Agreement Established between MECC and Department of Correctional Education

On January 27, Morris Dews made the long trip from Richmond to attend an articulation agreement signing at Mountain Empire Community College in Big Stone Gap.  The agreement is a partnership between MECC, Wytheville Community College and the Virginia Department of Correctional Education, for which Dews works as the Assistant State Supervisor for Career and Technical Education Programs.  It also includes support from the Virginia Department of Health.

Dews says he didn't mind the drive from Richmond.  He realizes the importance of this agreement, which serves both water treatment and correctional facility needs through partnerships between many different organizations.  MECC President Terrance Suarez agrees with him, stating, "This is a great agreement because it is an example of what state agencies can do together to meet a lot of needs." 

The articulation agreement will allow inmates at Bland Correctional Center to receive college credit in Wastewater courses through MECC's distance learning program.  They may earn an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Water/Wastewater Technology or a Career Studies Certificate in Wastewater, thus enabling each inmate to reenter the workforce with an educational background after being released from prison.

"MECC has the only Water/Wastewater associate degree in the state, and through support from the Virginia Department of Health, has made it available through the worldwide web," says Dr. Richard Phillips, Dean of Health Science and Industrial Technology at MECC.  "Although inmates are not allowed Internet access, MECC will supply them with instructional CDs, so they may access all of the technical and academic information needed to complete courses."

In order to complete an associate degree in Water/Wastewater Technology, inmates will have the opportunity to take support academic courses from Wytheville Community College.  "This program allows students with some coursework to finish with a degree and find employment after leaving (prison)," says Betty Domjahn, former MECC Tech Prep Consortium Coordinator, who initially worked on the articulation agreement for the college.  "They can get their whole degree electronically through distance education courses." 

The agreement, signed by Dews, Suarez, and Domjahn, adheres to the condition that former prisoners do not work with fresh water treatment.  Inmates who obtain a degree or certificate and are released from prison may only work with the treatment of wastewater.  Another stipulation of the agreement requires that inmates must pay their own tuition with no financial aid or state funding assistance.    

A similar partnership between MECC and Lunenburg Correctional Center near Victoria, Virginia was established a few years ago.  MECC Environmental Science Instructor Rosa-lee Moore reports that two of the seven students enrolled in the program from Lunenburg will graduate with Associate in Applied Science Degrees this spring, marking the first inmates to graduate under the agreement between MECC and that particular correctional facility.  Of the current students at Lunenburg, Moore states, "They are some of the best students I have."

Dews says that the Department of Correctional Education is hoping to make more programs available to inmates through distance learning, possibly in areas such as surveying and drafting.  "We are looking forward to working with MECC," he states.  "We are preparing people to get an associate degree and preparing people to get jobs."

Representatives met on January 27 for the articulation agreement signing between MECC and the Virginia Department of Correctional Education.

(Front row, left to right):  Betty Domjahn, former MECC Tech Prep Coordinator; Terrance Suarez, MECC President; and Morris Dews,  Assistant State Supervisor for Career and Technical Education Programs for the Department of Correctional Education

(Back row, left to right):  Rosa-lee Moore, MECC Environmental Science Instructor and Richard Phillips, Dean of Health Science and Industrial Technology at MECC