College officials want community input on 10-year strategic plan
PUTNAM COUNTY – Volunteer State Community College is planning for the future, and college leaders want to hear from the public.
Vol State is planning a series of listening sessions – dates are set for such events in Cookeville and Livingston – to gauge community input as it works on its initial strategic plan for 2015-2025. Typical listening session questions include: What does Vol State do well? What can Vol State do better? And, what should Vol State be doing in the future?
These discussions will include ideas on strengthening college relationships with K-12 education and how to expand Vol State’s commitment to business and workforce development. The ideas generated from the discussions will help to set the agenda for the next 10 years. The sessions will be informal and provide plenty of opportunity for conversation, officials said.
A Cookeville listening session will be held at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, at the newly minted Cookeville Higher Education Campus, 1000 Neal St. A Livingston listening session will follow at 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, at the Livingston campus, 113 Windle Community Road. No RSVPs are required. People can also submit ideas for Vol State planning online by visiting www.volstate.edu/strategicplan.
Vol State has offered classes in Livingston since 1991 and serves a 12-county region including Clay, Davidson, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Robertson, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale and Wilson counties. The college has more than 90 programs of study and offers two-year degrees, certificates and paths to university transfer.
For more information, call Lauren Collier at (615) 230-3530. The current college strategic goals can be found at http://www.volstate.edu/Research/StrategicGoals.php.
