Building community through education

    Building the community through a better-trained and better-educated workforce is what the Houlton Higher Education Center is striving to achieve. Once again this fall, area adults of any age will have the opportunity to update the employment skills, essential in today’s workforce.
    One way of bringing skills to the workforce through education is with a certain amount of "transitioning."
    The Houlton Higher Education Center College Transitions Program begins September 18. College Transitions is a program of personal skills development to prepare adults for college success and covers a number of workforce issues.
    The barriers to continuing education have been reduced or removed in several ways. “Transitions” is: Business-friendly: evening and Saturday registration times  for working people;  Economical: save time and travel as College Transitions may be completed by attending one day a week over a 10-week period; Progressive: you may complete your GED or other high school credential while enrolled in College Transitions; Focused: you may be ready to begin college classes as soon as January 2009; and Affordable: little or no cost to you.
    Maine College Transition Programs (MCTP) are defined as comprehensive programs of study leading to enrollment in a post secondary institution. MCTP are offered through local adult education programs. MCTP includes career planning, case management and data collection, instruction in college preparation coursework, and the development of a peer cohort and/or coaching system.
    MCTP will provide high-quality, cost-effective and accessible pathways to post-secondary education for adults. Specifically, it will: help adults who are studying to earn high school degrees to transition to college; provide preparatory support to adults who have a high school degree but are not academically prepared to take college courses; and provide counseling, mentoring and support services to enable these adults to successfully transition to college and earn degrees.
    MCTP characteristics include: a formal process for intake, assessment, orientation and graduation; Accuplacer testing; comprehensive curriculum includes career planning, academic preparation and college experience; assistance with application procedures including financial aid planning; and partnerships with CareerCenters, Maine Educational Opportunity Centers and Maine Centers for Women, Work, and Community, as well as area colleges and universities.