SCC keeps students in local workforce | Local News

Its oldest buildings, once cutting edge for their time, are coming down. Ladders and workers clutter rooms soon to be renovated. The Academic Excellence Center, finished in January 2021, offers state of the art technology for students to hone their skills.

While the phenomenon of “brain drain” pulls thousands of young educated people out of Nebraska every year, SCC focuses on keeping its students in the local labor force, Beatrice Campus Director Brett Bright said.

“We’ve built relationships with the local community,” Bright said. “We have local business groups help advise the way education will go in different departments… And when they do internships and things like that, they’re placed in local businesses. So that kind of build that tie that keeps them connected to the area… That makes people stay closer to home.”

Rachel Kreikemeier, SCC admissions representative, said internships are a vital aspect of the community college’s education.

“A lot of our programs require internships as part of the curriculum,” Kreikemeier said. “It’s built to get students out into the community. We want them to experience their trade… We want them to learn maybe new things of doing things that helps them to be more successful.”

On top of that, Bright said the technological advances at SCC helps students understand their desired career fields more.

“We’re able to provide our students with the newest technology and the newest facilities,” he said. “We’re at the cutting edge of technology as we’re able to teach our students, providing them with the best educational opportunities they can have.”

The new Academic Excellence Center, built in January 2021, stands as an example of the technological innovation at SCC. The $19 million building contains faculty offices, study and social areas, conference rooms and various sized classrooms equipped with technology to allow for collaboration and video conferences with students learning from home or other campuses. 

The Academic Excellence Center houses many of the college’s classes, including most criminal justice, nursing and health science courses. Some rooms in the building, made to look like hospital bedrooms, contain high-fidelity mannequins, which offer nursing students realistic opportunities to hone their patient-care skills.

Bright, who also serves as vice president of program development and athletic administrator, said the college caters to non-traditional students, too, offering re-education and training.

Kreiemeier said SCC helps bring highly productive workers into the economy. She said the college instills skills beyond the hard, technical ones.

“Our programs are constantly working with industry representatives to make sure that our programs are teaching the necessary material that makes our students suitable to go directly into employment,” she said. “It’s not just the technical skills. It’s also the soft skills, too… It’s that wraparound education we’re providing to students the really helps.”

Bright said students coming from SCC have a bright future ahead, especially since the market favors labor right now. With low unemployment and high demand for employees, graduates can join the workforce with an air of confidence.

“You know, I think it’s great for them as long as they’re willing to do the work,” he said. “…We’re not only providing a workforce; we’re providing a trained workforce for the area.”