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Danis Gehl is associate executive director and director of education at the Educational Opportunity Center.
After many years of working in university-community relations at UB, you've taken a new job at EOC. What does it entail?
As associate executive director, I am responsible for monitoring EOC's programs, personnel and institutional climate and image to ensure that the center provides quality pre-collegiate adult education to economically and educationally disadvantaged students and workforce development programs and community services to the Western New York region. In my role as director of education, I oversee programming that supports faculty professional development and leadership.
What do you most enjoy about the job?
The best thing about my job is working with our faculty and staff to open the world of lifelong learning to our students because ongoing education is essential to self-sufficiency. It is awe-inspiring to hear students' stories of the challenges they overcome in order to go to school. Their commitment to their educational goals is incredible. I am especially struck by the parents who talk about setting an example for their children.
What kinds of programs does EOC offer? How does it differ from Millard Fillmore College?
The Educational Opportunity Center and Millard Fillmore College are units of the Division of Continuing and Professional Studies in the Office of the Provost. EOC offers academic and vocational and technical programs for adults. Among the academic programs offered by EOC are GED preparation and college preparatory courses, as well as literacy and English as a second language. Examples of some of our vocational programming include dental and medical assistant programs, pharmacy technician, environmental restoration worker and the Institute for Information Technology. In Millard Fillmore College, students can take college credit-bearing courses. Together, EOC and MFC form the link between the university's offerings of credit-bearing and noncredit-bearing courses and workforce development programming to pre-collegiate and collegiate adult learners.
Why is it important for an institution like UB—a comprehensive, research-intensive university—to offer adult education and job-training programs?
The unique intersection of knowledge creation, professional practice and testing applications within the market, industry or field makes research universities important civic and economic entities in the regions in which they are located. Much of the future employment that will be derived from new technology, bio-informatics and life sciences research, and the collection, storage and analysis of information will evolve from research undertaken at institutions like UB. These new industries and the jobs within them are expected to create a demand for higher levels of education for our workforce. Offering adult education and workforce development programs is an important way for universities to contribute to the development of an educated and well-prepared workforce beyond the population of young adults who are our traditional undergraduate and graduate students.
How does EOC fit into the UB 2020 strategic planning process?
President John B. Simpson recently announced plans for a new, expanded EOC. Now located at 465 Washington St., we will move into a building to be constructed adjacent to the former M. Wile building at Goodell and Ellicott streets, which UB is purchasing and where it will relocate several programs involving community outreach. This will not only improve the resources that we have at our disposal to serve our students, but also strengthens UB's impact on the surrounding community. Additionally, we anticipate that EOC will be able to strengthen its collaboration with other UB departments and schools as the university assembles the array of the programming that will make up the UB Gateway.
What question do you wish I had asked, and how would you have answered it?
I wish you had asked about EOC's mission and history. The mission of the EOC is to produce lifelong learners who are self-directed, empowered and committed to excellence. I'll bet many in the UB community don't know that the EOC has been in existence for 40 years. During those 40 years, some of our most accomplished community leaders and professionals started their path to higher education at the EOC. It has a rich and proud tradition, and I'm glad to be part of it.