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One essential quality for any successful institution is the ability to change with the world around it.
Time and time again, Alpena Community College has been able to do just that.
The college's administration seems to embrace and thrive on change -- to the point the college today looks quite a bit different from the college 10 years ago, and that college looked quite different than the college did 10 years previous.
Trust me, the region is extremely fortunate and blessed to have such a forward-thinking college campus in Alpena.
Students at ACC can be guaranteed to have available to them programs and degrees that are tailor-made to the workforce of today, not the workforce of yesterday.
Take, for example, the ACC Lineman program, which all but guarantees jobs upon graduation for the students who go through it. When the ACC administration was presented with the need for such a program from industry leaders in the region, like Alpena Power Co.'s Steve Fletcher, the college responded by developing one of the best lineman training programs in the country.
And that is but one of many examples I could rattle off which have met similar success.
The latest collaboration for ACC students and staff is with MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena.
A new course offered is Health 106: Fundamentals of Surgical Care. Two students each semester will be given an opportunity to train in a simulated operating room. The students will gain real experience while at the same time being paid by the medical center.
What medical staff identified as a need not only in Alpena but throughout the state and Midwest was brought to ACC administrators. Talks were held, potential problems identified, costs analyzed, and staffing issues resolved.
In the end, ACC walked away from the table with an important and attractive new class to offer students, while medical folks were pleased to have potential employees now training and learning in a simulated environment.
ACC President Don MacMaster was pleased with the process and how the new offering evolved and how it fits nicely into the college's licensed practical nursing program.
MacMaster should be happy. Hospital folks should be happy. Residents of Northeast Michigan should be happy.
Personally, I believe MacMaster and the ACC trustees are the real heroes in this story for once again embracing change and, as a result, adapting and developing new programs to meet the needs of a changing medical landscape.
Change isn't easy.
Congratulations, ACC administrators, for once again meeting a need in our community.
As was pointed out in a News editorial earlier this week, the partnership between the medical center and college is a benefit for all of us.
Bill Speer retired in 2021 as the publisher and editor of The News. He can be reached at bspeer@thealpenanews.com.