By Marty Trese, KnoxPages.com Editor
MOUNT VERNON – The Adult Education program has been a part of the Knox County Career Center at 308 Martinsburg Road since it opened in 1969. As of last Friday the program has a new name, Knox Technical Center, Adult Education at Knox County Career Center. The logo and the website have changed as well.
Director Jane Marlow says the brand is well-established but the name change came about as the Ohio Department of Higher Education decided to change the names of the 54 adult ed centers throughout the state to Ohio Technical Centers. Marlow says they are following that lead by keeping Knox in the name.
She continued, “It may help to distinguish our identity from the KCCC High School. We still have the same staff, resources, and facilities. It’s a name change so people know it’s a post-secondary option within this district.”
The Center has a well-established nursing program. Look for more programs to be offered in the coming years. Marlow said, “We are always looking to add new programs and we have grown quite a bit in the last 7 years. We have added some industrial programs that we would like to really expand. We have C-N-C manufacturing, Auto Techician, Welding Certification, and HVAC. We’re looking at growing in that area. A lot of the skilled trades jobs are going unfilled, people are retiring and there’s not many people to fill them.”
Marlow says she would like the Center to also offer plumbing and masonry programs at some point.
The Center offers free counseling and remediation classes. Student success is measured with three benchmarks, completion, placement and licensure/certification. Marlow says in 2015, the completion rate was 94%, placement rate was 87% and licensure/certification was 97%.
For those interested in the community classes, they will remainwith the name change and Marlow says prospective students for those classes will soon receive a mailer or they can check the new website, www.KnoxTechnicalCenter.com.
To listen to a KP Radio interview with Marlow on SoundCloud click here.
