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>> Conversations with Bates Technical College alumni, current students, and the school's president, Dr. Lin Zhou, all coming up on Bates Tech Today.

[ Music ] >> Welcome to Bates Tech Today.

I'm your host, Phil Kane.

John McGinnis was one of the first trustees following the 1991 legislative action to move technical colleges to the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.

He was also a young student here.

Today, he remains an active and vocal supporter of the foundation and the college.

Tom George immigrated to the Northwest in the 1970s where he enrolled as a student at Bates Vo Tech School.

After graduating, he returned as a faculty member in the IT program and then moved into college administration as the director of IT.

After retiring, he was appointed by the Governor to the Bates Board of Trustees.

He also serves as a board member of the College Foundation.

We talked about their experiences and thoughts about Bates Technical College.

John and Tom, thank you for joining us today on Bates Tech Today.

>> You're welcome.

>> You're both coming to us with some perspective and some backgrounds, but John, we'll start with you.

Can you tell us how you became involved and why you became involved with Bates Technical College?

>> Labor Council here in Pierce County and Bates had a wonderful working relationship and a connection going all the way back to the war years, and I was president of the Labor Council, and the Superintendent of the Tacoma School District, newly hired, decided that she wanted to move the administrative staff of Bates to Central School here in Tacoma and Brian Eversaw was the Speaker of the House at the time, and he was my Representative, as well as Clyde Hupp, and we formulated a plan to change the state law that allowed the five VTIs in the state of Washington to merge with the Community College Board and be funded by the state rather than by the Tacoma School Board.

And we were successful after a long fight, six months at least of verbalizing and with the legislature, we were able to get the law changed.

And Governor Lowry, at the time, signed the bill at the South Campus, with all the people involved with Bates at that time, and some of the legislative people also.

And so that started me on an official working relationship with Bates as an adult.

>> Tom, can you tell us a bit about how you became involved with the school?

>> Yeah, my involvement goes way back as a student.

I came here as a student, a foreign student on an F1 visa, and Bates was my first school, and I came here to learn broadcasting and electronics and stuff like that.

And so at that time, the name of the school was Tacoma Vocational Technical Institute, 1969.

>> Uh-huh, '69.

>> '69.

And then I finished my radio/television program.

Then I served an apprenticeship program with IBEW, so I was an apprentice here, became a journeyman, went out and worked in the trade for a few several years.

1980, I came back as an instructor and served as an instructor for 21 years.

Then after that, I was given a position as the Director for Technology, CIO.

And then for 14 years, I served.

So I served 35 years at the college, and so that's my, you know, life here and but I believe in what the school does, and so after retirement, I came out of retirement to be -- with an appointment as a trustee, so here I am.

>> Terrific.

John, can you tell us about how, from your perspective, how the college has changed over the years?

>> I was involved in major change because I was on the first board, and we went through a lot of difficult times.

Fortunately, we had a wonderful president, Bill Moeller, and we had a wonderful group of staff members of his, and they worked really, really, really hard for years getting this thing moving and merged into the state system of schools, which was very, very, very hard project to do.

>> I can imagine a lot of challenges.

>> Yeah, it was a lot of challenges.

And without everybody's help, I don't think we had ever got established here, but we did, and I give the staff of the college most of the credit.

They did a wonderful, wonderful job in assisting the board to understand the challenges we were up against.

>> Tom, could you talk about the evolving needs of the Tacoma area and the community, and how Bates has adapted over the years?

>> Yeah, I think it's very important to understand the way the school works with all the trades that are out there.

We are always keeping our pulse on the needs of the community and the industries.

And with the help of the advisory committees, we are able to structure the programs and slowly change as change occurs, and because of that, we are able to serve the community better.

And also, the students who come into the college, you know, they can have confidence that when they get out, they will be employed.

So, you know, going back to when I applied for the school, at the consulate I asked for a good school, and they said this school has a very high rating, because the record, that the students who are employed from here, you know, percentage is very high.

So, you know, our involvement with the community has been constant, and we are always looking at new innovations and how we can improve our programs.

>> Can you tell us a bit about how you see Bates evolving into the future?

You know, we're coming up on the 85th anniversary of the school.

The next 85 years, John?

>> Wow, that's hard to forecast the way society is today.

With all the people trying to break up successful programs in this country, I wonder if vocational education will be one of the targets of that group.

