WNCC 2010 Self-Study Report - Western Nebraska Community ...

providing background and practical skills for a specific career area. These pathways are modeled
directly upon the Nebraska model developed by Future Force Nebraska, which has determined a
set of career clusters for career education intended to impart 21 st century skills to students, in
collaboration with business and industry partners. At times, students are able to earn college credit
while still in high school and to get a head start on a college degree while gaining exposure to the
college environment. During the 2008-09 pilot offering, 50 students enrolled from Scottsbluff High
School in Career Academies in Health Informatics, Therapeutic Services, Emergency Medical
Technician Training, and Criminal Justice.
Adult Education and ESL Services
Another aspect of the range of lifelong learning occasions embraced by the College can be found
in programs designed for students and adults who have not attained formal educational
credentials. The Adult Education Program, which came under the sponsorship of WNCC in 1968,
provides services to students sixteen years of age or older who are not currently enrolled in school.
In order to stimulate learning and to facilitate the start to a successful learning career, the AE/GED
teachers tutor students who have extreme difficulty in reading and/or writing. As of 2009, the
program has sites in seven of the twelve counties within the Panhandle of Nebraska and offers
GED preparation, Adult Education, English as a Second Language, and citizenship workshops.
Community-based ESL programs exist at numerous locations throughout the Panhandle in an
attempt to reach as broad a populace as possible. Community ESL courses, as distinguished from
the academic ESL courses intended to prepare students to transition into transfer-level college
work, are designed to help adults 16 years of age and older learn the four basic communication
skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, especially as these abilities relate to everyday life.
The courses are open entry and open exit, accommodating the needs of people who want a more
flexible course focused on workplace and cultural activities.
Locations for the AE Program include the community centers in the Native American and Latino
communities of Scottsbluff, the County Detention Facility, the John N. Harms Advanced
Technology Center, and other locations throughout the Panhandle. WNCC supports this program
by providing classrooms and offices, graduation caps and gowns, professional development
opportunities, and funding matches for the GED examiner. Approximately 250 students enroll
annually, with about 100 graduating.
Community Education
In an effort to increase flexibility, convenience, and the availability of a full range of courses to
actual and potential students in its service area, WNCC offers a wide variety of credit and noncredit
classes through distance-learning formats. To promote greater student success in online
classes, WNCC offers “Introduction to Online Learning” as an elective course designed to prepare
students for success in the online learning environment by presenting necessary technical skills
and exposure to electronic learning activities.
Moreover, in a continuing effort to provide a broad variety of educational offerings, WNCC hosts a
wide array of non-credit community education courses to provide lifelong learners opportunities to
experience new areas of education, cultivate their interests, or enrich their personal or professional
skills. Between the fall term of 2005 and summer session of 2008, WNCC offered over 2,300
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