RALEIGH:  Dr. Stephen Scott, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the North Carolina Community College System, will represent the United States at the International Congress on Vocational Training Centers in the European Union. The Congress takes place in San Sebastian, in the Basque region of Spain, on May 23 – 25, 2001.

The organizers of this Congress are so impressed with the North Carolina Community College System that they are covering all travel expenses for Dr. Scott to enable his participation. Other countries presenting at the Congress include Germany, Italy, France, United Kingdom and Canada. More than 600 international delegates are registered for this meeting.

The North Carolina Community College System is nationally and internationally recognized as a leader in workforce training and technical education. That prominence led to the selection of the NCCCS by the American Association of Community Colleges to present at the Congress. Dr. Scott will offer a model for organizing and managing comprehensive community colleges at this international conference.

Dr. Scott makes his presentation on Wednesday, May 23. He will describe how community colleges conduct workforce development training in North Carolina. "Our selection to present at the International Congress is a tribute to the exemplary service provided by our Economic and Workforce Development Division, headed by Dr. Scott Ralls. Our community colleges serve thousands of workers, including those seeking new skills or new employment across our state," said Scott. "We have the model and it is an honor to be able to present our training system to the rest of the world," he added.

There are three primary goals of the Congress:

Contrasting and publicizing different models of organizing, running and managing workforce training centers

Making it possible to exchange worthwhile practices between workforce training centers

Facilitating the establishment of exchange and co-operation networks between workforce training centers

An earlier International Congress was held on Vocational Qualifications in June of 2000. Information about the current Congress and the previous one can be found on two Web sites: www.euskadi.net/lanbidez/congreso and www.euskadi.net/lanbidez/congreso_cual.

This is the second time this year that the System Office has demonstrated community college programs to an international group. A group of educators from Thailand visited North Carolina in March to tour two community colleges and the System Office. They came to gather information as they develop a community college system in their country patterned after the North Carolina model.

-NCCCS-

Back to previous page.