GHC’s continuing education director retires at 21 years
For the past 21 years, Georgia Highlands College’s George White has made a considerable impact on local communities through his efforts as the director of the Continuing Education program.
“My goal was to make Continuing Education a valued part of GHC,” White said. “I really enjoyed becoming the director of the department because it let me become more involved with the communities and help to recruit academic students to GHC from my Continuing Education classes.”
For White, overseeing the college’s Center for Continuing and Professional Education was a career in which he could use his personal experience to help others reach their goals.
“I completed my degrees later in life, so my favorite memories were being able to get some of my older students to also go back to college and complete their degrees,” White said. “I had several students to complete their bachelor’s degrees and go on to complete their master’s degrees.”
In addition to helping establish the Continuing Education program, White was at the forefront of bringing more accessible technology to students.
“In order to do computer classes at the former Cartersville site, I had to set up laptop computers for the Continuing Education students in a regular classroom,” White said. “I believe we got our first computer lab around 2002.”
White saw the college expand as a whole and had a first-hand perspective watching the Cartersville site grow.
“When we moved into our new Cartersville site in 2005 it became the largest GHC site,” White said. “Bartow County is one of the largest counties in Northwest Georgia, and because of that growth, I was able to develop a Continuing Education industrial and business clientele to over 100 companies.”
White’s success at GHC led him to serve a two-year term as the marketing director for the Georgia Adult Education Association, helping to recruit members and planning the organization’s annual conference.
Now in retirement, White says he plans to become more active with the Cartersville Canes Touchdown Club, an organization of volunteers who support the Cartersville High School football team, the Purple Hurricanes.
“I was a three- year letterman and captain of the 1963 Cartersville High School baseball team,” White said, adding he joined the Cartersville Canes Touchdown Club when his daughter was a cheerleader at the school. “I have been a Hurricanes football season ticket holder for over 42 years and my wife, Faye, always makes some type of dessert for the press box at the home football games. Their favorite is banana pudding.”
As for continuing education, White encourages anyone seeking to advance their career options to consider enrollment.
“Continuing education is a great place to start your career with one of our certificate programs,” White said. “Even if you have a degree, it is an excellent resource to upgrade your skills and build your resume.”