Ivy Tech Greencastle celebrates student success, community

As the 2019 fall semester gets under way, Ivy Tech Greencastle is proud to serve the community with academic pathways for success and additional focused workforce training opportunities.

We are also excited to announce to our students and stakeholders that Ivy Tech is planning a 10-year anniversary celebration at its scenic Greencastle campus, which is slated for this November.

Here is a quick summary of the latest campus happenings:

Ivy Tech is working hard to meet the higher education and workforce needs of Greencastle and Putnam County. For instance, The College’s Greencastle campus is moving ahead with a concentrated, structured schedule, which funnels students through a series of key foundation courses during their higher education journey.

We call it “Fast Track.” Many of the “Fast Track” courses are in eight-week segments, as our research has found that eight-week courses often result in stronger success rates for students. This aligns with the College’s mission of empowering “our students to achieve their career and transfer aspirations.”

In addition, Ivy Tech Greencastle continues to develop its nursing programs with strong cohorts, offering both a practical nursing cohort and a cohort focusing on the Associate of Science degree.

Meanwhile, the College’s Accelerated Associate Degree program, also known as ASAP, is launching its fourth academic year on campus. The ASAP program allows students to earn their associate degree in 11 months and then transfer to a four-year institution as a junior.

We are so very proud of our ASAP graduates, as they have successfully moved on to four-year institutions such as Purdue University, Indiana University, Indiana State University, Marian University and Ball State University.

Ivy Tech Greencastle is not too large and not too small – making it just the right size for our community. We have wonderful students who are seeking to nurture their skills, and then build on those skills to achieve their personal and professional objectives.

Lili, an ASAP graduate, recently shared her experiences with me. She stressed that the community culture of the campus made a genuine difference for her and helped her succeed.

“The students were probably the best part for me,” Lili said. “Getting close to people and being comfortable to work on things together pushed me to where I could not have gotten to a new level on my own.”

Ivy Tech is fortunate to be in Putnam County, where broad community support makes a real difference. The College sits squarely in the center of what I describe as a robust horizontal network, an entity that I have researched and spoken about at the American Association of Community Colleges’ annual conference.

These networks are essentially “a collective group of like-minded entities that benefit from a common outcome and similar mission.”

Finally, the Fall 2019 semester marks a special time for Ivy Tech Community College in Greencastle. Specifically, November commemorates the College’s 10th anniversary as a campus. So, why not celebrate!

On Saturday, Nov. 2, we will be hosting a “Denim and Diamonds” event to mark our 10 years in the community. The evening will focus on what Ivy Tech and Greencastle have accomplished together, and also what we seek to accomplish in the years ahead. Information for the event may be found at IvyTech.edu/GreencastleCelebration.

Ivy Tech is very proud to have served Greencastle and Putnam County – and is looking forward to even greater things during the next decade.