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ECC Insiders

by East Central College

Season 3

The strength of rural community colleges in America

The Rural Community College Alliance (RCCA) are advocates for the nation's rural community colleges. The RCCA helps its member institutions serve the 89.3 million people who reside in rural America. There are 600 publicly controlled rural community and tribal college that provide access to general education for transfer, as well as techncial, vocational and occupations programs. Joel and Leigh were joined by members of the RCCA board, that include Dr. Leah Barrett of Northeast Community College in Nebraska, Dr. Jon Bauer, East Central College in Missouri and Dr. Ron Slinger of Miles Community College in Montana. The college presidents share their impressions and opinions of the value and importance of the nation's community colleges. More information about RCCA can be found at https://ruralccalliance.org/

The U.S. community college closest to Russia

Leigh and Joel are joined by Justina Wilhelm, the president of Iḷisaġvik College. Iḷisaġvik College is located in the North Slope Borough of Alaska, America's northermost municipality. Justina took 2 planes and nearly 24 hours to arrive in Union, Missouri for the Rural Community College Alliance national conference, held on the ECC campus in September 2025. She provides a unique perspective of the community college, located on the northern tip of Alaska - 340 miles from Russia. There are similarities between her college and U.S. mainland community colleges, but also differences given the location. Find out more about Iḷisaġvik College: https://www.ilisagvik.edu/

Apprenticeship Consortium

East Central College is part of a consortium with three Missouri community colleges for the MoSEPWorks apprenticeship program, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor's ABA2 apprenticeship program. The program focus of the consortium is teacher education, health care and manufacturing. Students can start out in a pre-apprenticeship and transition into an apprenticeship. Apprenticeships are structured, paid training programs that combine on-the-job experience with classroom instruction to develop high-level skills for a specific trade or profession, Learn more at https://www.eastcentral.edu/blog/ecc-launches-education-apprenticeship-to-strengthen-local-workforce/.

It's not the same old GED program anymore

Adult Education and Literacy (AEL) programs in Missouri are offering more than the GED and English Language Acquisition courses. In an effort to meet the workforce needs and stay relevant, the programs are providing students with Integrated Education and Training programs, or IET's. A student will take coursework in an IET and the GED to provide them with job skills needed to enter the workforce concurrently with the completion of GED/High School Equivalency test. Examples of IETs include: Certified Nurse Assistant Basic Construction Technology Substitute Teaching Certificate Paraprofessional The episode guests include AEL directors from East Central College, St. Charles Community College, and Crowder College. The director of the DESE Adult Education and Literacy programs, Megan Wadley, provides the statewide perspective of the importance of the inclusion of the job skills programs. The AEL-IET strategic plan has additional detail: https://dese.mo.gov/media/pdf/ael-iet-strategic-plan

The strength of Missouri's Community Colleges

Brian Millner, the President and CEO of the Missouri Community College Association (MCCA), joins the podcast to discuss how the association works to showcase the importance and strengths of Missouri's 12 community colleges. Learn about about MCCA at: https://www.missouricolleges.org/

Bringing Opportunity to a Missouri Health Care Desert

A group of Missouri community colleges work together in a consortium to provide health care programs to fill the need for health care professionals in rural Missouri. The Missouri Health Care Professionals Consortium (MHPC) includes five Missouri community colleges - East Central College, Three Rivers College, North Central Missouri College, State Fair Community College and Moberly Area Community College and Mineral Area College. The MHPC contributes to increased accessibilty to high demand health care programs in rural Missouri through the sharing of course curriculum, lab space and leveraging financial resources. The programs offered in the consortium include: Occupational Therapy Medical Laboratory Technician Respiratory Care Mineral Area College offers only the Medical Laboratory Technician program. Episode guest contacts: Nancy Mitchell, East Central College - Nancy.Mitchell@eastcentral.edu

Season 2

Where did all the adult learners go?

The number of adult learners (24 years and older) at the nation's community colleges has been declining for several years. Attracting adult learners back is a strategic plan of East Central College and many other community colleges. At the time of the September 2025 recording, Elizabeth Cox Brand was the Director of Student Success Center at the Oregon Community College Association (OCCA). She presented during the Rural Communtiy College Alliance national conference held on the ECC campus in September 2025. She shared with Joel and Leigh the challenges and opportunities facing Oregon community colleges regarding the recruitement of adult learners and the resources available to them. Find our more about OCCA at: https://occa17.com/

What You Eat, Eats Plants

Dr. Parvadha (Parvi) Acosta, ECC's Associate Project of Biology/STEM division chair, discusses the changes in food over time and some of its positive and negative impacts on our health. Parvi isn't a medical doctor, and looks at the intake and development of food over time from a biological point of view. For example - a tomato looks much different than it did 80-100 years ago. DYK - Broccoli isn't found in nature, as it was developed through centuries of selective breeding. If you think this topic doesn't apply to you, since you eat only meat and potatoes, consider this: "What you eat, eats plants."

New State Transfer Agreement and new ECC Degree Program

The state of Missouri passed a bill in May 2025 to simplify and strengthen the transfer pathways from the state's community colleges to a public 4-year university. The new legislation establishes a 60-credit hour, transferable lower-division course block for five high demand programs: General Business General Psychology Elementary Education General Biology or Biological Sciences Nursing Dr. Robyn Walter, Chief Academic Officer of East Central College, discusses the positive aspects of the new legislation and the benefits for students and their families. New ECC degree ECC is also offering a new degree pathway starting in the fall of 2025. An Associate Degree of Science in Biology that provides major level Chemistry and Biology coursework. Biology - Science, Engineering & Math: ECC webpage. Missouri Community College Association Celebrates Passage of Transfer Bill - Missouri Community College Association

Investing in East Central College: What is Proposition ECC?

Investing in East Central College is an investment in your community. Proposition ECC is a Tuesday, April 8 ballot initiative, and if approved by voters, will provide funding for a $15 million campus renovation project, to repair and renovate every building on the Union campus and construct two new facilities, a welding training center and a centralized storage facility. ECC is a vital asset to students and the area's communities. Hear from three ECC alums who credit ECC in helping them with their successes, who are local business and community leaders and serve on the ECC Foundation Board of Directors: Sandy Lucy: A 1976 graduate and the former mayor of Washington. John Moroney: A 1983 graduate and the owner of multiple Taco Bell restaurants. Torrey Woodcock: Attended ECC in the early 2000s and the owner of area Jimmy John's restaurants. Discover more about Proposition ECC at www.eastcentral.edu/propositionecc See the yearly economic impact of East Central College on the area: www.eastcentral.edu/impact

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