I don't think it will be, but most certainly, it's a challenge to protect vocational education as much as possible, to keep it alive and continuing, and as long as we have forward-thinkers that are willing to gamble and learn from the outside and using the resources of the community advising us, I think keeping those relationships going for the next 85 years will make a lot of difference on the outcomes in the end, so.

>> Tom, how about you?

Thank you.

>> I feel very optimistic, you know, because of what we do and what we have done in the last 85 years, and I feel that because we are, you know, we are focused on skill-based learning -- >> Yeah.

>> -- and students coming in here and getting a skill and going out, they are more confident in getting out in the industry.

So if we keep that up and with the new programs, especially encouraging high school students to be enrolled into this college, which our percentage of high school students have gone up considerably high, and it's good, because now most of these students are focused on what they want to do, because when we give them that encouragement, you know.

If I may say, we had a student who was totally lost, and he came here and he was refocused with the help of instructors, and he was able to finish his high school, finish his trade, went to college again, got a bachelor's degree and master's degree.

>> Wow.

>> So you never know what our pathways will lead to.

So I'm very optimistic that the next 85 years will be even more productive.

>> Sounds good.

Time goes by so fast.

>> Yes, it does, yes.

>> Thank you so much for coming today and joining us -- >> You're welcome.

>> -- and we appreciate you being here.

Student Jade Vetter is enrolled in the administrative business program and oversees records and finances for the Associated Student Government.

Seth Anderson is a cloud computing major and serves as the vice president of the ASG, and Jessica Marquez is currently enrolled in the electrical construction program and is the ASG Public Relations Officer.

We talked about how the programs and experiences at Bates are helping shape their futures.

Thank you for coming to the program today.

We appreciate you joining us and talking about your time at Bates Technical College.

Jade, we'll start with you.

Can you tell us about what inspired you to join the school and come on board?

>> I was inspired by my mother, who has worked in an office field all of her life, and I kind of wanted to go down that similar path, and I found the administrative business assistant here at Bates, and I also liked that it was a technical college, which is more focused on hands on and actually going into your program and then going into the field immediately, versus like a university, which is more focused on more schooling and studies.

>> And Seth, how about you?

>> For me, I was really interested in the hands-on virtual, like, aspect of it.

I got inspired from the amount of, like, IT programs there were in the options.

>> I see, great.

>> Yeah.

>> Jessica, tell us about you.

What brought you here?

>> I chose Bates.

I started in the Tech High program a couple years ago, and I joined the administrative medical assistant program.

And after I got into the career field, I wanted to pivot more into trades, so I chose Bates all over again, because they had the electrical construction program, which really drew my attention.

>> Jade, how do you think Bates has prepared you for your future career?

Talk a bit about that.

>> So there's definitely more hands-on experiences, and especially with me joining ASG as the Records of Finance Officer, which is exactly what I would do in the field, I've learned how to take meeting minutes, which I never knew what those were, so now I know I have to take meeting minutes.

I got to practice making Excel sheets for budgets.

I've gotten to just practice having that office interactions and emailing with people and just kind of getting the flow of how an office runs and works.

>> Seth, can you share a bit about your program and what you enjoy most about it?

>> I'm in cloud computing, which for me, I really love being able to deconstruct the, like, computers, like, build them, do all sorts of code to, like, get them to run.

I also love the fact that when any of us is struggling, we all come together to help as a team, and not just the teacher teaching us.

It's all it was teaching each other, and so I really enjoy that.

>> Jessica, how would you describe your hands-on learning experiences and how that's impacted your education?

>> It's impacted it completely.

Everything that I do in the lab, I'm able to apply at the Habitat for Humanity houses where we are able to work in a -- wiring houses for the local community, and applying the skills that I learned in the lab and into these houses is very rewarding.

>> Jade, talk about your career goals, and how do you feel.

Bates is helping you get towards Those?

>> My career goal is actually to hopefully continue working at Bates.

I've gotten to meet all the staff and faculty here, and I just love the community here, and I think with me working in ASG and getting to meet the staff and faculty here, I've made really great connections and bonds with people to hopefully smoothly transition to a full-time position.

>> Seth, what resources or support at Bates has been the most helpful to you in reaching your goals?

Can you talk a bit about that a little bit?

>> Yeah.

For me, the resources that have been, like, really helpful for me has been, like, the guidance counselor, the retention specialist, anything from, like, the library, like the hotspot, that has really helped me.

