Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center (GACTC) students are preparing for careers and are always interested in learning what is happening in their chosen field right here in Central Pennsylvania.  Business and community partnerships are one of the key elements and great strengths of Career & Technical Education.  

At the GACTC, our programs are developed and maintained with the goals of business and industry in mind.  We align curriculum, seek feedback and encourage the consistent inclusion of our business and industry partners in our programs.  

The GACTC’s Office of Work Based Learning offers a number of opportunities to collaborate with and integrate our business partners into the GACTC in order to make our programs the most relevant they can be in preparing students for the workforce.   Here are some established ways we can partner together:

AWARENESS & EXPLORATION

• Company Tours – A group of students visits your facility to take a tour and have the ability to speak with your employees about their career. 
• Classroom Speaker – A representative from your company is a guest speaker and shares information about your business and/or trade.
• Career Shadowing – A student visits your facility for a short amount of time observing an employee as they go about their day performing duties in their everyday work environment.
• Occupational Advisory Committee (OAC) Member – An employee from your company serves on the OAC and has the opportunity to provide recommendations to update, modify, expand, and improve the quality of our programs of study.  Advisory committees meet a minimum of twice a year.  

PREPARATION & TRAINING

• Cooperative Education (Co-Op) – A supervised on-the-job work experience with employer, school and student responsibilities for a specific period of time.  This is a paid experience.  
• Internships – These are available during the summer months and/or during the academic school year at selected approved sites.  These experiences provide opportunities for students to practice skills and learn about the requirements of the workplace.  This can be a paid or unpaid experience.

SUPPORT

• Donations – Our programs thrive with both financial and equipment/material donations from business and industry that help our students learn in the industry relevant environments.
• Scholarships/Awards – Financial support from local business/industry partners help students to obtain the necessary tools to begin their career in the workforce and/or financial support for tuition at the college level.

GACTC Office of Work Based Learning

1500 Fourth Avenue

Altoona, PA  16602

(814)505-1299

wbloffice@gactc.edu