Ivy Tech Bloomington selected as finalist for national Community College Futures Assembly award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 17, 2012

BLOOMINGTON – Ivy Tech Community College’s Bloomington campus has been competitively selected as a finalist to present at the annual Community College Futures Assembly on the conference theme, “Leading through Innovation,” in Orlando, Fla. from January 28-31, 2012. Ivy Tech Bloomington’s program, “Nation’s First Proton Therapy Specialist Certifications” was selected among nine other community college finalists, nationwide, in contest for the prestigious Bellwether Award for Workforce Development.

This year, the Futures Assembly received more entries than it has ever received in the Workforce Development category, totaling 50 entries from community colleges nationwide.

“Being chosen as a finalist for the Futures Assembly Bellwether award is further recognition of the work we’re doing to ensure Ivy Tech graduates are nationally and globally competitive,” said Chancellor John Whikehart of Ivy Tech’s Bloomington campus. “This innovative collaborative workforce training agreement that Ivy Tech Bloomington has in place with local industry, IU Health Proton Therapy Center and ProCure Training and Development Center, affords Ivy Tech students educational opportunities that do not exist anywhere else.”

Ivy Tech’s Proton Therapy Specialist Certification program operates as part of Ivy Tech Bloomington’s Radiation Therapy degree program.

Presenters at the conference include: John Whikehart, Chancellor of Ivy Tech’s Bloomington’s campus; Larry Swafford, Ph.D., Ivy Tech Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Professor & Program Chair of Radiation Therapy; Dan Peterson, Ivy Tech Bloomington Trustee and Vice President of Industry & Government Affairs for Cook Group Incorporated; Karlee Wyatt, Ivy Tech Assistant Professor & Clinical Director of Radiation Therapy; John Smith, Director of Operational Development at ProCure Treatment Centers, Inc.; and Jason Dixon, MA, RT(T), Radiation Therapy-Training & Proton Therapy Specialist at ProCure Treatment Centers, Inc. Dixon received his education in Ivy Tech’s Radiation Therapy program and is also one of the nation’s first graduates of the Proton Therapy Specialist Certification program.

Summaries of finalist presentations will be published in the Community College Journal of Research & Practice. The award winner will be asked to write a full article for the Journal.

Futures Assembly Bellwether Award applications were reviewed by a selection committee comprised of members of national organizations – the Council for Resource Development (CRD), the National Council for Instructional Administrators (NCIA), and the National Council for Continuing Education and Training (NCCET).

The Community College Futures Assembly convenes each year as an independent national policy think-tank to identify and recognize the role of Community Colleges in providing innovative solutions to the challenges of today.