National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1090

For Immediate Release

Webcast Examines Federal-and State-Level Efforts to Ease High 
School-to-College Transition

The National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education will 
present a webcast entitled "Strategies for Articulation and Transition" on 
August 12, 2005, 3:00 to 4:30 PM (EDT). This interactive event and previous 
webcasts can be viewed on any computer with Internet access at 
http://www.nccte.org.

In the global economy, postsecondary education is becoming increasingly 
important to qualify for jobs that pay enough to support a family. Most 
high school graduates attempt to continue their educations, but many find 
they are unprepared for the demands of college courses.

This webcast focuses on Louisiana, Minnesota, and South Carolina states 
that are leaders in encouraging dual enrollments. Taking college courses 
while still in high school has two major effects: it prepares students for 
the increased rigor of college courses and, for many, it also increases 
their confidence and raises their educational aspirations.

The webcast presents videotaped interviews with administrators and faculty 
members from high schools and communitytechnical colleges in the three 
states. The interviews document that dual enrollment can be a winwin 
situation for students, high schools, and community colleges. In order for 
the benefits of dual enrollment to emerge, those interviewees emphasized 
that there must be support from all levels, but especially from top 
administration, at secondary and postsecondary institutions/education levels.

The presenters for this webcast are Joan I. Athen, Special Assistant for 
Community Colleges, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. 
Department of Education (USDE); Deena Allen, Associate Vice Chancellor for 
Academic Affairs, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities; Anne Crook, 
President, OrangeburgCalhoun Technical College, Orangeburg, SC; and Kelley 
Rhoe-Collins, Coordinator of Tech Prep and Articulation Officer, Louisiana 
Community and Technical College System.

Joan Athen serves as the principal advisor to USDE Assistant Secretary 
Susan Sclafani on community college issues. Athen also provides guidance to 
program directors of the USDE departments that manage functions and 
activities affecting community colleges. The office serves as an advocate 
and resource for community colleges and works toward improving coordination 
of outreach programs in other federal agencies involving community colleges.

Prior to her appointment, Athen served as board chair for Howard Community 
College in Columbia, MD, and as chair of the Maryland Association of 
Community Colleges, where she created and directed trustee work sessions on 
"New Challenges Facing Community Colleges" with the Maryland Higher 
Education Commission. Athen was an entrepreneur, founding an international 
telecommunications company, and she has been named twice to Maryland's Top 
100 Women list, where she was inducted into the prestigious Circle of 
Excellence. Athen has been recognized in the Women's Hall of Fame (Howard 
County), as Woman of the Year (Maryland State Federation of Business and 
Professional Women), as Woman of the Year (Girl Scouts of Central 
Maryland), and as an Outstanding Alumnae of Stephens College, Columbia, MO. 
She has served as past chair of the Howard County Chamber of Commerce and 
Economic Development Advisory Council.

Deena Allen is Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs with the 
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU). MnSCU is a system of 32 
institutions (25 two-year colleges and 7 four-year universities) that 
enroll 240,000 students. As the State Director for Career and Technical 
Education in Minnesota, Allen is the primary system spokesperson for 
community and technical colleges in the state. She manages MnSCU's role as 
the agency responsible for managing Perkins federal funding allocated to 
secondary and postsecondary career and technical education in Minnesota.

Allen's responsibilities include system-level policy development for 
academic and student affairs functions, system-level college and university 
faculty development, two-year college faculty credentialing, and Perkins 
career and technical education programming and funding, which involves 
extensive collaboration with the K12 educational system. She is the primary 
academic liaison with faculty union leadership for two-year-college faculty 
contract negotiations and implementation and also works extensively with 
university-level issues within Minnesota state colleges and universities.

Anne Crook currently serves as President of OrangeburgCalhoun Technical 
College. Before moving to the technical college system as Vice President 
for Academic Affairs of Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, she spent 28 
years in education, including classroom teacher (grades 812) and as a 
school- and district-level administrator. Crook holds a bachelor's degree 
in history, a master's degree in the art of teaching in social science, and 
a doctoral degree in education administration; all from the University of 
South Carolina.

Kelley Rhoe-Collins has been the Louisiana State Tech Prep Coordinator 
since 1999, working for the Louisiana Community and Technical College 
System. Her other leadership roles while in that position include the 
following: Advisory Board Member, National Tech Prep Network; National 
Leadership Institute Scholar, National Dissemination Center for Career and 
Technical Education, The Ohio State University; Southeast Regional 
Director, National Association for Tech Prep Leaders; and Board Member, 
National Association for Career and Technical Education Information. During 
her tenure in Louisiana, tech prep coordinators have been able to work to 
create statewide articulation agreements, implement a statewide consortium 
evaluation process, and strengthen support to all regional tech prep 
coordinators.

Prior to her work in Louisiana, Rhoe-Collins worked in Idaho as a 
communication officer and instructor at Eastern Idaho Technical College. 
She completed her master's degree at Idaho State University and her 
undergraduate work at Weber State University in Ogden UT. Currently, she is 
working on a doctorate in higher education administration at the University 
of New Orleans.

Viewers of the webcast may ask questions of the panel by signing up (no 
charge) for a chatroom account at http://www.nccte.org. The chatroom allows 
you to submit questions during the presentation. Please allow one full day 
for your account to be validated by e-mail confirmation.

To subscribe or unsubscribe from this e-mail list, please visit this web 
page: http://www.nccte.org/ctemail/subscription.asp or send an e-mail to 
nagy.8 at osu.edu or contact Barbara Reardon below.

The work reported herein was supported under the National Dissemination 
Center for Career and Technical Education (PR/Award No. VO51A990004) and/or 
under the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education 
(PR/Award No. VO51A990006), as administered by the Office of Vocational and 
Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education. However, the contents do not 
necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Office of Vocational 
and Adult Education or the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not 
assume endorsement by the federal government. The National Dissemination 
Center for Career and Technical Education and the National Research Center 
for Career and Technical Education are funded by the Office of Vocational 
and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education.


For Additional Information Contact:
Barbara Reardon
The Ohio State University
Director of Communications
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1090
Phone: 614-292-2894
Fax: 614-688-3258
Email: reardon.30 at osu.edu
Web site: www.nccte.org