And whenever I have the chance to, like, kind of help someone, like, remember they -- we have all these resources.

>> Jessica, can you talk about your relationships with the faculty and your peers at the school?

Can you elaborate a little bit about that?

>> Yeah, absolutely.

I actually joined the ASG (Associated Student Government) to build a stronger connection with faculty and my student peers.

It kind of -- it's kind of like an icebreaker or, like, it opens the conversation to build connections, when I'm like, "Hey, there's an event going on.

Maybe you can release your students a little early out of class," or get the students involved in in reaching resources or just having fun.

And the faculty, the mentorship, and the guidance has been an invaluable growth to my professional and my future career as a student here at Bates.

>> Great.

As far as the future goes, Jay, talk about, you know, how you -- what your hopes are for the future for the school and your fellow students and the school itself, your vision.

>> I just hope for the future that people get to have, you know, experience like me, where they get to meet the staff and faculty and meet the bonds, and meet bonds with other students who have similar interests with them, and just be able to feel confident in what they're doing, because they know how to do it.

>> Seth, how about yourself?

>> For me, my thoughts and visions for Bates would be, like, as the community of the schools coming together since after COVID, not being somewhat -- >> That was a big impact.

>> Yeah, and not everyone being able to, like, know what college experience is like, and just coming together, helping each other and, like, a one-for-all, all-for-nothing type of situation.

>> That's great.

>> Yeah.

>> Jessica, what do you think about the future?

>> I could see Bates building a stronger connection with organizations like Habitat for Humanity within all trades on South Campus, and I believe we could build an even stronger relationship with the IT students here at Central Campus and nursing students and the downtown, and I think we can make a really big impact if we continue to build stronger connections within the community.

>> That's great.

That's great.

Well, time has gone by very fast.

You know, Jade, Seth, Jessica, thank you so much for coming out and joining us on the program, and we appreciate you being here.

>> Thank you.

>> Thank you.

>> Good luck with the future.

>> Thank you, yeah.

>> Dr. Lin Zhou is the President of Bates Technical College.

She holds a PhD in education with an emphasis in community college leadership.

She is the college's first female president and the first female Chinese immigrant to serve as president at a public two-year college in Washington State.

Dr. Zhou shared her thoughts about the school's, successes, challenges and what the future holds.

>> Hello, Dr. Zhou, and welcome to the program today.

Can you tell us about how Bates Technical College embodies its mission today, and how has that mission evolved over the years?

>> Well, good to see you, Phil.

Bates Technical College's mission is to enrich diverse communities by inspiring student education, challenging greater achievement and providing educating for employment.

So over the years, this mission has been consistent since the founding college back in 1940 as Tacoma Vocational School.

Over the years, we have been expanding our programs based on the emerging fields as digital technologies and healthcare.

So in 1991, we become part of the State Board for Community and the Technical Colleges System, so today we have been really continue focusing on career technical program offerings and, you know, hands-on training, education for work, providing additional supports for students.

We have been remaining ourselves about this mission.

>> How does Bates stand out from the other community college and technical colleges in the area?

>> Well, I'm glad you asked that, because I'm so proud of Bates Technical College.

So our program is offering a lot of support for the community.

For example, we have a barbering shop that also support our community members come to have a service.

We have culinary arts providing food services at the college and, of course, community members.

And also, our program faculty, they all come from industry.

They have years of experience and first-hand knowledge to help teach our students.

So, you know, those are the things I really believe that's make Bates so special.

>> What kind of steps does the college take with its employees and students to foster inclusivity and diversity on the campus?

Can you talk about that a little bit?

>> Sure.

So we work closely, number one, with our faculty, staff, and the students, DEI strategic plan, and we provide trainings, professional development opportunities for everybody, employees as well as students, so we are focusing on promoting equitable environment, not only equitable but also inclusive environment for all.

And we also offering children services, mentoring programs, and working with community organizations to, you know, fostering the environment for our employees and students.

>> Can you talk a bit about how the school is strengthening the Tacoma community and supporting the economic growth in the area?

>> Yeah, absolutely.

So the first one is workforce development.

We prepare our students to not only being successful as academically, but also engage and meet our local industry and the community demand, workforce demand.

And also, you know, there are so many programs have been working closely with the community to provide the support.

For example, our electrical construction program and the carpentry programs, they have been working almost 30 years with Habitat for Humanity to build affordable housing.

We have a very affordable healthcare clinic offering at our downtown campus.

