Community colleges offer a lot of benefits to their students between being a closer knit community and oftentimes serving as a more cost effective option than some larger universities. Bladen Community College offers a variety of educational paths with 36 degree programs, 16 diploma programs and 58 certificates. 

“We’re very much known for our customer service to our students,” remarked Vice President of Student Services Barry Priest.

With 1200 curriculum students per semester and around 2000 students for the year in noncredit courses, the college is committed to serving the needs of their students and their community. 

“We’re a very small community college, one of the smallest in the system, but small makes us great sometimes, because we’re so well known with our students. Most of our staff, whenever you call a student’s name, they recognize that particular student because we’re not so large. We know our students, and we work really hard to serve our students,” shared Vice President for Institutional Advancement & Community Relations Sondra Guyton.

Bladen Community College prides itself on being “nimble” and constantly progressing to meet the needs of students and businesses in the community. 

“A couple of years ago, we developed an apprenticeship program with Smithfield Foods in which we actually went in and assessed what they needed. Their particular industry is moving from less intense labor to more mechanical processes. And so, we developed a mechatronics apprenticeship program with them, and we’ve had tremendous success with that. We trained probably about 40 of their existing staff [in] new skills so that they can upgrade and perhaps earn more money.” shared Guyton.

In addition to apprenticeship programs, the college offers short term training opportunities. Short term training programs range from two days in length to two semesters in length.

“So depending on what the student is looking for, we’re really trying to place them into the program of study that will meet their needs in the shortest period of time. To allow them to go on to work. So some of our programming will definitely build a skill set, a technical skill set, but we have other programming here that will help them with their more social skills or their interviewing skills, the resources that they need to develop a resume, and so on, so forth. It’s a full service program that we have. So, students get everything they need from the training to knowing how to interview…” shared Vice President for Instructional Services Dr. Dolly Horton.

Beyond the initial formation of these programs, the skills taught in them continue to evolve with the industry to ensure that the college is adequately preparing students for the workforce.

“Last fall, we revisited our apprenticeship with them [Smithfield], and they said that [it] needs to change slightly, and it was based off what was happening and how the industry changed with basically, skill sets. So we’re revitalizing and re-programming the mechatronics program. We’ve met with them several times and we’re gonna be relaunching that this fall to be more focused on what their needs are today because the industry is constantly changing. It very rarely stays the same for six months. So that is the good part about Bladen Community College is all of our programming can be modified and changed very quickly, to offer that student the most up to date skill set to go to work,” added Dr. Horton.

Some other businesses and organizations they work with in addition to Smithfield Foods are Chemours, the public school system, the hospital and a variety of agricultural professionals as well.

Many of the training programs can build upon one another or offer students the opportunity to transition from one focus to another.

“We really are focusing on articulations. So, the articulations can go between institutions like this college and another college or we can articulate within our own house from non credit to credit programming,” added Dr. Horton. 

Not only are the short term training programs shaped by the skills students want to learn and the fields they hope to enter, but the college also offers customized training in which a company reaches out to them and they curate a training program specifically for that company’s employees.

“We’ve got a lot of people getting ready to retire and these companies are trying to make sure they’ve got succession planning in place,” remarked Bladen Community College President Amanda Lee.

Bladen Community College also offers Bladen Early College High School which allows students beginning as early as ninth grade to begin preparing for college and their careers while earning college credits as well.

They’ve also recently implemented an adult high school program for adults to go through the college to complete their high school credential. 

One of the biggest barriers to education across the country is finances. Bladen Community College has various scholarship opportunities for students as well as financial aid opportunities for students who qualify for aid. A number of students are able to receive financial help in the form of Pell Grants from the Department of Education. 

However, the assistance goes beyond simply getting your name on the roster.

“...I think it’s very important to remember that our foundation does more than just scholarships. We provide emergency funding for those who have [a] flat tire and you don’t have any other way to get to school and back, [funding for when] something unexpected happens. We have ways to help you survive and to stay in school,” added Guyton.

For a long time many people adopted the idea that obtaining a four-year degree was the singular method to success. However, many individuals are able to build rewarding careers by enrolling in technical education programs.

“I think where we are still seeing a need is to make sure that the parents in our community realize the value of those opportunities, of those professions. I think there’s still a lot of emphasis in our community on getting a four-year degree to be successful. So those are conversations that we’re having a lot. We’re anxious to get into the high schools. We’ve hired some career coaches for our high schools to sit down and talk to people individually and really talk to them about what are their talents, what are their interests, so that we can help them make some good informed decisions, and be sure they realize the value of all of the things that we offer,” added President Lee.

Community outreach is very important to the faculty and staff of the college.

Coming up on Aug. 12 Bladen Community College is hosting a Back to School Blast for Bladen County school children to come to campus and receive a backpack. There will be a school supply scavenger hunt across the campus and the college invites their community partners to come out and share their resources with the students and their families. The college provides free haircuts and gives out free clothes to the kids and they work to foster a stronger relationship between their community and the future generations. 

“We’re small but we’re very mighty. And we have just some wonderful community partners in Bladen County. I can’t say enough about the community” Guyton added. 

______________________________________

To learn more about the programs and fields of study offered at Bladen Community College visit their website: www. bladencc.edu