State Leaders Visit ECC
State leaders recently toured the Tarboro campus of Edgecombe Community College. From left are Dr. Greg McLeod, ECC president; Rev. Jerry Spruell, chair of the ECC Board of Trustees; Rep. Shelly Willingham; Sen Toby Fitch (seated); Dr. Shirley Carraway; and ECC students Tiffiny Wolf and Gregory Horne.
North Carolina legislative and higher education leaders recently toured the Tarboro campus of Edgecombe Community College.
Dr. Greg McLeod, president of the college; Rev. Jerry Spruell, chair of the ECC Board of Trustees; and several students hosted the visitors. Dignitaries were Rep. Shelly Willingham, Sen. Toby Fitch, and Dr. Shirley Carraway, a member of the State Board of Community Colleges. Dr. Carraway represents Region 6 on the state board, which includes Edgecombe County.
Two students who are members of Phi Theta Kappa, ECC’s student honor society, participated in the campus tour. Gregory Horne, PTK president, and Tiffiny Wolf, PTK vice president-scholarship, provided a student perspective as the group visited several programs.
The tour included the college’s Basic Law Enforcement Training program, which recently relocated to updated space in the Havens Building; the new Agribusiness Technology greenhouse; and several programs housed in the Center for Innovation, including manufacturing and robotics.
ECC instructors met with the state leaders and showcased their programs. Presenters were Bernie Taylor, BLET school director; Dr. Johnica Ellis-Kiser, program chair, Business Administration; Rebecca Stamilio-Ehret, physics and industrial technologies instructor; Doug Parrish, department chair, Industrial and Technical Trades; and Merdikae Williams, manufacturing technologies instructor.
“We were delighted to host our state leaders,” Dr. McLeod says. “Their visit provided an opportunity to share an update on Edgecombe Community College as well as NC Community College System priorities.
“We also discussed needs for supporting the system’s collective mission of educating and training our communities. We are grateful for our state leaders’ continued advocacy and support of the college and our priorities,” adds Dr. McLeod.