Barkley, new ACCS marketing campaign aim to promote opportunities within Alabama Community College System
OPELIKA — Alabama’s community colleges are a solid pathway to career opportunities that help residents make life better for themselves and for the state, according to NBA Hall of Famer and Emmy Award-winning sports analyst Charles Barkley.
Barkley shared his thoughts during a visit to Southern Union State Community College’s Opelika campus on Friday, Aug. 16, where he joined students and leaders throughout the Alabama Community College System to learn more about the system and its newest statewide ad campaign, Make Life Better.
“That’s exactly what you all do at the Alabama Community College System – you make life better for people from all walks of life, and that’s what education should be about when it comes to preparing people to be successful,” said Barkley, an Auburn University alum.
Barkley’s visit to Southern Union included meeting with students and leaders about how Alabama’s community colleges strengthen communities. The state’s community college system recently announced the colleges’ largest enrollment in a decade, with more than 170,000 residents participating in noncredit workforce credentialing classes or pursuing dual enrollment, associate degrees, apprenticeships and transfer opportunities.
The colleges have a more than $6.6 billion impact on Alabama, with more than 96 percent of the system’s students currently living in Alabama and more than 70 percent of students remaining in Alabama after completing their studies to live and to work in the state.
Jimmy H. Baker, Chancellor of the Alabama Community College System, said both Barkley’s visit and the system’s tagline are among efforts to maximize awareness for what the system offers in academic and workforce development in Alabama.
“Make Life Better is both a call to action and a commitment from every community college in Alabama, and our expectation is that individuals hear Make Life Better and automatically connect the thought to everything their community college represents, from academic and workforce training to the corporate citizenship in service and economic development,” he said.
For more information about how Alabama’s community colleges make life better in Alabama, visit www.alabama.edu or call 1-855-206-2671.