Academic procession through forest.
Days before classes resume, nearly 300 Piedmont Technical College (PTC) faculty and staff members gathered for the fall 2024 convocation in the James Medford Family Center on the Greenwood campus. The event comes at a pivotal moment for the institution, signaling growth, innovation, and recognition of excellence within the college community.
In her State of the College address, PTC President Dr. Hope E. Rivers emphasized the transformative changes the college is experiencing. “This is the start of something new, something that is refreshing,” Dr. Rivers remarked. “I hope that you can feel the momentum that Piedmont Technical College has. I hope that you can see the progress that we have made so far, and we’re just scratching the surface.”
The address outlined significant initiatives including the career communities initiative, enrollment growth, and employee engagement efforts. Rivers also highlighted recent renovations to the James C. Self Conference Center, describing them as just the beginning of a broad vision. Future plans include improving the Medford Center, renovating the library, building a new Health Sciences building on the Greenwood campus, and establishing advanced manufacturing centers in Edgefield and Saluda counties. “It is important because we want to attract talent,” Rivers said. “We want to retain talent, and we know that our faculty and staff enjoy working in the best spaces, and that’s the same for our students. We also know that our parents feel more comfortable when they are a part of something that’s growing and developing.”
The convocation also paid tribute to outstanding faculty and staff. Dr. Keli Fewox, vice president for academic affairs at PTC, recognized several award winners:
The event featured speeches from notable guests, including Dr. Emma Zone, senior director of academic affairs for D2L, who discussed the practical uses of artificial intelligence in education. Appearing via Zoom, Dr. Zone presented an overview of how AI can be a useful tool for crafting quiz questions and other tasks.
Motivational speaker Jean Briese also took the stage, offering advice on increasing personal happiness and professional productivity. “The most important words you hear every day are the words you say to yourself because we believe what we tell ourselves,” Briese said. “We need to talk to ourselves like we’re talking to our own best friend, because our friends don’t let us put ourselves down.”
Dr. Rivers concluded her address by urging all of Piedmont Tech to align with the vision of becoming a premier community college. “I’m going to say it over and over again so that we all are on the same page in terms of what our goal is,” she said. “We are well on our way to becoming a premier community college. We have to make sure that our eyes remain open and our willingness to dream remains true. So Piedmont, I ask you to join me in sharing the vision of becoming the premier community college.”
On a lighter note, the weather for today in Greenwood includes morning sunshine followed by isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon, with a high near 95°F. Winds will be light and variable. There is a 30% chance of rain, and a stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early in the evening. The night will be clear to partly cloudy with a low around 70°F.
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