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November 22, 2009
2007-12-19 - Bunker Hill Community College Team Wins National ‘Best Practices’ Award
The National Council of Instructional Administrators has named Jayne MacPherson and Barbara Rosenberg of Bunker Hill Community College winners in the annual Exemplary Initiatives Competition for their workforce development project with Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s hospitals. The Nebraska-based Council is a national professional organization affiliated with the American Association of Community Colleges. The awards recognize outstanding ways to enhance the quality of higher education at two-year institutions in the United States.
The project prepares surgical technicians for the national certifying examination. To date, 100 percent of the 41 students enrolled in the program have passed the examination. MacPherson, Associate Professor in the Surgical Technical Certification Program, and Rosenberg, Special Programs Coordinator in the Workforce Development Program, developed the project to speed entry into the workforce of technicians needed in hospital surgical departments. Their project focuses on surgical professionals, who ensure that the instruments and equipment needed in operating rooms are sterile and close at hand.
“The judges this year were looking for evidence of successful partnerships between community colleges and outside institutions,” said Brent D. Cejda, Executive Director of National Council of Instructional Administrators. “The 100 percent pass rate was excellent evidence of success for the BHCC program.” MacPherson and Rosenberg said the partnership began in 2005 when MGH asked MacPherson to develop a program to speed certification, which is essential to the accreditation of the hospital.
“This is an important honor,” said Rosenberg. “The program is an excellent example of the College’s commitment to workforce education, particularly in the area of allied health, where shortages of trained personnel are widespread.”
The Exemplary Initiatives Competition, now in its 19th year, makes awards for “best practices” in several categories. A panel of community college practitioners from across the country evaluates the submissions. MacPherson and Rosenberg won in the Workforce Development category. Allied health professionals make up 60 percent of the healthcare workforce.
Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts. The College enrolls more than 8,800 students on two campuses and at five satellite locations each semester. Some 1,700 students take classes online. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth. Six in ten students are people of color and more than half of BHCC’s students are women. The College also enrolls more than 600 international students who come from more than 95 countries and speak 75 different languages.
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