News Releases @ TCC

TCC WIRES-UP NEEDED JOB SKILL PREPARATION
First students in Fiber Optics Career Pathway program achieve certification

SOUTH HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – (Sept.8, 2006) – In a unique meeting of employer and student needs, Tidewater Community College has completed a pilot project to assist survivors of domestic violence with training to become certified fiber optics installers - an in-demand job path in the region and beyond.

The college will graduate its first group of Fiber Optics Career Pathway participants on Thursday, Sept. 14, at 6 p.m. in the TCC Roper Performing Arts Center; the fiber optics program is part of TCC’s Job Skills Training Program (JSTP). The keynote speaker will be Leonard Sledge, director, Institutes of Excellence, Virginia Community College System - Workforce Development Services.

This past spring and summer, TCC, Verizon and the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) partnered to match select students with a new career path while meeting the cable-telecommunication industry’s high demand for a state-of-the-art technical workforce. The Verizon Foundation awarded a $50,000 grant to the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education for the pilot project.

JSTP worked with the local departments of social services and the One-Stop Workforce Center to identify survivors of domestic abuse in need of job skills training. The target geographic region was the Hampton Roads statistical area.

The TCC students will graduate as certified Professional Fiber Optics Installers through the Association of Communications and Electronics Schools, International Inc. The qualifying students will also receive a career-readiness certificate from Gov. Timothy Kaine.