2019 PCC Year-In-Review: Part I (January-June)

• 2019 PCC Year-In-Review: Part II (July-December)
WINTERVILLE—There were many highlights for Pitt Community College in the first half of 2019, including a major commitment to improving student success, productive fundraisers, and student and graduate achievements.
The following is the first of two installments recapping events that took place at North Carolina’s seventh-largest community college in 2019.
JANUARY
- PCC celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight for social justice and equality with a scholarship breakfast fundraiser.
- VIQTORY, an organization dedicated to the nation’s military community, lists PCC as one of the country’s best post-secondary institutions for veterans and their spouses.
- Administrators announce Pitt has joined the Achieving the Dream National Network, a three-year commitment to improving student success.
FEBRUARY
- The Beryl Institute’s Tiffany Christensen discusses optimizing patient outcomes with health sciences students and instructors.
- Admissions personnel organize an on-campus “Try PCC for Free” recruiting event and invite prospective students to ‘test drive’ a PCC education.
- Advertising & Graphic Design student Max Hamilton designs the winning logo for t-shirts to be worn during the annual high-altitude balloon competition in Lenoir.
- Financial Aid Director Lee Bray meets with staff from the offices of U.S. Congress members George Holding and Virginia Foxx to discuss improvements to the federal student aid program.
MARCH
- Paralegal Technology student Sindy Martinez is named PCC’s recipient of the N.C. Academic Excellence Award from the N.C. Community College System (NCCCS).
- Leah Arnold, staff attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Battered Immigrant Project, is the featured speaker at Pitt’s Women’s History Month program. During the event, Health Sciences Dean Donna Neal is named PCC’s 2019 Woman of Substance.
- The PCC Foundation raises more than $42,500 during a fundraiser at Pitt-Greenville Airport.
- A local beverage distribution company donates 30 glass door merchandiser displays to the HVAC program for training.
- PCC Basketball reaches the national championship tournament for the first time in program history.
- Mayne Pharma announces a new scholars program to steer STEM-focused PCC students toward pharmaceutical careers.
APRIL
- PCC holds an inauguration for President Lawrence Rouse that includes remarks by individuals who have played important roles his educational career.
- Graduate Richard Wilson is featured in “Pastel Journal” for winning the magazine’s 20th Annual Pastel 100 Competition.
- Nearly 500 members of the community visit campus for the Health Sciences Division’s health fair.
- The Pitt County American Legion Agricultural Fair, Inc., presents a $25,000-check to the PCC Foundation, expanding an endowed scholarship it started in 2014.
- PCC and Pitt County Schools announce expansion of the PCC Technical Academy to serve additional Pitt County high school students and involve more Pitt programs.
- PCC’s English Language Acquisition program holds its International Day program to give students practice speaking English with visitors.
- The N.Y. Life Foundation awards a $10,000-Community Impact Grant to the PCC Foundation in support of the VISIONS Career Development and Scholarship Program.
- PCC presents service awards to 68 employees during its employee appreciation event. Career Outreach Specialist Rachel Bridgers wins the top staff award, and Anatomy & Physiology Instructor Bernadette Kenny is faculty’s top award recipient.
- Eastern Carolina Vocational Center, Inc., starts a Custodian Apprenticeship Program – one of North Carolina’s first – with assistance from PCC and NCCCS’s ApprenticeshipNC initiative.
- Greenville’s Annagrace Saufley wins Pitt’s public speaking contest.
- Approximately 400 students meet with representatives from 38 area employers during PCC’s annual Spring Career Fair.
- Paralegal Technology students and instructors meet with Chief Justice of the N.C. Supreme Court Cheri L. Beasley during her visit to campus.
- The PCC Foundation thanks 369 volunteers for their help in raising $210,285 through three fundraisers.
MAY
- Of PCC’s 1,321-member Class of 2019, nearly 750 participate in commencement. President Rouse serves as graduation speaker.
- Trustees present a Distinguished Service Award to Vice President of Institutional Advancement Susan Nobles in appreciation for 32 years of outstanding service to the college and community.
- In response to a projected national shortage of truck drivers, PCC teams with TransTech to begin offering short-term Commercial Driver’s License training.
- The Center for First-Generation Student Success selects PCC for its inaugural First Forward cohort due to the college’s efforts to improve the experiences and outcomes of first-generation college students.
- Associate of Arts student Markus McCraney becomes the third Pitt student in seven years to win NCCCS’s prestigious Scott Student Leadership Award.
- Student Taylor Miller receives the John Minges Criminal Justice Scholarship for academic excellence.
- PCC hosts a signing ceremony for six students who have accepted full-time positions with commercial construction company T.A. Loving.
- Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas make a $200,000-investment in PCC to connect students with hands-on training and career development opportunities.
JUNE
- In partnership with the Region Q Workforce Development Board and NCWorks Career Center, the college hosts the first-ever PCC Community Career Fair for the public.
- Gary Evans is selected as chairman of the PCC Board of Trustees.
- The PCC Foundation holds its annual Distinguished Donor Reception to thank supporters for their commitment to education.
- More than 80 rising seniors from six Pitt County public high schools spend a week preparing for the future as part of the VISIONS Summer Institute.
- Early Childhood Education major Entisar Abulebdeh becomes the inaugural recipient of the Walton Family and Children’s World Learning Center Scholarship.
01/02/2020