ECU expands Partnership East

GREENVILLE, NC   (Jan. 22, 2004)   —   East Carolina University’s College of Education welcomed Wayne Community College this week as the newest hub for its Partnership East program.

College of Education dean Marilyn Sheerer, ECU interim vice chancellor for academic affairs Jim Smith and Wayne Community College president Edward H. Wilson, Jr., announced the collaboration at a press conference Jan. 21.

Partnership East is designed to produce more teachers to meet the demand needed for the classrooms in North Carolina and this nation by making a four-year education degree more accessible.

Wayne Community College is the hub for the South Central Consortium, which consists of Lenoir, Sampson, Johnston and James Sprunt community colleges, as well as Seymour Johnson Air Force base. Students in these areas are able to take the courses required to earn a bachelor’s degree in elementary education or special education from East Carolina University without ever traveling to the Greenville campus.

Consortiums serving the coastal and north central areas in eastern North Carolina have been operational since the 2002-03 academic year. Hub sites for people who live in these regions exist at Craven Community College and the Rocky Mount Campus of Edgecombe Community College.

“Partnership East represents a remarkable example of community colleges and a university working together to provide convenient opportunities for students to further their education and remain close to their communities, jobs and families,” Sheerer said.

“While institutions of higher learning across the nation are debating where teacher education should reside, East Carolina University and the NC Community College System have moved beyond, and are now focusing on delivering high quality teacher education programs available, according to NCATE standards.”