Member News

There’s something awesome happening between the post-secondary education institutions of Lebanon County. Lebanon Valley College (LVC), HACC Central Pennsylvania’s Community College’s Lebanon campus, and the Lebanon County Career & Technology Center (LCCTC) have all entered into conversation together to discuss how they can work more in conjunction with one another.
   “Lebanon is a small, closer community,” Beth Romanski, director of professional studies at Lebanon Valley College, said. “Instead of all of us operating independently, we decided to partner to compile our services in one area.”
   One partnership endeavor involves creating a Web page on the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce’s website which current or prospective students can access in order to get more information. This site will be a one-stop resource for the community detailing all of the education programs available in the Lebanon Valley.
   “This is something that the manufacturers wanted,” Laurie Bowersox, the executive director at the HACC Lebanon campus, stated. “It will be a buffet menu of services and programs. So if someone’s looking for leadership training or continuing education, they can see what’s available.”
   Both HACC and LCCTC have also already committed to an agreement with the Lebanon Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC) to start a Careers in 2 Years Web page for Lebanon County. The Careers in 2 Years website is operated by the Greater Reading Economic Partnership. The website lists specific careers in the county which are in demand and for which companies are hiring, allowing students to plan a successful career path.
   Bowersox also explained how the local post-secondary institutions have been working with one another to form stackable credentials and degrees. Certain programs at LCCTC carry college accreditation which helps students transfer to one of HACC’s associate degree programs. Once in a program at HACC, students’ credits can transfer to online classes at LVC or traditional classroom setting courses. Bowersox said that the goal of this stackable credentials concept for students would be “an MBA or beyond.” Essentially, there is a line of post-secondary institutions down Route 422, and students can move from one to the other as they advance their education.
   LVC and LCCTC recently also formed an alliance to provide support for LCCTC’s manufacturing program. The manufacturing program at LCCTC is very technical and hands-on and requires a number of hard skills. However, there was a need and desire for more soft skills training, including leadership training, time management skills training, and emotional intelligence training. Romanski stated that LVC was able to add their soft skills training course onto LCCTC’s manufacturing program so that students don’t have to look at two different schools for their education needs. This way, the process is more streamlined and accessible.
   The partnerships between these post-secondary institutions have grown and evolved from the soft and hard skills training program to the other collaborations listed above. Much progress has been made since the schools initially started their conversation with one another nearly a year ago.
   “I’m really excited to see this true collaboration and partnership,” Lauren Holubec, the adult education coordinator at LCCTC said. “We’ve gotten great feedback from businesses in the community.”
   The schools reached out to the local business community in order to ascertain what some of their education needs are. A targeted focus group was conducted by the LVEDC, which provided valuable data to the educational institutions.
   “It was instrumental having the data to back up our individual conversations,” Holubec said.
   All of the individual institutions are very thrilled about these new and growing partnerships.
   “HACC is rebuilding our partnership with the community; we’re focused on transparency and partnerships,” Bowersox explained. “We’re building program offerings that are new for the Lebanon campus that will meet career needs and allow for an associate degree, but provide opportunity for a four-year degree or a master’s if the student chooses that pathway. It’s exciting to see people excited about education.”
   Romanski felt similarly, stating, “Professional studies are still in the rebirth process. We’re talking with businesses about working with one another as colleagues. Together we can cover more ground than if we were working on our own.”
   LVC, HACC, and LCCTC are always interested in hearing from local businesses regarding the education needs they see in the local Lebanon Valley community. Anyone interested in partnering or collaborating with these institutions can contact any of the representatives below:

Beth Romanski: Director of Professional Studies, Lebanon Valley College, 717-867-6336, romanski@lvc.edu

Lauren Holubec: Adult Education Coordinator, Lebanon County Career & Technology Center, 717-273-8551 x 2131, lholubec@lcctc.edu

Laurie Bowersox: Executive Director, HACC Central Pennsylvania’s Community College Lebanon Campus, 717-270-4222, labowers@hacc.edu