President’s Report
Expect Performance
BY THE NUMBERS
Thanks to conservative budgeting and quality day-to-day management, the college posted a healthy Fiscal Year 2020.
You may not be able to see the smile underneath my COVID-19 mask, but it’s there nonetheless. Yes, 2020 has thrown a few curve balls our way, but Piedmont Technical College has emerged on solid, fertile ground thanks to the tenacity and commitment of individuals across the college community. And when it comes to pluck and agility (as quarantine abruptly ended in-person classes mid-spring semester), our faculty and staff knocked it out of the park to make things work!
Despite this year’s challenges of global pandemic, hurricanes and social-political divides, this college has achieved remarkable things over the past year.
Our rapid response to operating under pandemic conditions has been unparalleled in my 13 years at PTC. Even before our campus offices emptied out so employees could work from home, faculty and staff were flooding my inbox with ideas about how we, as an organization, might deploy our resources as a college to help our students directly and the community as a whole.
Our Information Services staff did a sweep of all campuses to identify nearly 100 laptop computers available to lend out to students who lacked their own. But that wasn’t all. Our IT staff and instructors then worked in tandem to upload face-to-face course content on our D2L online learning management system and pre-load that content onto the laptops so it was already there for students who might have difficulty accessing the internet.
To support PTC students experiencing financial hardship due to pandemic-related business closings, the PTC Foundation wasted no time establishing the Supporting Our Students (SOS) Fund to provide emergency assistance to those lacking the means to pay for basic necessities. The fund awarded more than $30,000 in assistance to students during the height of the crisis. Subsequently, college officials expedited the distribution of $1.7 million in federal CARES Act emergency relief funds to an estimated 3,643 eligible students.
These are just a few of the many stories I could share about how our faculty and staff faced the year’s challenges with innovation and care. Many assumed responsibilities outside of their normal job duties. They showed astonishing tenacity, pulling together to face a common challenge. I am exceedingly proud of everyone for putting students first during a time of great uncertainty and understandable anxiety.
“I am exceedingly proud of everyone for putting students first during a time of great uncertainty and understandable anxiety.”
Saying Goodbye
My 13 years at PTC have flown by. There were so many milestones. We ably navigated a brutal recession, placing hundreds who had been laid off into new careers. Our physical presence changed as well. We built the Center for Advanced Manufacturing in Laurens in 2012 and the very new O’Dell Center this year in Greenwood. We also transformed a former Walmart into our popular showplace campus in Newberry in 2012. We embarked on more partnerships than I can list here that support expansion of opportunities for our students and the local economy. All these events, and more, have been strategically designed to better position the college to respond to student and workforce needs
Just as we have had a phased return to campus in recent months, I am finally coming upon the final phase in my retirement plan. Once before over the past several years, I announced my retirement only to extend my service in response to requests that I stay “just a little longer” to handle some compelling need. This time, it is for keeps.
In June, I announced my retirement as president of Piedmont Technical College, effective January 4, 2021. It is a bittersweet move into the next chapter of my life. Sometimes humor (a sense I hope I never lose) can soften the melancholy of leaving. Anyone who knows me knows I like to laugh.
It has been my honor and privilege to lead this institution and witness the successes of our graduates. They have inspired me. Every. Single. Day.
I have truly cherished my time at PTC and will never forget all the amazing folks who made it such a pleasure to come to work every day. With that, I wish everyone goodbye and Godspeed.
Congratulations Dr. Brooks
Many have reached out to wish Dr. Brooks well in his retirement. Some chose to do so in a video message. Here are selection of statements from the many friends Dr. Brooks has made during is 13 years at PTC.
