CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Pickaway-Ross Career and Technology Center is one of five founding members of a new Shawnee State University initiative designed to give career-center students faster, cheaper routes into two- and four-year degrees and local jobs.
The partnership, called ShawneeWORKS, expands dual credit and College Credit Plus offerings between Shawnee State and the partner schools, creates a direct entry path into the workforce for career center graduates, and streamlines admission into the university’s applied technical degree programs, according to Pickaway-Ross.
Along with Pickaway-Ross, the inaugural members include Pike County Career Technical Center, Scioto County Career Technical Center, Buckeye Hills Career Center and Southern Hills Career & Technical Center. Officials said the agreement is intended to lower educational costs and speed up program completion for students and the employers who hire them.
“Shawnee State has demonstrated what is possible when higher education and career centers choose collaboration over competition. By putting students at the center of every conversation, we’re building stronger pathways and opening more doors for the students we serve, in the region we all love,” Pickaway-Ross Superintendent Jonathan Davis said in a statement.
“Demand for graduates with applied technical skills is exploding throughout Ohio,” Shawnee State President Eric Andrew Braun said in a statement. “This new partnership is a natural extension of the focus shared by Shawnee State University and our region’s outstanding career technical centers to provide students with the education and experience they need for the jobs they seek.”
The new pathway builds on recent investment in the Chillicothe career center’s technical training programs, as Pickaway-Ross continues to expand its workforce-development offerings for Ross County students.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Pickaway-Ross Career and Technology Center.
