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   EDUCATION &                                                                                                                                                         New president sees a bright future                                  Goodwill of North Georgia                                       EDUCATION &
    WORKFORCE                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               WORKFORCE
   DEVELOPMENT                                                                                                                                                                          for Kennesaw State                                                                                                 DEVELOPMENT
                                                                                                                                                                                            By Scott Wiltsee                                                       oodwill of North Georgia is rooted in the local
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   community. Its mission is to put people to
                                                                                                                                                                                                      ince joining Kennesaw State as                         G work. Made possible largely by revenue from its
                                                                                                                                                                                                      president in July 2018, Pamela Whitten                  donated goods retail business, the organization provides
                                                                                                                                                                                                 S has been on a nonstop tour of the                          job training and placement services to people looking to
                                                                                                                                                                                                 University, listening to faculty, staff, and   better their lives by earning a paycheck of their own.  Goodwill’s career services are
                                                                                                                                                                                                 students and formulating plans for leading   available through 13 local career centers, which are free and open to anyone looking
                                                                                                                                                                                                 KSU into a new phase of its development.  for a first job or a new job, and also online: www.careerconnector.org. Three of
                  County through Georgia Piedmont   and other publications for having the                                                                                                                                                those centers are in DeKalb County. Through its career services, Goodwill connected
                  Technical College, Quick Start has   most comprehensive and advanced                                                                                                           With more than 35,000 students, Kennesaw   almost 5,000 DeKalb County job seekers with employment in 2018. Support from 700+
                  provided customized training for more   training program in the nation. The                                                                                                    State is Georgia’s third-largest university and   employer partners helped make this a reality. Together, the organizations are working
                  than 325,000 employees for 3,100   program is cited as a major reason                                                                                                          among the top 50 public institutions in the   to create a positive economic impact for county residents and businesses. To learn
                  businesses and industries in the state.  Georgia is consistently ranked the                                                                                                    nation. Students at KSU represent 121 of   more about Goodwill of North Georgia, visit goodwillng.org.
                  The Quick Start program has received   number one state for business in                                                                                                        Georgia’s 159 counties. DeKalb is among the
                  praise from Fortune magazine, Training  the U.S.                                                                                                                               top five counties represented at KSU.

                                                                                                                                                                  “The role of a successful president is to set and implement an exciting vision with faculty,
                                                                                                                                                                   staff, and students,” Whitten said. Part of that vision includes developing efforts to
                                                                                                                                                                   ensure a laser focus on student success: improving graduation rates, raising funding for
                                                                                                                                                                   scholarships and financial aid, and shaping Kennesaw State’s identity as a university.

                                                                                                                                                                   Whitten’s goals for
                                                                                                                                                                   Kennesaw State include    “We have highly qualified students who
                                                                                                                                                                   raising its profile of being   are academically ready and have the
                                                                                                                                                                   the best doctoral research   drive to succeed. Our job is to surround
                                                                                                                                                                   institution (R3 level) in the
                                                                                                                                                                   country, a designation the   them with highly talented faculty and
                                                                                                                                                                   University earned in 2016 by   staff who can guide the students in the
                                                                                                                                                                   the Carnegie Classifications   realization of their goals.”
                                                                                                                                                                   of Institutions of Higher
                                                                                                                                                                   Learning. Whitten also is committed to KSU maintaining a position as an economic
                                                                                                                                                                   partner and engine for the region and the state.

     45      DeKalb Chamber of Commerce      80TH SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY EDITION                                                                                      404.378.8000 | WWW.DEKALBCHAMBER.ORG                                                                        DeKalb Chamber of Commerce  46
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