Georgia College & Career Academy Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
July 9, 2013
Waverly Renaissance Hotel, Atlanta, GA
Attendees:
Mr. Frank Pinson, TCSG Office of College and Career Transitions
Ms. Jenny Williams, TCSG Office of College and Career Transitions
Mr. Mark Peevy, TCSG Office of College and Career Transitions
Mr. Thom Suddreth, Ford NGL Georgia Hub
Ms. Leah Thompson, Ford NGL Georgia Hub
Ms. Irene Munn, Lt. Governor’s Office
Dr. Barbara Wall, Houston County CCA
Mr. James Woodard, Newton County CCA
Mr. Mark Whitlock, CEC
Mr. Derick Austin, Lamar County CCA
Ms. Amy Parker, Gordon County CCA
Mr. Jay Williams, Northwest Georgia CCA
Mr. Howard Abney, CEO, Heart of Georgia CCA
Mr. Frank Pinson opened the meeting at 1:00 p.m.
Dr. Barbara Prosser reviewed the minutes from the May meeting. A motion was made for the
minutes to be accepted by Mr. Mark Peevy and seconded by Mr. Derick Austin. The motion
passed.
Ms. Jenny Williams provided an update of TCSG personnel changes.
 Ms. Sheila Caldwell has accepted a position as Director of the Complete College
Georgia Initiative at North Georgia University in Dahlonega and Gainesville. Mark
Peevy requested that interested and available members of GCCAN participate in
interviews for the vacant position.
 Ms. Emily Hobbely has joined the department as a new full time assistant. She
previously served in the Georgia Virtual College Division.
 Barbara Christmas retired in Vidalia and Ms. Shelly Smith, the former RESA
Director for that area will fill the position. Mr. Ryan Flowers moved to Appling
County and Mr. David Avery is the new Instructional Director from Treutlen County.
 Mr. Antonio Hill will serve as the new CEO for Warren County.
 Mr. Tim Fleming resigned and Mr. Jay Williams is serving as interim CEO for
Whitfield County.
 Dr. Amy Parker will conduct their groundbreaking ceremony during the week of July
15.
 The comprehensive ListServe was introduced a couple of weeks ago and includes all
College and Career Academy CEOs, TCSG staff, and the Lt. Governor’s staff.
Mr. Mark Peevy discussed Secondary Initiatives Updates.
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Discussions are underway to determine how a Resource Center can be developed
within the Office of Career Transitions to provide more online resources and open
conversation among peers. This capability would be similar to that already available
to TCSG high school coordinators.
Planning is in progress to identify additional services related to data and reporting
concepts such as data collection for a needs assessment in a community, providing
specific training to Boards of Directors for interaction with Boards of Education, and
gathering data that shows the impact of a College and Career Academy in a
community.
He requested additional suggestions from GCCAN members concerning needs of
communities and resources they would like available in their communities.
Mr. Mark Whitlock briefly discussed the development of a data dashboard by Dr. Anthony Chou
as a part of his dissertation work concerning the CEC. Ms. Amy Parker stated that it would
meaningful to have one data report for all purposes (DOE, TCSG, State BOE) Ms. Irene Munn
discussed the need for data about Dual Enrollment, Career Pathway Completers, and College
Enrollment after graduation. Ms. Sabrina Phelps discussed the process for non-traditional
pathways to be accepted as credit by DOE. Mr. Mark Whitlock discussed the process followed
with DOE concerning the CEC Dental Pathway students. Various discussion resulted
concerning data and CCRPI requirements and the need to synchronize data and reporting
requests from the numerous state offices interested in College and Career Academies, including
DOE’s Data Department, the DOE Charter Schools Division, the State Board of Education and
the TCSG.
Mr. Frank Pinson requested volunteers to form a Committee to work with the DOE’s Charter
School Division Director, Mr. Louis Erste, to determine the most efficient and effective process
for data reporting. Mr. Mark Whitlock, Ms. Amy Parker, and Ms. Irene Munn volunteered to
serve as Committee members.
Mr. Mark Peevy led a discussion of the desire for TCSG to assist with College and Career
Academy sustainability in communities. Challenges have been experienced this year for some
College and Career Academies due to changes in state and local Boards of Education,
Superintendents, etc. TCSG would like to assist CEOs to provide education and information to
new Superintendents and BOE members when needed. He emphasized that as Charter schools,
autonomy of the Board of Directors must be supported by the local BOE, MOUs must have legal
enforcement, and adequate funding must be provided to allow Boards of Directors to make
decisions concerning programs and teachers.
Mr. Frank Pinson discussed CEO training plans under development.
 Throughout the year, four sessions will be hosted.
 Session One is unique and covers the most important aspect, Board Governance, and
will be held in February, 2014. CEOs are encouraged to bring anyone interested in
attending, especially, the Chair leaders. The session will be one and one half days.
 Session Two is planned to be held in Houston County during the Spring of 2014. The
focus will include Partnerships and Sustainability with a panel discussion at the end
of the session.
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Session Three will be scheduled to align with the Summer of 2014 GACTE
conference in Atlanta. It will begin at noon on the first day and end before the start of
the GACTE conference. The focus will be Dual Credit and Marketing of Career
Pathways.
Session Four will be hosted at Newton College and Career Academy in September of
2014. The focus will be on Certification and the Ford Hub Resource Center. CEC
and Rockdale CCA will have completed the AdvancED certification by that date.
There was a general discussion of the value of including a presentation of DOE funding sources
during one of the planned training sessions.
Mr. Thom Suddreth of Georgia Ford Next Generation Learning Hub provided an overview of the
Georgia College and Career Academy Resource Center planning. The first area of interest is
assistance with Strategic Planning for College and Career Academies, and, School Districts
throughout Georgia. The second are of interest is the expansion of professional development
opportunities in College and Career Academies, such as Project Based Learning and Board
Governance. These areas provide broader offerings and he encouraged members to submit
suggestions and to continue collaboration for continuous improvement of services to members.
The next annual Lt. Governor’s Business and Education Summit was discussed. The dates are
November 14 at Effingham College and Career Academy and November 15 at Liberty College
and Career Academy. A “save the date” notice is planned to be sent to past attendees and all
GCCAN members within the next couple of weeks.
A GCCAN Strategic Planning Session was led by members of the Ford Georgia Hub. The
purpose was to explore opportunities to best support one another and to come to a consensus on
key components that need to be in place to ensure College and Career Academy sustainability.
Various group exercises were conducted. The final group exercise included consensus of the top
ten components that allow or support sustainability.
Mr. James Woodard motioned to adjourn with a second from Dr. Barbara Walls. The meeting
adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dr. Barbara Prosser
CEO
Effingham College and Career Academy
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