Clark State Community College has partnered with Terra State Community College to provide contact tracer training to northwest Ohio.
Those in the training will learn proper protocols from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for contact tracing of the COVID-19 virus. Contact tracing has been a proven strategy over decades to prevent the further spread of diseases.
Clark State provides online, non-credit contact tracer training and has extended the opportunity to non-credit students at Terra State. The self-paced course will be offered to Terra State students via the Kern Center for Workforce and Community Education, but the course will be administered and taught by Clark State faculty and staff.
“Clark State is extremely proud of being one of the first institutions in the nation to deploy contact tracer training in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are equally proud and excited to now be partnering with our Terra State colleagues to efficiently provide this same training to their service region,” said Lesli Beavers, director of workforce and business solutions at Clark State, “Clark State created this training in direct response to the State of Ohio’s need for quick, professional and trained contact tracers. Partnering with other institutions helps us continue this work to serve students, health departments and businesses throughout the State.”
Beavers said Clark State deployed its contact tracer training program, one of the first in the nation, in May of 2020 and has since trained over 100 students. Clark State created the training program to help serve local health districts in direct response to COVID-19. To expand this program and serve statewide, Clark State is now partnering with other community colleges – including Terra State – to quickly deploy this training to their students and communities.
“Contact tracing training is another example of how Terra State continues to support efforts to stop the spread,” said Bill Taylor, vice president of academic affairs at Terra State, “The contact tracing training is a great example of how micro-credentials bring an opportunity to up-skill, while also meeting the challenge of a national skills gap. Our students can be found in clinical environments and this micro-credential is another example where Terra State is making a difference.”
The CDC defines contact tracing as a core disease control measure employed by local and state health departments; it encourages communities to scale up and train a large contact tracer workforce to work collaboratively across public and private agencies to stop the transmission of COVID-19. The CDC also states that to be done effectively, contact tracing requires people with the training, supervision and access to social and medical support for patients and contacts.