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Cossatot Community College |
Four From CCCUA Participate in VICA Institute
Release Date: 06 AUG 2003
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DE QUEEN – Four instructors from CCCUA recently completed a week-long Skills USA/VICA Chapter Management Institute on the campus of Arkansas State University – Beebe. Terry Snead, Loren Hinton, Billy Ray McKelvy and Jim Claus attended the conference as representatives of Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas. Claus represented the Automotive Service Technology program, McKelvy represented the Computer Repair program, and Snead and Hinton represented the Broadcast Production program operated by the College in conjunction with Nashville High School. Snead is also the General Manager of KNVL-TV in Nashville. Skills USA is supported by more than 300 corporations, trade associations and labor unions.
Seventy-two vocational instructors from high schools and community colleges all over Arkansas participated in the session, which was held July 27-August 1. During the institute, participants learned the fundamental principles of Skills USA, which is a part of the National Program of Work.
In order to prepare them to organize and lead Skills USA chapters in their own schools, instructors were divided into four teams that completed in a number of skills contests. Each group also elected its own slate of officers to perform the Skills USA opening and closing ceremonies during the week. In their respective groups, Snead served as President of the Parliamentary Team, and participated in the Quiz Bowl, Social Committee and Chapter Treasurer instructional units. McKelvy was named as his chapter’s parliamentarian, while Hinton and Claus were among the four participants elected to the institute’s Executive Council.
In addition to teaching technical skills, instructors learned how to incorporate academics and employability skills training into their vocational programs. VICA is for secondary as well as post-secondary students, so participation at the high school level can lead into participating in chapter activities once a student enters college.
Skills USA is a professional society for students in trade, industrial, technical and health occupations. In addition to technical skills, students can develop leadership abilities by competing against other students in state, national and international contests. CCCUA students from the Medical Assisting, Licensed Practical Nursing, Automotive Service, Collision Repair and Residential Construction programs have come back from state-level competitions in recent years bearing numerous first-place medals. Some have gone on to compete at the national level in Kansas City.
For more information about Skills USA, contact the Division of Technology at CCCUA, or Arkansas Skills USA, 3 Capitol Mall, Luther S. Hardin Building, Room 505, Little Rock, AR 72201-1083. Information is also available at http://www.skillsusa.org.
Cossatot Community College offers both technical certification and Associate’s
degrees in a wide range of fields on its campus at De Queen, at extension sites
at Nashville and Ashdown, and at cccua.edu. It has an enrollment of more than
1,000 students, and is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges
and Schools’ Commission on Higher Learning.
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