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Dr. Patrick M. Jones at podium with Gov. Josh Shapiro

PA Community Colleges Launch ADVANCEPA Tech and Trades Consortium

Berwick, PA – Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro announced on June 9 that Amazon is planning to invest at least $20 billion to establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) innovation campuses across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Amazon’s investment will create at least 1,250 high-paying, high-tech jobs. The first communities identified as sites for these future campuses are Salem Township, Luzerne County, and Falls Township, Bucks County. Several additional Pennsylvania communities are under consideration for data center development. Represented by Bucks County Community College President & CEO Dr. Patrick Jones at the June 9 announcement, President Jones also stressed a vision as more hyperscale data centers are planned. "Through a unique, consortium approach, we will be able to better focus on the needs of data centers and help ensure students are prepared with the knowledge and skills required for this unique sector," Dr. Jones said. "We will collaborate to determine industry needs and share expertise and resources so that no matter where someone lives, one of our colleges will be able to help them attain the skills they need for success in this growing industry." Under the lead of the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges (PACCC), Luzerne County Community College, Lehigh Carbon Community College, Northampton Community College and Bucks County Community College are joining forces to partner on a Technology and Trades Workforce Consortium in an expanded Northeast Region of Pennsylvania. The PACCC collaboration will bring together these four community colleges to address workforce needs during the construction of hyperscale data centers and the jobs needed once they are built. As more hyperscale data centers are constructed, other community colleges across the Commonwealth will join to expand the ADVANCEPA Technology & Trade Workforce Consortium. "There is no sector of higher educator better equipped to adeptly respond to the changing workforce development demands of the technological revolution that is driving historic economic growth than Pennsylvania's community colleges," said John Yudichak, President of Luzerne County Community College. Three pillars planned by the Technology and Trades Workforce Consortium are: A Career & Technology Academy An innovative regional partnership formed by community colleges and career and technical center high schools to create new pathways for career and technical center students to earn post-secondary credentials in technology and the skilled construction trades. The goal of a Career & Technology Academy is to serve underserved student populations in career and technical center high schools to build a consistent workforce pipeline of entry level technicians and skilled trade workers. A MicroCredential Academy The MicroCredential Academy will rapidly develop post-secondary credential programing that makes upskilling career credentials for Pennsylvania workers efficient, cost-effective, and accessible. The goal of the MicroCredential Academy is to serve Pennsylvania workers where they live and work by identifying high demand industry clusters and providing online, mobile, and campus based microcrendential programing that empowers workers to advance to a high wage, high demand career. A Construction & Trade Pre-Apprenticeship Academy The Construction & Trade Pre-Apprenticeship Academy will forge a strategic partnership the Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trade Unions is to build a pre-apprenticeship pipeline of students who will learn from a foundational curriculum that will prepare them to enter union registered apprenticeship programs and secure employment in the skilled building and construction trade industry. The goal of the Construction & Trade PreApprenticeship Academy is to promote, educate, and drive interest in students pursuing union apprenticeship programs to meet the growing demand for skilled trade workers in the Pennsylvania economy. "This approach, under the direction of the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges, speaks to how our sector is lockstep with the Governor and General Assembly in moving the Commonwealth forward," PACCC President Dr. Tuesday Stanley said. "This effort speaks for our larger strategy of Advancing PA though its community colleges." Pennsylvania's 15 community colleges collectively serve nearly 240,000 students annually through academic programing and workforce development training programs that focus on high demand and high wage jobs. Pennsylvania community colleges fuel regional economic growth and serve as the central workforce development pipeline in the Commonwealth with 90% of community college graduates going on to live and work in Pennsylvania after graduation. Pennsylvania's community colleges partner with over 2,000 industries in the Commonwealth to align their academic and workforce development programing with a rapidly changing economy driven by technological innovation. "We are so honored to advance Pennsylvania in economic development, workforce development, and even quality of life," said Lehigh Carbon Community College President Dr. Ann Bieber. "The community college sector is pleased to serve in this capacity." The Technology and Trades Workforce Consortium will strategically coordinate resources, avoid duplicative investments in equipment, and foster innovative college and industry collaborations that will streamline a fragmented workforce development system to deliver the highest quality workforce in Pennsylvania history. The Consortium will work with the State Board of Higher Education, federal and state agencies, Career and Technical Centers, high schools, Pennsylvania Construction & Trade Unions, and employers to ensure that curricula remain current and aligned with workforce needs to establish clear educational and career pathways for students. "Our long history as a sector of partnering and collaborating is key to this Consortium," said Northampton Community College President Dr. David Ruth. "Pennsylvania’s community college sector has a long history of collaboration and educating our citizenry in various ways." Media Contact:Dr. Nick Neupauernneupauer@pacommunitycolleges.org
Dr. Ethel Rackin close up

