Senator Richard Burr Visits RCC Campus

ASHEBORO (October 10, 2008)

Mitchell Kiser (left), department chair for the Mechanical and Industrial department at Randolph Community College shows Senator Richard Burr (center) an engraved aluminum clock that his students have been working on, while RCC President Robert Shackleford looks on.

U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.) stopped at the Randolph Community College campus on Oct. 8 on the way to his hometown of Winston-Salem. Senator Burr and RCC President Robert S. Shackleford Jr. visited for about 15-20 minutes before touring a couple of key job training areas for the College.

Shackleford first showed Burr the school's Machining Technology lab, where department chair Mitchell Kiser and instructor Garret Parker demonstrated some of the machines necessary to train students for today's high-tech machining workforce. Kiser explained that many of the machines are very expensive, so the College partners with area industries who sometimes provide machines that the College then uses to help train new employees for those industries. Kiser also noted that funds from the federal government's Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act are very important in making sure the lab equipment stays up to date.

The tour group then moved to RCC's renowned Photographic Technology department, where department chair Greg Stewart talked to Burr about the four concentrations offered students in the department: Biocommunications, Commercial Photography, Photojournalism, and Portrait Studio Management. Burr asked about the changes in the department due to the rise in digital photography. Stewart explained the school teaches skills in both and that instructors emphasize quality no matter what the medium. "Our goal would be you can't tell the difference (between a photo taken with digital or film)," he said. Burr noted the program's great reputation, to which Stewart responded, "We get compared in some awfully nice company sometimes."

Shackleford and Burr discussed the difficulties community college students have sometimes funding their education, not just in paying tuition and fees, but affording transportation and child care costs. Shackleford said the College does get a limited number of funds for child care grants, but that federal Pell grants were essential. "Without Pell grants, the community colleges would just about have to shut their doors," he said.

"The federal government understands the importance of community colleges," said Burr, "and so does the state." He said that if every state had a community college system like North Carolina's, they could weather hard economic times much better. The Senator's visit was precipitated by a conversation he had with Shackleford at a local Rotary luncheon several months ago.

Burr was accompanied by Ryan Combs, a field representative for his office, and attracted media attention for his visit. Greg Pell, a videographer for News Channel 14, and J.D. Walker, a reporter for the Courier-Tribune, tagged along on the tour and took some time to ask the Senator questions about the presidential race and the current economic crisis.

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