"Workforce Education at Green River was VERY instrumental in allowing me to go back to school, and I'm grateful for all the assistance I received and continue to receive." - Genie L, Green River Student

"Make sure you talk to Workforce Education...They can help in many ways to make things go smoothly and make sense." - Chris S, Green River Student

"Workforce Education...will embrace you and lend a helping hand with open hearts." Elsie Q, Green River Student

"Workforce Education has been there for me since day one!" - Jenny S, Green River student

Oct 11, 2012

Master Achiever Center (MAC)

Cammie Ochoa, MAC Specialist
Today's blog post features a Q and A with Cammie Ochoa, Green River Community College's resident MAC Specialist. She'll be talking about services available through the college's Master Achiever Center.

Hi Cammie. Welcome to the blog. To start, can you give us a short overview of the Master Achiever Center?

Cammie: The Master Achiever Center strives to provide Basic Skills students with resources and academic advising in order to support them in reaching their educational and career goals.

What services does the MAC offer?

Cammie: A wide variety of services are offered in the MAC. We support students with identifying and defining their educational and / or career goals. In addition, we assist students in mapping out their specific certificate or degree courses and selecting classes to take each quarter. Another unique service we offer relates to finding an appropriate funding source to pay for school. This can be a very challenging task for many students, but we are here to help take students through each step and make sure they have funding in place. The MAC also offers a number of helpful workshops throughout the quarter, including the Tutoring and Resources Orientation, COMPASS Preparation Workshop, and the Scholarship Search Workshop.

Who is eligible to receive MAC services?

Cammie: The MAC serves students enrolled in Basic Skills. These are students taking ESOL, GED, ABE or I-BEST classes. Each quarter, we make presentations in these classes and invite students to make an appointment and utilize MAC services.

Are there any other highlights about the MAC that you would like to share?

The Master Achiever Center Team
Cammie: The MAC is a fairly new department on campus - we've only been open for just over a year! Developing the MAC from the ground up has allowed us to create processes and procedures which really take into consideration the needs of our Basic Skills students. We have been able to try things and make adjustments as needed depending on our results. It's an exciting time to work in the MAC! Recently, we added additional staff to support the MAC's expansion. We have a full-time AmeriCorps member to support our MAC Peer Mentoring Program and a part-time Advisor / Specialist to provide additional advising support at our Kent Campus. With these additions, we will be able to serve more Basic Skills students, providing them with guidance and support in reaching their educational and career goals.
Questions? You can reach Cammie by phone at 253-833-9111 ext. 2016, or by email at cochoa@greenriver.edu.