Dear Panther family,
At Ferrum College, we are paving the way for innovative educational reforms that enhance our curriculum and contribute to the economic growth of Southwest Virginia and the Commonwealth. This exciting journey enables us to enrich the value of a professional, liberal arts education by integrating comprehensive workforce training programs that benefit our students and the wider community. I would like to take this opportunity to update our community on the latest developments in this effort.
In June 2023, Ferrum received a planning grant from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to develop a proposal to establish a college partnership laboratory school for high school students in Franklin County. As a beacon for education in our region, Ferrum College has a significant role in filling critical workforce needs through career and technical education (CTE) skills in sectors such as healthcare, criminal justice, public safety, and skilled trades. While there is still much to be decided, we are optimistic about implementing our plans for the Academy in the near future. With the right funding, Ferrum College students will benefit from additional resources that will provide enhanced training for the building trades, nursing, and emergency services, potentially as soon as 2025, with the first graduates from the programs emerging into the workforce in June 2027.
Conversations with our community partners in public school divisions, local industry, and our government helped us envision the concept of the academy. This team of leaders and dedicated educators worked together to design a unique program that combined existing resources with additional support from the state to provide high school graduates with industry-ready credentials and dual enrollment credits, giving them a head start toward a career and a college degree.
Examples of this leadership in action include our ongoing partnership with Franklin County Public Safety and others to support EMS, paramedic, and firefighter training, and our collaboration with Build Smart Institute to enhance educational opportunities in construction management. These programs are shining examples of the advantages our regional collaborations can bring to our workforce. The public-private partnership would greatly enhance and accelerate efforts to increase the number of qualified, trained workers in our region without additional costs to learners. This past year, we were proud to provide opportunities for three cohorts of dual enrollment students to earn industry credentials and college credits in building trades and criminal justice. Seeing this initial success, we are more invigorated than ever to increase our dual enrollment opportunities for high school students in our region and continue this innovative work on a larger scale.
Our focus on finding new solutions to build up our workforce goes beyond training; it fundamentally enriches our communities by expanding our partnership with local school divisions. It brings essential resources to an often-overlooked population and eases the transition from secondary to post-secondary education for first-generation college students. For example, this is particularly important in Franklin County, where only 22% of residents hold a bachelor’s degree, and the majority of the most current Franklin County Public Schools graduates are the first in their families to pursue a college education.
Ferrum College is proud to be able to award a wide spectrum of educational opportunities to meet the needs of our students: from micro-credentials and certificates, to associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees, and graduate degrees, – with doctoral programs on the horizon.
The academy presents an actionable plan to keep workforce talent local, helping young adults in four counties (Franklin, Floyd, Patrick and Pulaski) find financially rewarding career paths, with education and workforce training provided in their hometowns. The ability to obtain a well-paying job without accruing heavy student debt or leaving our region for employment elsewhere helps the counties retain more of their population and future workforce. We must work with our industry partners to evaluate all the ways we can make education more accessible to achieve this goal. At Ferrum College, we are in continual conversations with our communities and partners, and constantly innovating.
Ferrum College has always been the “College of Opportunity” in Virginia, living out our motto of “Not Self, But Others.” We are proud to be home to one of the most diverse student body populations in Virginia, and we will continue to expand the services we offer to strategically meet the needs of our communities, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and beyond.
Ferrum College is dedicated to keeping everyone informed and engaged as we continue to advocate for the educational needs of our students and our communities. Our goal is to foster a challenging and rewarding environment that inspires and prepares students for successful futures. We encourage everyone to continue to look for updates on our proposed academy, and our program offerings on our website (www.ferrum.edu) as these new opportunities, resources and classes become available.
At Ferrum College, every student, regardless of their stage in life, is imbued with the magic of potential. From the wide-eyed first-year undergraduate to seasoned professionals, we are a place where students enter with promise and leave with purpose.
Onward and Upward!
Mirta M. Martin, Ph.D.
President, Ferrum College
