CTC Helps 'Put Folks Back to Work'

With the at 8.7 percent, according to the Georgia Department of Labor, a number lower than the state's average of 9.9 percent, is gearing up to provide students with opportunities for success in new directions this fall.

Students attending CTC this summer said they will feel confident stepping into the job market armed with interviewing skills, professional resumes and hands-on experience from their education.

With programs of study in business management, criminal justice, drafting both architectural and mechanical engineering and early education, the online and flexible class schedules at CTC are helping put folks back to work, said Rebecca Long, public relations specialist.   

“Many of our instructors work in the field and have actual contacts for students,” Long said.

She also pointed out the majority of students are offered internships through their course-work. Having the teachers also employed in the industries they teach and have connections out in the field helps students acquire internships and interviews.

“Internships lead to jobs,” she said.

Drafting Instructor Brad Cooper is one such professor helping students prepare for the working world in his field of architectural and mechanical engineering. 

“We teach using the latest technologies you find in the work place, so the curriculum duplicates what they will do in the work place.”

Cooper said the student population has changed over the past three years since he’s been teaching at Chattahoochee Tech, and now he sees a more diverse student population rather than just students out of high school.   

“We retool and retrain students for jobs,” Cooper said. “The most pleasing thing about technical colleges, like CTC, is the courses actually prepare students to work.”

Criminal Justice is one of the most popular programs at the CTC Woodstock campus.

One student in the program, Cameron, echoed the please with active professors in the working field.

“A major thing here is all of our professors are working now or were working before in criminal justice, and we get instruction from people with experience.”

Several students said this authentic instruction is a positive consequence of attending CTC along with field trips to actual training centers where they are able to make additional contacts for future employment. 

“We network everywhere we go for training,” Cameron said. “We get business cards out the wazoo.”

An additional benefit to the hands-on experience of the courses at CTC is the individual attention students receive. Criminal Justice Professor Anthoney Korey said class size remains at approxiamtely 24 students. 

This is unlike larger universities which offer classes ranging from 50 for small classes to 450 students in large lecture classes.

“Courses and programs offer hands-on student learning and doing which gives students an edge,” said Erin Hamby, director of Recruitment and Retention, of the individual attention students receive at CTC.

Students in the Capstone Management class shared their pleasure in being able to learn management skills while helping their community during their Team Project class, a class with just four students.

With a collaborative project entitled Students for Seniors, students have been collecting canned food and other essentials for the William G. Long Senior Center.

Management Professor Diane Petty said the Students for Seniors project will conclude today for the end of summer term when they deliver all they have collected to the director of the senior center.  They will then make a class presentation describing the steps they followed for a successful business project.

Students said most job searches are conducted online, but also indicated professors help students obtain internships in their field of study.

One student said that while a degree like Criminal Justice will not transfer to many schools, such as Kennesaw State University, the experience at CTC prepares students for whatever they choose to do beyond their coursework on campus.

“Chattahoochee Technical College offers many programs that help unemployed, underemployed and yet to be employed individuals learn skills that will prepare them for a career,” Long said. 

Additionally, CTC offers Student Success Centers in which students can schedule counseling appointments to sharpen interviewing skills, resumes and professional etiquette.

Tutoring is also available for students for many of the subjects taught to offer even more individual instruction

The fall semester begins Aug. 22. Like other technical colleges, CTC is moving away from quarter terms and toward traditional semester classes. 

“Our goal is to make sure students remain successful,” Long said.