2
A Message From President Rounds:
Our Name Is Changing, But We Are Not!
“This is a monumental event in Williamson history and one that moves us forward
in excellence while continuing to be the same Williamson that we all know and love.”
We are now over halfway through a
winter that has been milder and with
much less snowfall than last year, something our grounds department and students are very thankful for.
The big news is the announcement
on Founder’s Day by our chairman, Mr.
Wayne Watson 4W8, that the Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades
will become Williamson College of the
Trades on July 1, 2015.
This is a monumental event in Williamson history and one that moves us
forward in excellence while continuing
to be the same Williamson that we all
know and love.
We have actually been a college since
the school began granting Associate in
Specialized Technology Degrees (AST)
in 1972. Our former name had become
confusing to many. Some thought we
were a high school and others wondered what “free” and “mechanical
trades” meant. For those that did not
know anything about Williamson, the
name required an explanation of our
mission and our students.
Our new name will better reflect
who we are today — a postsecondary
academic institution that provides a
college-level education in the trades to
financially deserving young men.
We anticipate our new name will attract a larger pool of applicants, allowing every shop to choose their incoming class from a pool of applicants with
that shop as their first choice.
We listened to the opinions of many
graduates concerning the name change
and understand that this is a very emotional issue for some. One concern that
was prevalent among many graduates
was the type of associate degrees we
offer and our accreditation. The idea
of upgrading our degree to an Associate Degree in Applied Science (AAS)
and seeking Middle States accreditation was one that the Board of Trustees
agreed was a worthy goal to pursue as
we change our name.
We have already begun working on
the multi-year process of obtaining
Middle States accreditation. The AAS
degree with Middle States accreditation will make it much easier for our
graduates to get credit for the courses
they took at Williamson when seeking
to further their education at colleges
throughout the country. Presently, our
graduates must rely on a small number
of local colleges that we have articulation agreements with to receive credit
for their Williamson courses. This severely limits their choices and does not
help those that leave the local area.
We have spent a lot of time and effort researching the requirements for
an AAS degree, and I can assure you
that we will be able to make this change
without substantially changing our program or taking away from the trade
programs that have given Williamson
the reputation as the best trade school
in the country. Graduates that spend
their careers in their trade and never go
back to pursue a higher degree will still
get the same great trade skills and focus
that Williamson has always provided
and we will still offer Craftsman Diplomas for those that struggle with the academic portion of the program, but excel
in their trade theory and practice. These
changes will allow us to accomplish the
same mission we have had for 126 years,
but with a new level of excellence and
prestige. We believe our founder would
truly approve of this momentous decision!
Highlights of this past fall included
a Homecoming Weekend with a large
number of attendees who came to reconnect with their alma mater. We added a Friday afternoon of shop competitions and entertainment for the students
in addition to the Homecoming activities, an alumni vs. Williamson soccer
match and the football game against
Valley Forge on Saturday. We included
the annual Alumni Association 5K run
on Sunday as part of the Homecoming
activities. From all reports, everyone
had a great time!
Our new director of student engagement and leadership development, Harold Burnett, has been working hard to
develop activities for students as they
spend more time on campus in the evening. These programs are designed to
help them bond with their classmates
and their school, develop leadership
skills, and have fun together.
One new event that has proved very
popular is the Monday Night Football
pizza party. While the students enjoy
watching the game on television together, they enjoy pizza provided by the
Alumni Association. Purchasing the
pizza and drinks for this event became a
great way for some of our alumni to get
involved with the school and students.
All of us appreciate this new initiative
from the Alumni Association and their
president Bob Abbot 8W1.
Our fall Career Fair had 94 vendors
— a new record. These companies all
had positions to fill, and were anxious
to hire our students. Their attendance
is proof that we are doing something
right; they realize our graduates have
the trade and technical skills and character traits they seek in their employees.
What other school can say that they
have 20 more companies at their career
fair than they have graduates to hire?
This year’s SkillsUSA competitions
got underway with the local competitions held in the Carpentry and Masonry Shops. Taking first place were Josh
Schneider 1W5 in masonry and Bill
Davis 1W5 in carpentry. They will continue to the district competitions this
spring. First-place winners continue on
to the state and national competitions.
Our horticulture students have been
hard at work preparing their exhibit
for the upcoming Philadelphia International Flower Show from Feb. 28 to
March 8. Their exhibit, “The Academy
Award of Plants,” will depict an Academy Awards type event with the stars
being plants. Be sure to stop by the
Pennsylvania Convention Center to see
the display. What really makes our display special is the involvement of all of
the shops in putting it together — the
creativity and talent of our students is
really something to marvel at!
Another exciting campus activity is
the steady progress of the Energy Island
Project. This fall saw the control room
nearing completion and the new steam
turbine purchased, delivered, and commissioned. This turbine will produce
nearly one-quarter of our required electricity the entire time our boilers are
ru