FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007
Contacts (on behalf of the Erma Byrd Center Advisory Board):
Jim Nelson, College & Media Relations Director, Bluefield State College (304) 327-4103;
Bill O’Brien, Director of the Beckley Center, Concord University (304) 256-0270
 

Higher Education open house set for Saturday, Nov. 17

ATHENS, W.Va. – An open house will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17 at the Erma Byrd Higher Education Center, located at 300 University Dr. in Beaver, W.Va., according to the advisory board for the center.

Marshall University will be among the members of the Erma Byrd Center Advisory Board and institutions that will participate in the open house. Others are Bluefield State College, Concord University, New River Community and Technical College, Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College, and the Community and Technical College at WVU Institute of Technology.

Prospective students are encouraged to attend to tour the facility and meet representatives from the participating public institutions.

“We’re excited about the synergy that’s evident at Erma Byrd Higher Education Center,” said Dr. Albert Walker, president of Bluefield State College. “Several public colleges and universities have come together in a ‘higher education mall’ arrangement, permitting students to access tremendous educational opportunities – opportunities that are much more diverse than could be offered by any single institution in the region.  The ‘one-stop shop’ approach permits each institution to collaborate and enhance operating efficiencies, maximizing our collective ability to meet the needs of students and industry.”

Dr. Bill O’Brien, Concord University Director of the Beckley Center, said the Erma Byrd Center brings to the Beckley area the very best in public higher education – in quality, in cutting-edge technology, and in cost. 

“This open house gives us all a first shot at showing off what we can do here,” O’Brien said. “We hope that prospective students and parents will attend.  But we want especially to appeal to adults in the region, those who’ve wanted to give college a try but never made that first move.”

According to Dr. Ted Spring, president of New River Community and Technical College,  students attending a community college program at the Erma Byrd Center can learn skills and earn certificates and/or degrees that lead to employment or can transfer their two-year associate degree coursework from a community college to a four-year institution. 

Enrollment at New River has increased by 33 percent in part, Spring believes, to New River’s participation at the Higher Education Center.

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