Bluefield State College Story Archives - Page 2 of 2 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

10 Years of Collaborative Higher Education Celebrated in Southern W.Va.

It’s been 10 years since The Erma Byrd Center opened in Raleigh County. State officials, students, faculty and community members gathered at the Center on Friday to celebrate the anniversary.

The Erma Byrd Center, was West Virginia’s first collaborative higher education campus. The Center offers classes and student services from Bluefield State College, Concord University and Marshall University.

According to a news release from the Higher Education Policy Commission, a variety of state and college officials attended the event including HEPC Chancellor, Paul Hill.

“Ten years ago, the Erma Byrd Higher Education Center launched with the groundbreaking goal of uniting the colleges and universities serving southern West Virginia in order to increase efficiency and better meet the needs of our communities,” Dr. Hill said. “Today, the Center stands as the cornerstone to a vibrant campus featuring multiple facilities and offering classes to more than 1,000 students. The Center has become a hub to fuel innovation, promote economic development and expand access to higher education opportunities throughout the region.”

A news release says more than 1,100 students are enrolled to attend the complex for the upcoming Fall 2017 semester. The Complex offers degree programs in a variety of fields.

Students attending the event were eligible to apply for more than $30,000 in scholarships. Bluefield State, Concord and the Higher Education Foundation each offered ten $1,000 scholarships in recognition of the ten-year anniversary.

Officials also gathered items for a time capsule with plans to open it on the Center’s 20th anniversary.

For more information about the programs, classes and resources offered at the center, here.

Bluefield State College Inks Accord Toward Medical Careers

Bluefield State College has signed an agreement with the state Department of Education to offer health sciences pathways to more quickly launch careers in medicine.

The Health Science Education Pathway and the Associate of Nursing Pathway outline exact courses students need to fulfill requirements for in nursing and radiologic technician associate’s degrees and for bachelor’s degrees in nursing and imaging science.

The agreement outlines the necessary steps for high school Career Technical Education students who can get college credits toward an associate’s degree.

According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for Registered Nurses will be among the national leaders for job growth through 2024.

WVU Medicine in Morgantown has had openings for hundreds of nurses and was recently offering $10,000 signing bonuses.

March 3, 1890: Teacher, Civic Activist Memphis Tennessee Carter Born

Teacher and civic activist Memphis Tennessee Carter was born in Hollins, Virginia, on March 3, 1890.

Her father, a former slave, was a coal miner who moved his family to southern West Virginia when Memphis was a child.

She eventually married a coal company foreman and became Memphis Tennessee Garrison. She graduated from Bluefield State College at age 49 and taught school in McDowell County.

Serving also as a welfare worker for the U.S. Steel Corporation, Garrison helped settle racial disputes, counseled black miners and their families, and developed cultural and recreational opportunities in the town of Gary.

She was active in the Republican Party and developed NAACP chapters in southern West Virginia. As a national vice president and field secretary for the NAACP, she led special organizing and membership activities. A crowning achievement of her work was the creation of the Christmas Seal Project, which became a key fund-raising strategy for the NAACP.

After retiring from McDowell County schools, she relocated to Huntington and continued to work as a substitute teacher. Memphis Tennessee Garrison died in Huntington in 1988 at the age of 98.

West Virginia Colleges Don't Have Much Cash on Hand

Officials for the commission that oversees West Virginia’s four-year colleges have warned that, by at least one indicator of a school’s financial strength, many appear to be weakening.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that staff members of the Higher Education Policy Commission said during a meeting Monday that several schools had less than two months of cash on hand at the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

Commission Vice Chancellor for Finance Ed Magee says schools should have at least two months of cash on hand, at minimum, but a healthy institution would have upward of six months.

Glenville State College’s cash on hand was the lowest, with a projected 13 days of reserve, as of June 30. Bluefield State College had only 14 days of reserve.

Job Fair Set for Wednesday at Bluefield State College

Nearly 100 government and private sector employers have signed up for a job fair this week in Bluefield.

The fair runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at Bluefield State College. The event is free.

The Office of Personnel Management, a federal agency that oversees the hiring process for federal jobs, will be on site to give a one-hour seminar on finding and applying for federal jobs.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s office said he is co-hosting the event with WVVA and Bluefield State College and will give remarks during the fair Wednesday morning. It is one of 12 hiring or resource fairs Manchin is co-hosting across the state this year.