QCC ACADEMIC LEADER APPOINTED TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS AT MASSMEP

WORCESTER, Ma –  The Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP), a resource organization for manufacturing companies across the state has elected Kathleen Rentsch, the Dean of Instruction for Business and Technology at Quinsigamond Community College, to its Board of Directors.

“Kathy has over twenty years of academic and professional experience in public higher education and non-profit management and demonstrates that she works well with community and business leaders, faculty, and students.  Her expertise is invaluable, and I have full confidence that she will be an asset to our board,” said John Prosser, chairman of the MassMEP Board of Directors.

Rentsch has extensive experience as an academic leader at QCC, from facilitating grant development activities to managing workplace basic skills program in area manufacturing companies.  She also worked with QCC’s senior administrative team in research and development for 11 new degree and certificate programs, approved by the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education in 1999, after the closure of the Worcester Technical Institute.

QCC is a leader in the manufacturing community in Worcester and the region, with its strong academic programs, corporate training and education center, and multiple statewide and national partnerships that focus on advanced manufacturing and the technical employment sector. The College offers several key programs in technical fields that support advanced manufacturing, including industrial automation and robotics, electronics, engineering, manufacturing, and computer systems engineering.  In addition, QCC is an active partner in several National Science Foundation advanced technological education efforts aimed at developing a pipeline of prospective students for engineering and technical fields.

The MassMEP is an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) under the U.S. Department of Commerce. The national MEP system is a network of manufacturing extension centers that provide business and technical assistance to smaller manufacturers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.