9454615 Bishara The Virginia State Grant Consortium (VSGC), in collaboration with the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), 23 community colleges, 3 Space Grant universities, the State Department of Education, and a broad spectrum of business and industry interests, is planning for the development of an Advanced Technological Education Center (TechQuest) for the Commonwealth of Virginia to address the needs of advanced technological education. Through the TechQuest Planning Initiative, the Virginia Space Grant Consortium and its partners is evaluating existing curricula at the community colleges, planning appropriate revision and augmentation of curricula, and developing professional enhancement activities for community college faculty, secondary teachers and guidance counselors to support this curricular reform for advanced technological education. Commitment to the TechQuest initiative of the VSGC, VCCS administration, higher education, industry, and other partners is very strong. The planning phase for the TechQuest Center is being led by project director (Michael N. Bishara, D.Sc. Southwest Community College), project manager (Mary Sandy, Director, VSGC), a steering committee, a team of technical, academic and resource advisors, and planning teams for four advanced technology strands. These content strands include: core- courses, high performance manufacturing, electronics and environmental technology. The goal of the planning phase is to develop an action plan for the implementation of the TechQuest Center through which extensive curriculum reform will be instituted in Virginia's community colleges along with the proposing professional development strategies to support the renovated curriculum for advanced technological education.
