New president of Mountwest Community and Technical College to focus on serving the community

Mountwest Community and Technical College (MCTC) welcomed a new president this year who said in an interview with The Herald-Dispatch Editorial Board that he wants to pick two or three goals each year to improve the community surrounding the college. Josh Baker, Ph.D. is beginning his work by starting a new program called Jump Start which offers dual enrollment for high school seniors in Wayne and Cabell counties.

Before coming to MCTC, Baker interviewed at numerous colleges and told The Herald Dispatch that at Mountwest he saw the greatest potential for meaningful growth. Baker also said that while West Virginia ranks last in the country in college degree completion, he wants to focus on the future, saying, "I don't want to be the guy that talks about all the problems. Let's get two or three wins every year and just make progress."

While Baker would like to see increased enrollment, he said that the focus needs to be on the community, and that enrollment will grow as a natural result of that focus. Baker acknowledges that attracting new students can be difficult and that it is important to challenge the narrative of who can benefit from a college education. "We're battling these image issues sometimes of people lumping all education into one category and not recognizing that really the message is you have to keep going after high school. That can mean a million different things. You cannot stop there. The data nationwide is clear; that is a path to poverty most of the time. We have to get them into some kind of high-level training program." 

The college released a ten-year strategic plan in August and Baker said that plan identifies the needs of community members and will emphasize skilled trades and healthcare programs. At a recent MCTC board of governors meeting, Baker spoke about how the new Jump Start program will allow teens to get a head start on college while still in high school. "A high school student will be able to apply for St. Mary's nursing program when they graduate high school. They will also be well prepared to enter a variety of health care fields, including pharmacy," Baker said. "Once students complete that program, they could continue on to medical assisting. Medical assistants are in very high demand in the hospitals. Medical assisting is an associate degree, and we start our next cohort in January. We are adding the extra cohort because we know the hospitals need people in this field as soon as possible."