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Dean Rentsch Named to Board of National Tech Center Coalition

October 2016

Kathy Rentsch, Dean of the School of Business, Engineering & Technology at QCC, was recently elected to the Board of Directors for the National Coalition for Advanced Technology Centers.

The National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers (NCATC) is a network of higher education resources that advocates and promotes the use of technology applications that enhance economic and workforce development programs and services. It also is an affiliated council of the American Association of Community Colleges.

As a dean, Ms. Rentsch provides academic and administrative leadership, establishing collaborative partnerships with industry, educational constituents and community agencies and developing grants and other funding proposals to enhance programming.

She spearheaded an industry, education and community partner planning effort to secure a $750,000 National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education grant to design, launch and evaluate a public communication campaign on advanced manufacturing careers.  Successful strategies piloted in this project, called Mass-TEC, have been scaled up statewide through the MassDevelopment AMP It Up! Campaign.

Ms. Rentsch is actively engaged in QCC’s implementation of statewide Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training Round 1 initiatives and in current TAACCCT Round 4 efforts. Through TAACCCT funding, QCC has revamped its delivery of workforce education and training by increasing the availability of stackable certificates and more flexible and responsive curriculum pathways leading to industry credentials and employment in six key industries, including advanced manufacturing, mechatronics, and photonics.

In partnership with key executive team members, Ms. Rentsch is co-leading a planning effort to expand technology programming in Southbridge.

Ms. Rentsch serves on the Board of Directors for the MA Manufacturing Extension Partnership. In 2014, MassMEP recognized her leadership in building a non-credit to credit pathway in advanced manufacturing, naming her the MassMEP 2014 Manufacturing Champion. She is currently completing doctoral work at Northeastern University.

Advanced Technology Centers (ATCs) are in all regions of the U.S. and are normally associated with community colleges and universities. Some private corporations and school districts also have established ATCs. An ATC is a commitment of persons and resources in the effort to reach, enhance and add value to business. Beginning with 12 charter members in 1988, NCATC has more than 170 member institutions, ranging from colleges, universities and schools to the corporate community.

ATCs play a proactive role in economic development within their service regions and exhibit an entrepreneurial spirit that embraces change and evolution. All possess a commitment to providing training that reflects the state-of-the-art and display a willingness to partner with both public and private entities to leverage and enhance their resources.

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