Bucks County Community College Professor Pens Poetry Book

Dr. Ethel Rackin will sign copies of “In Time,” her fourth collection of poems, at the Doylestown Bookshop Friday, June 13 For Bucks County Community College Professor Ethel Rackin, it all began with a seventh-grade writing prompt. “When I told my teacher I didn’t know how to write poems, he said, ‘just try to compare yourself to something else using like or as,’" Rackin recalled about her class at Germantown Friends School. “So, I think I compared myself to a tree, and then he encouraged us to develop our comparison. And from then on, I was hooked on writing poetry.” Now, Rackin has published her fourth poetry collection, “In Time” (Word Works Books, 2025). She describes the collection as poems of grief and discovery, of connection, and the strange time travel that is the life we each lead. “I took to poetry because it offered me a space to say things that would otherwise have been difficult or impossible to say," said Rackin. “I also think that the associations that you can make between one thing and another in a poem was something that really spoke to me. The ability to use dream-like logic, associative meaning, visual clues—all of that was the right language for me.” Rackin, who grew up in Philadelphia, earned her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, her MFA from Bard College, and her Ph.D. from Princeton University. She has taught at Bucks County Community College for 14 years, where she is also the director of the Bucks County Poet Laureate Program and the Wordsmiths Reading Series. She says her work as a published author helps her students by making their studies feel more relevant. “I think it makes me more empathetic towards their struggles, because writing for all of us, even for published writers, is really challenging,” said Rackin. “I think it also puts me in touch with what's happening right now in the culture in terms of writing, and I hope to bring that to my students through the Wordsmiths Reading Series and through the selections that I teach in class, so that they can get a better understanding of writing as a living art, and writers as real people just like them with the same kinds of struggles and situations that we all deal with.” Rackin launched “In Time” this spring when she appeared at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference and Book Fair in Los Angeles with other authors from her publishing house. The local launch takes place at 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 13, at the Doylestown Bookshop, 16 S. Main St., Doylestown, PA, 18901. Free registration for the event is available on the Doylestown Bookshop website. In addition to her books of poems, Rackin is the author of the text “Crafting Poems and Stories: A Guide to Creative Writing” (Broadview Press, 2022). To learn more, visit Ethel Rackin's website. Professor Rackin returns to the classroom this fall to teach English Composition, Creative Writing, and other courses in the School of Language and Literature.
Nursing graduates on stage during pinning ceremony

More Than Five Dozen Nursing Graduates Are Set to Launch Careers

Bucks County Community College honored members of the Associate Degree Nursing class of 2025 with a special pinning ceremony Bucks County Community College celebrated its Associate Degree Nursing graduates with a special pinning ceremony on Wednesday, May 21. A total of 64 graduates received a pin with a special insignia reflecting their alma mater at the College’s 54th Annual Pinning Ceremony, held in the Gymnasium on the Newtown Campus the evening before commencement. The graduates are poised to take the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX-RN) to become licensed registered nurses. Last year’s graduating class achieved an impressive 100% NCLEX pass rate. Members of the Associate Degree Nursing program class of 2025 celebrate prior to the 54th annual pinning ceremony on the Newtown Campus on May 21. The 64 graduates range in age from 22 to 48 years old, and more than 90% are Bucks County residents. They will become registered nurses upon completion of state licensing exams. Gerald Gwambuga of Sellersville celebrates during the 54th annual pinning ceremony at Bucks County Community College, a tradition that marks the symbolic welcoming of nursing school graduates into the profession. Gwambuga, who immigrated from Uganda in 2017, leaving behind a 15-year career as a teacher, delivered the commencement speech to the entire class of 2025 the following day. One of his four daughters is following in his footsteps and is pursuing a nursing degree at Bucks. Nursing graduates share smiles with family and loved ones after receiving their pins from Bucks County Community College on May 21. The pinning ceremony – a tradition that dates back to the 19th century – marks the symbolic welcoming of nursing school graduates into the profession. A total of 64 associate degree graduates are poised to become registered nurses upon completion of state licensing exams.