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In preparation for the return of students next week for the fall semester, more than 230 faculty and staff members at 91���� (PTC) gathered Tuesday on the Greenwood Campus for the annual convocation.

The event featured a discussion about key issues facing higher education, the kickoff of PTC’s 60th anniversary celebration and the start of an employee-giving fundraising campaign. There were also industrial and advanced manufacturing demonstrations at the William H. “Billy” O’Dell Upstate Center for Manufacturing Excellence.

PTC President Dr. Hope Rivers was the first speaker Tuesday morning at the James C. Self Conference Center. Her presentation was entitled “Growth and Innovation in Higher Education – Nine Hard Truths.”

“Nationally, colleges have built systems around the easiest students to reach, not the students that need us the most,” Rivers said.

Projections show that the number of high school graduates throughout the U.S. will decrease 10% by 2041. In contrast, the number of high school graduates in South Carolina is expected to rise 14% during the same period.

She said universities and colleges across America will seek to attract the state’s high school graduates.

“Everybody wants these students,” Rivers said.

She also noted that 40 million American adults have attended college at some point but not earned a credential, which represents a large pool of potential students that PTC needs to target. 

“Colleges that thrive will be those that move first,” Rivers said.

She said PTC needs to promote findings in a recent study showing that technical college graduates earn $20,000 more annually than individuals who have attended but not completed college. The earnings increase is even higher when a student graduates from a high-demand program in areas such as healthcare or advanced manufacturing.  

“That’s a new car or your next car,” she said.

Rivers said PTC already has taken steps to reach adult learners. She cited the college’s mobile advanced manufacturing lab, which can educate students where they live and work. She also highlighted PTC’s recent switch to eight-week terms, a strategy known as the Phoenix Fast-track that has been credited with improving course success rates.

PTC has embarked on a $100 million building campaign, an ambitious undertaking that Rivers described as “absolutely miraculous.” The capital projects include the ongoing construction of the Self Regional Healthcare Center for Health Sciences and a major expansion of the Family Life and Conference Center on the Greenwood Campus, as well as the Saluda County Center for Manufacturing Excellence. Construction has begun or will commence soon on numerous other buildings.
While enrolling students is important, Rivers stressed that retaining them also is vital.

“Growth is not who we enroll. It is who we keep, and how far they go,” she said. “If students do not feel connected, supported and seen, nothing else will produce sustainable growth. So, we have to make sure that we are engaging our students. Engagement is key.”

Rivers told the faculty and staff members at the event that PTC is committed to their careers.

“We want to invest in your development. We want to invest in your leadership,” she said.

Rivers also stressed that she has a sense of urgency to enhance the overall quality of PTC.

“We are a really good, solid college right now. But we have to ask ourselves: What does it take for us to be great?” she said. “Now is time for action. Not tomorrow. Not next week.”

The next presentation focused on PTC’s 60th anniversary, which will be celebrated throughout the 2026-2027 academic year.

Russell Martin, PTC’s assistant vice president for marketing and public relations, said the theme for these anniversary events will be “Built Together. Rising Together.”

His presentation looked back at how PTC began in a single building on the Greenwood Campus with an initial class of 300 students. Today, PTC has campuses in seven counties, facilities that were built with the support of communities, employers and students’ families. The college currently serves about 8,500 credit and continuing education students each year.

Martin also emphasized how PTC is “transforming who we are as a college so that we serve those same communities in bigger and bolder ways.”

He provided details about the college’s new buildings, including video footage of the ongoing construction projects.

“We are rising together by transforming spaces,” Martin said.

In the morning’s final presentation, PTC Associate Vice President for Advancement Jacqueline Berkshire urged the college’s employees to contribute to a fundraising campaign that will provide financial assistance to students in need.

Convocation concluded with demonstrations, a lunch, door prizes and a group photo at the O’Dell Center.