Chancellor Carey Returns to Edison State Community College

Chancellor John Carey addresses regional leaders during his visit to Edison State Community College.

Chancellor John Carey of the Ohio Department of Higher Education made a return visit to Edison State Community College on Thursday, March 3. The visit was made with Senior Vice Chancellor Gary Cates to take a more in-depth look at how the College is helping students to succeed in the areas of College Credit Plus and career counseling initiatives.

Following a tour of student affairs, a roundtable discussion was held with those in attendance including students, local chamber leaders, area educational leaders, industry leaders, Edison State’s Board of Trustees, and officials of the college.

A diverse group of current and former Edison State students provided testimonials during the roundtable discussion, speaking to the value of academic and career guidance that they have experienced first-hand at Edison State.

Area high school guidance counselors, principles, and superintendents in attendance praised Edison State for providing a flawless transition for high school students to take college courses through the state-mandated College Credit Plus program.

“The staff and faculty at Edison State are willing to work with us and that’s the part that I appreciate,” said Jason Haak, executive director at Upper Valley Career Center. “…We have to look at how can we make this work for the students. Their faculty is willing to do that, our faculty is willing to do that and that is why some the good products and relationships have entered, because of the student focus.”

During lunch, Carey spoke about the value of creating more cost-efficient pathways for students in higher education settings.

“We were just here on December 7th and we were so impressed with what we saw that we wanted to use it to inspire some of our policies and legislative initiatives, including House Bill 474.”

“One of the things the governor is really passionate about is giving college students the opportunities for lower cost pathways while also getting the right counseling and the right guidance,” said Carey. “In this world today, we need students to have that career counseling. We’re seeing that happen here at Edison and as we learned about this in December, it fits perfectly with the governor’s objective.”
“You’re doing great things here, that’s the message,” added Carey.

The visit came following Edison State Community College’s recent award from ACT for career preparedness which was based upon student success indicators, including retention, graduation, and four-year college transfer rates; the strength of relationships with local employers and high schools; accessibility of career readiness assessment and preparation programs; support structure in place for students, especially those from underserved populations.