Heritage, Humanities & Fine Arts Faculty Present at CBExhange National Conference

by Bernie Hale

Owensboro, KY (11/18/2024) — English Professor Shannon Collins, Theatre Program Coordinator and Instructor Grae Greer, and Heritage, Humanities, and Fine Arts Department Head, and Communications Faculty Dr. Meredith Skaggs attended and presented at the CBExchange Conference. OCTC's Katie Vincent also attended the conference.

The CBExchange conference was held November 11-14 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is the premiere event focused on transforming education through a skills-based system. This annual conference has been held since 2015 and has become the foremost conference on competency-based education. It pairs innovators in education, policy, research, and edtech to share best practices and the latest developments in CBE.

Collins began her career at OCTC in 2001 and holds a Master of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary English from Morehead State University, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. In addition, she is a published author and was a finalist for the Joy Bale Boone Poetry Prize in 2015. In 2022 Collins was awarded the OCTC Pillar: Fostering an Encouraging & Approachable Learning Environment.

Greer has been an adjunct instructor in the program and has led the Oak Island Theatre group since August 2021. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Marshall University in Theatre Performance and Production. After her professional acting contract ended in New York City, she returned to Owensboro and worked to enhance the arts community in the region. Greer founded Bluegrass Community Theatre in 2018, and formerly served as the marketing director and resident educator at RiverPark Center, teaching art, costuming, and technical theatre classes for elementary through high school-aged students. In 2023 she was awarded the OCTC President's Award For Adjunct Instruction.

Dr. Skaggs graduated from high school with two years of college credits from OCTC's Early (Discover) College and transferred to Georgetown College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. She went on to earn a Master of Arts from Western Kentucky University (WKU) in Organizational Communications, and then a Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership from WKU.

Owensboro Community & Technical College is one of the sixteen community and technical colleges that make up the Kentucky Community & Technical College System. OCTC serves the KY counties of Daviess, Hancock, Ohio and McLean. OCTC has three campuses in Daviess County and a Center and Annex in Hancock County. OCTC strives to serve the communities in the service area by providing associate degree education for transfer, state of the art technical education for students focusing on entering the workforce, customized business and industry solutions through the Workforce Solutions division, and adult education and business and industry testing through the SkillTrain unit.

The Kentucky Community and Technical College System is the Commonwealth's largest postsecondary institution with 16 colleges and more than 70 campuses. We also are Kentucky's largest provider of workforce training and online education. Through partnerships with business and industry, we align our programs to meet the needs of local employers. We help students fulfill their dreams of creating a better life through programs that lead directly to jobs or help them transfer to one of our four-year partners.

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