93-10-08 Unusual Event May Forge New Ties Between Business and Education

UNUSUAL EVENT MAY FORGE NEW TIES
BETWEEN BUSINESS AND EDUCATION

     CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Oct. 8 -- School officials, business
leaders and the public are invited to witness a process described
as an "agony of decision making" that may forge new partnerships
for meeting workforce needs of the 21st century.
     Representatives of the University of Virginia, Piedmont
Virginia Community College, area businesses, schools and the media
will engage in a Socratic dialogue Thursday, October 28, from 10
a.m. to noon in the Boar's Head Inn Ballroom.  
      Leading the dialogue will be Charles J. Ogletree, a prominent
Harvard Law School professor and moderator of nationally acclaimed
PBS programs on ethics, drugs and the American education system. 
He views the dialogue as a creative process where its "purpose is
not to make up anyone's mind but to open minds, and to make the
agony of decision-making so intense, you can only escape by
thinking."
     "Ogletree intends to evoke the same passion and debate in our
Central Virginia dialogue that he so masterfully does in the PBS
programs," said PVCC President Deborah M. DiCroce.
     Panelists in the dialogue include DiCroce, U.Va. President
John T. Casteen III; William G. Crutchfield Jr., president of
Crutchfield Corp.; William Lewis, president of Duplex Inc.; and
Harry J.G. van Beek, president of Klockner Pentaplast of America
Inc.
     Other participants include Dennis E. Thomas, publisher of The
Daily Progress; Joseph R. McGeehan, superintendent of
Charlottesville Public Schools; Karen L. Powell, member of the
Albemarle County School Board; and Wayne K. White, superintendent
of Fluvanna County Public Schools.
     A central purpose of the dialogue is to create an action plan
for an areawide training partnership that will meet future
workforce needs, according to DiCroce.  "The dialogue represents a
clarion call for a more cohesive, collaborative approach to
training our area's workforce," she said.
     DiCroce added that she expects Ogletree to lead the
participants in exploring how new partnerships can stimulate
economic development, examine the role of vocational education and
work to meet training needs during a time of limited financial
resources.
     The event is free, but reservations are requested.  To secure
a seat, call PVCC at (804) 977-1620 by October 22.
     The dialogue is sponsored by U.Va., PVCC, Martha Jefferson
Hospital and the Charlottesville-Albemarle County Chamber of
Commerce, with support from Jefferson National Bank, Colonial Auto
Center, The Daily Progress, GE Fanuc Automation of North America,
Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of Central Virginia, State Farm
Insurance Companies, First Virginia Bank-Central and the Boar's
Head Inn and Sports Club.
                               ###
                                                  October 7, 1993
     FOR MORE INFORMATION, call DiCroce at (804) 977-1620.
               
 
Karen Castle, Office Services Specialist, University News Office
P.O. Box 9018, Booker House, Charlottesville, VA  22906
(804) 924-7116, kac@virginia.edu

[Submitted by: Karen A. Castle  (kac@uva.pcmail.virginia.edu)
               Fri, 8 Oct 93 10:35:54 EDT]