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EOC expands programming to help bridge "digital divide"
By PATRICIA DONOVAN
Contributing Editor
For 30 years, UB's Educational Opportunity Center (EOC), one of four sponsored statewide by SUNY, has provided on-site training in GED preparation, educational remediation, college preparation and vocational skills to as many as 1,300 students a year.
Faculty members, working with academically and financially disadvantaged adults, have guided thousands of students—many of them previously labeled "academic non-achievers"—to scholastic accomplishment and distinction in many fields.
The revolution in digital technology, federal and state funding initiatives and partnerships between EOC and other public and private entities has permitted the center to expand its programs beyond its walls at 465 Washington St. and into the community that needs its assistance most.
EOC Director Sherryl Weems points to a number of new ventures designed to address changing community needs, including the need to bring computer technologies to Buffalo residents most in need of assistance.
One of them is EOC's Building Trades Program. It will be the subject of the public television program "American Business Review," a series produced independently by WJMK in Boca Raton, Fla., that will showcase highly successful EOC programs in New York State.
The Building Trades Program, says Weems, represents a partnership between EOC, the City of Buffalo Mayor's Career Path Program, the Building Trades Partnership and Buffalo Urban League.
Weems, who was interviewed for the show along with several students, said the broadcast gave the center the opportunity to showcase its considerable educational technology.
She explains that in this case, EOC provides assessment, workplace literacy and job-readiness training for participants in the program, who then are eligible to enroll in an 18-week pre-apprenticeship program operated by the Building Trades Partnership at their construction-training site. Depending on their progress, students then are placed in either an apprenticeship or a journeyman's program in the building trades.
"American Business Review" is distributed to more than 345 public-television stations nationwide and aired primarily during prime time and peak-time programming periods. It also is aired internationally on Worldnet, a U.S. government news-and-information service available in 200 cities and 127 countries worldwide. The program was filmed in January and will be narrated by Morley Safer. The airdate has not yet been announced.
Weems says EOC programs increasingly address the role computers play in widening or closing social gaps throughout our society, particularly among young people. By providing equitable and meaningful access to computer technologies, the center works to insure that we all step into the 21st century together.
In keeping with that goal, the Black Technology Awareness Program, an EOC collaboration with IBM, United Way and the Buffalo Urban League, hosted its second event yesterday, a free program targeted to residents most affected by the digital divide. It introduced visitors to new technologies used in job training and performance, and featured a live, interactive video broadcast with IBM executives and technical staff in Binghamton.
Weems also announced the Incumbent Worker Program, developed in cooperation with the Civil Service Employees Union (CSEA).
"This is a technology skills-development program to be offered free of charge to UB's CSEA employees, beginning in March," she says.
The curriculum will feature computer-skills development, technology training in specific job areas and civil-service test preparation. CSEA employees interested in the program should contact Beverly Dove, director of admissions at EOC, at dove@buffalo.edu
Weems, a member of the Governor's Workforce Investment Board, says the EOC also has extended its programming to the Alden Correctional Facility and expects to serve 200 participants between now and May.
"We offer two sessions—one in the morning, one in the afternoon—in which students receive essential skills training in basic remediation and literacy, and soft skills like job preparation, resume preparation and career-path counseling.
"Participants may be in the program from two to 12 weeks, depending on need," Weems says.
She adds that in yet another attempt to bridge the digital divide, EOC now offers on-site education programs in a state-of-the-art computer lab to residents of the Kensington Housing Project.
Similar programs, funded through federal and state initiatives, are offered by EOC at the Buffalo Board of Education Access Center, 290 Main St.; by the Adolescent Vocational Education Program, whose hub is at EOC with a satellite at the King Urban Life Center, 938 Genesee St., and at the Delavan-Grider Community Center.
Programs at each site, says Weems, are selected from a menu of 40 courses, from English as a Second Language, GED training and educational remediation in different subjects to a variety of vocational training courses. Those interested in taking part in any of the programs can contact the site itself or EOC at 849-6753.