Strengthening the Workforce - A PCC Legacy

June 26, 2017

As my days as President of Piedmont Community College draw to an end, I find myself reflecting on the accomplishments of the College during these past few years. There is one area of accomplishment that I am very proud of and it is the way the College has responded to the workforce development training needs of the businesses and industries it serves in Person and Caswell counties.

We have diligently kept our attention on the workforce needs of the businesses and industries within Person and Caswell counties and developed training strategies to address those needs. The most prominent example of this is the College’s development of advanced manufacturing training programs and pathways to address both the short-term and long-term needs of the future workforce.

Examples of short-term training programs the college developed include the Certified Production Technician (CPT), the Certified Logistic Technician (CLT), and the Siemens Level-1 certifications. These are industry-recognized certifications that students can obtain in less than six months and be employable upon graduation. These certifications are strongly encouraged by world-class industries such as: Spuntech, GKN, and Eaton just to name a few.

The long-term training strategy involved the College deliberately designing these programs so that program completers can gain curriculum credit if they want to further their careers. The certification graduates can do this by taking credit-by-exams for three curriculum courses that can be applied to the College’s Mechatronics Engineering Technology, Industrial Systems Technology, and Electrical Systems programs.

These strategies prove that even though these have been fiscally challenging times, the College stands ready to address the workforce training needs of any current or prospective business and industry for Person and Caswell counties.  

Dr. Walter C. Bartlett received a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Teaching from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He also holds a Masters of Industrial Engineering from N.C. State University and a B.S. degree in Industrial Technology from Southern Illinois University. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, where he was an electronics instructor.

Dr. Bartlett became Piedmont Community College’s President in 2009. He is the fourth person to serve as President of the College since it was chartered in 1970 and is set to hand the reins to his successor on June 30, 2017, when he retires.