Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College has been awarded two grants to help fund and support it’s Minority Student Leadership Academy. Sisters of Mercy of North Carolina Foundation gave $26,750, while the N. C. Community College System provided $15,228. The grant money will go toward supporting the academy’s services to minority students at A-B Tech, which include free tutoring and academic assistance, a mentoring program, and career development services.
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A-B Tech Community College was awarded a $26,750 grant from the Sisters of Mercy of North Carolina Foundation and $15,228 from the North Carolina Community College System to further support the college’s Minority Student Leadership Academy.
The purpose of the A-B Tech Minority Student Leadership Academy is to address opportunity gaps for minority students to facilitate personal, educational and career goal completion. The Academy offers intensive advising and support, free academic study-hall with tutoring, a life coach mentoring program, one-on-one assistance from an Academy academic coach, service learning, enrichment travel, and workshops on academic preparation, career development, and financial literacy.
Gene Ettison, who is working toward degrees in Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management, felt like he didn’t have much of a future. “It took me this long to go to college. I didn’t think it was attainable to me as a minority,” he said.
Ettison said he is a convicted felon who grew up poverty stricken and with no hope for a way out. He looked for positive influences within his community and through the Kitchen Ready program at the Grant Center, he became interested in becoming a chef. “I researched A-B Tech and found it was the best for culinary. I want to make a positive impact on a community. Joining the Minority Student Leadership Academy was a no-brainer. I get to work with positive role models that look like me,” he said.
Since joining the academy, Ettison has been able to attend a multicultural convention in Charlotte and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast and receive valuable information about scholarship opportunities. He has also joined the college’s chapter of the National Society of Leadership and Success.
The Academy is in its seventh year at A-B Tech after starting in the fall of 2008. The program was established through a grant from the North Carolina Community College System aimed at increased retention and graduation rates among minority males. A-B Tech broadened its program to include female students. The program currently serves 200 curriculum students of various backgrounds with just under 100 students actively engaged in monthly programming opportunities. The program saw a fall semester to spring retention rate of 73%, with four students completing their program of study at the end of the fall semester. Positive peer feedback helped the Academy to gain 41 new members during the first few weeks of the spring semester.
Pamela Bechinski, a Business Administration student, joined in Spring 2013 when she received assistance in her computer classes. “We’ve taken tours of four-year colleges and learned about all the benefits A-B Tech offers to make you feel more comfortable. They will do anything they can to help you get the best grades possible,” she said.
Phyllis Utley, Diversity Recruiter and Michele Hathcock, Student Life and Development Director, lead the group. “It’s a privilege to spend time getting to know the students in the Academy; it’s really an amazing group of people Our role as Academy advisors is to help the students facilitate personal and professional success in their chosen programs of study,” Hathcock said.
Accounting student Jennifer Arellano admits she was doubtful when she first heard about the academy. “I soon learned that I was wrong to think and feel that way. Immediately I began to receive the benefits. Everything I needed from an open computer lab, one-on-one tutor, and scholarships. I was even featured on the A-B Tech billboards around town and on the flyers around school. That allowed me to share my experience with so many others who were curious, but not ready to start school again,” she said.
Membership in the Academy is free and open to all students, but workshops and seminars have a special emphasis on challenges faced by minority students. Components of the Minority Student Leadership Academy are leadership development, personal accountability, academic preparation and community service. For more information about the Academy, contact the program facilitators at msla@abtech.edu.
Learn more about the Minority Student Leadership Academy here.
More on Sister of Mercy of NC Foundation here.
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