Convocation Centers on Exceptional Service and Growth

WINTERVILLE�Pitt Community College held convocation Aug. 13 to give employees an opportunity to review the previous year�s progress and look ahead to what is in store for the college in the years to come.

Held in the Charles Coburn Center, convocation featured remarks from PCC President G. Dennis Massey, who thanked employees for helping the school earn exceptional status in a recent N.C. Community College System report. PCC met eight performance measures to achieve the honor, which Massey said demonstrated �not just the quantity but the quality of what (Pitt) is doing.�

With a record enrollment of nearly 8,000 this fall, Massey said PCC is meeting strategic goals administrators outlined for the school regarding student success, engagement with the community, access to educational services, professional development and building financial resources.

He went on to say college officials are developing an updated facilities master plan to replace the one trustees approved in 2004. A new outline for growth for what Massey called �a growing, dynamic institution� should be in place by October.

Growth was a common theme throughout this year�s convocation.

Susan Everett, PCC�s vice president of administrative services, said that over the next three years, the college would increase space on its main campus by 20 percent. Funding for the new development will mostly come from PCC�s portion of a local quarter-cent sales tax increase Pitt County voters approved in 2007.

According to Everett, Pitt will soon begin work on several capital improvement projects, including construction of a new academic classroom facility, a construction and industrial technology building, and a facilities maintenance building.

Development of the Herman Simon Building, a 35,000 square foot addition to the college�s health sciences facilities, is already well under way, Everett said.

New to convocation this year was the presentation of the �Unsung Heroes Award,� which was created to recognize PCC employees whose substantive contributions to the college have gone largely unrecognized. Four PCC employees�Teresa Thompson, Karen Lemoine, Mary Lee Smart and Judith Kasperek�received plaques during convocation in recognition of their hard work and dedication to PCC.

08/20/2009