Back row, from left to right: Greg Dotson (NC 911 NMAC Manager), Angie Turbeville (NC 911 Eastern Regional Coordinator), Jim McVicker (Bladen County Sheriff), Jimmy Stewart (Director of Hoke County 911 Communications, BCC paramedic instructor), Jeff Singleterry (BCC Coordinator of Public Services), and Joe Cotton (Bladen County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy).
Dr. Dale McInnis (right), president of Richmond Community College, and Dr. Amanda Lee (left), president of Bladen Community College.
DUBLIN – In an effort to promote collaboration over competition, Richmond Community College is partnering with Bladen Community College to make its new 911 telecommunications program more available to students across the state of North Carolina.
Dr. Dale McInnis, president of Richmond Community College, and Dr. Amanda Lee, president of Bladen Community College, signed an agreement on April 3 that will allow BCC students to enroll in the online program and complete an associate degree in 911 Communications and Operations.
The degree program provides a pathway for individuals who are interested in starting a career in this field, as well as providing skills enhancement for those already working as 911 telecommunicators. The program, which will open this fall semester, is unique to Richmond Community College, as it is not currently offered anywhere else in North Carolina.
“We are thankful to Dr. McInnis for working with the 911 state board to come up with this program to train new dispatchers, and we are even more excited that Richmond Community College is willing to partner with us,” Lee said.
Lee said there are about 25 vacancies for 911 operators in Bladen County and surrounding counties.
“There is a big demand for dispatchers, and we’re excited to be working together to fulfill that need,” Lee said.
We are so excited to have another program, another opportunity for our residents to further their education for jobs that are right here in our county,” said Holly Horton, Vice President for Instructional Services at Bladen Community College. “These jobs pay liveable wages, they’re good for the students, and they’re good for their families,” Horton continued.
Bladen students will complete the core courses and the work-based learning portion of the program through Richmond Community College while completing other general education requirements at Bladen Community College.
RichmondCC has worked closely with the N.C. 911 Board and the N.C. Department of Information Technology to develop the program.
“911 telecommunicators are critically important positions that we have all across our state, and we need to attract more people into this career field with better pay, better training, and more professional opportunities,” McInnis said. “With a specialized program like this being offered in rural North Carolina, our goal is to come together to build up our collective strengths to build a really strong program that can help everyone across the state, rather than duplicate and replicate unnecessarily.”