We also work closely with our local businesses and organizations to provide internship opportunities for our students.

So, you know, again, we play a very critical part in this Tacoma community.

>> Any recent initiatives or projects that you're most proud of or?

>> Well, I think many people already know we are -- we received the best treating school in Northwest, the Pacific Northwest, the best Seattle Times, and also as the best in Pierce County, so very proud about this achievement, and is because of our exceptional faculty staff and our students.

>> Looking to the future a bit, can you talk a bit about how you see the school evolving over the next 10 years?

>> 10 years, well, you know, let me talk about the challenges first.

>> Okay, okay.

>> Well, funding is always a concern.

>> Yeah.

>> As a public school, we have been very fortunate by supporting elected officials, legislators in Washington State.

However, as a college, we rely very much on the state allocation, and the federal allocation.

You know, it depends on what could happen in the future.

Funding will be always our number one challenge.

And also, how we can quickly align our programs with industry needs, that could be a challenge too.

However, even though there are a lot of challenges in addition to this too, we will continue to be able to strive because we will continue explore new program opportunities, not only in one area, but in every, you know, emerging fields like AI, like new energy.

And also, healthcare, there are a lot of demands still there, so we will continue to explore opportunities in that area.

So, you know, as a college, I truly believe we will just continue to do our best and be the best.

>> Can you pick what you might think is a legacy you'd like to leave behind?

>> Well, you know, one thing I really would like to think is a very inclusive and equitable and innovative campus for all students and employees.

By doing that, we need to making sure we have a very healthy physical, you know, a budget to operate, right?

We need to continue to offer exceptional education for our students, and we also need to making sure we have support services for all students, doesn't matter what background there they come from, and the continuing professional development for employees and the staff.

I think if we do all of this, we will be able to provide, like I said, inclusive, equitable and innovative environment for students.

>> We're coming up on the 85th anniversary.

What's your vision as you're approaching that anniversary?

>> Well, 85th anniversary is coming and, you know, it sounds is going to be wonderful, but I'm aiming for 100 already, right?

But talking about 85th, we are going to continue exploring the opportunities to offering more programs, and we wants to continue to exploring different funding sources to support our operation, and we also wants to making sure we provide professional development opportunities for faculty and staff, so we can keep updating our curriculum to reflect industry needs, and we wants to continue to explore ways to support our students, to provide more students with resources they need.

For example, we are working with GoodRoots Northwest to adding more food lockers to the campus so we can provide additional resources for students.

>> It's true, the future looks very bright.

>> I agree, yeah.

That's why, you know, on the, you know, year -- in the year of 100 anniversaries, we need to come back and to talk about how we wants to go beyond 100 years.

>> Terrific.

Dr. Zhou, thank you for joining us today.

>> Thank you, Phil.

>> Thank you, Dr. Zhou and all of our guests today.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Bates Tech Today.

You can watch this episode again at kbtc.org and at batestech.edu.

And we'll leave you with just one more thing.

As we approach Bates Technical College's 85th anniversary, let's take a look at the new commemorative window display at the Bates downtown campus.

For KBTC and Bates Technical College, I'm Phil Kane.

Thanks for watching.

>> That entrance on the 11th and Yakima, that's actually our old entrance.

We don't want to project a closed door in the community.

We want the community to know that we're here, we're open and we're ready to serve.

So we are celebrating our 85 years, and we wanted to do something to sort of commemorate that.

It's mainly just been a concept of mine, to have something just visual that tells a story about the college.

My work that I do outside of the college is painting murals.

I'm able to take something small and make it larger in different ways.

We have a archive of photos.

I also work with the northwestern of the Tacoma Public Library.

Decided we wanted to break it up into the '40s, '50s, '60s, and so forth, until today.

[ Music ] In the 1940s, the College was established, and as you walk to the right, you continue to see the years progress and what was happening during that time, and how we've had to adapt.

And even the equipment, you can see how it's changed to meet the demands of the community and our world.

There's also arrows that are sort of moving people down, and you end at the main entrance now that's at 1201.

It's perfect, because that's exactly our stance is that we're valuing our past, but yet going to something new.

There are people that have generations and generations of people that have gone through this college.

You might see your family member in these photos, you know?

I think I want people to see themselves reflected and, you know, just what education can do, how it can transform your life, how it can enrich your life.

[ Music ] >> Bates Tech Today is supported in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.