use of web-enabled instruction, shared teaching, and other innovative collaborative approaches among sites.

Higher-Level Learning - GCTC will provide Technical Certificate of Credit (TCC), diploma, associate degree, and post-degree instruction that stimulates high levels of understanding and performance and that offers content at advanced levels of technical expertise. CGTC students will master academic and technical skills and fundamental thinking processes required to act as team members, managers, and leaders as well as expert technical professionals. CGTC students will learn to understand interconnections within a business or field; to seek ways to use technological advances; to cope with complexity; to visualize overall systems, organizations, and/or processes; and to synthesize information from diverse sources. CGTC students will learn to make sense of information and develop new information. Faculty will be highly qualified and will be real-world professionals who will bridge the gap between classroom instruction and work by using applied-learning approaches such as projects, stimulations, and collaborative assignments. Courses, taught in a student-centered, collegiate atmosphere, will integrate theory and hands-on practice - reinforcing principles and technical proficiency. CGTC faculty will share their expertise, using leading-edge technology and techniques that focus on preparing students for current and emerging employment demands. Students will develop work ethics, work relationships, and professional credibility through work-based learning. Graduates with critical thinking and technical skills at a higher-level of learning will have options for job-entry, advancement, and self-determination that they need to take control of their careers in an ever-changing global marketplace. Post-degree program graduates will have the leading-edge, high-demand skills to obtain or continue in higher-level employment.

CGTC Partnerships Creating the Future - CGTC will continue to be responsive to existing businesses by providing extensive training services for area companies. CTGC will help create a better future for the service area by building partnerships with businesses, industries, and economic developers to help shape, transform, and expand the area's workforce and job availability. CGTC will contribute to the creation of jobs for the service area by being flexible, adaptable, and innovative in its provision of noncredit and short-term credit training and other services for small, mid-sized, and large companies. CGTC will help to transform and shape existing jobs by becoming the area's primary source for applied research and transfer of advanced technologies and high-performance practices for local companies. CGTC's learning community will share knowledge and experience among companies and employees to create a professional network that will give the eight-county seven-county service area a competitive advantage and accelerate economic growth.