ECC Insiders

Find out what's happening in the 2026-2027 Fine and Performing Arts season at East Central College from a conversation during the morning show on KLPW radio in late June 2026. The season was discussed by faculty members Jen Higerd, Associate Professor Art/Art Gallery Curator, Aaron Bounds Assistant Professor, Music/Band Director. Leigh wore two hats, as the interview cohost and disussing the Film...

The Rural Community College Alliance (RCCA) are advocates for the nation's rural community colleges. The RCCA helps its member institutions serve the 89.3 million people who reside in rural America. There are 600 publicly controlled rural community and tribal college that provide access to general education for transfer, as well as techncial, vocational and occupations programs. Joel and Leigh wer...

Leigh and Joel are joined by Justina Wilhelm, the president of Iḷisaġvik College. Iḷisaġvik College is located in the North Slope Borough of Alaska, America's northermost municipality. Justina took 2 planes and nearly 24 hours to arrive in Union, Missouri for the Rural Community College Alliance national conference, held on the ECC campus in September 2025. She provides a unique perspective of the...

East Central College is part of a consortium with three Missouri community colleges for the MoSEPWorks apprenticeship program, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor's ABA2 apprenticeship program. The program focus of the consortium is teacher education, health care and manufacturing. Students can start out in a pre-apprenticeship and transition into an apprenticeship. Apprenticeships are structur...

Adult Education and Literacy (AEL) programs in Missouri are offering more than the GED and English Language Acquisition courses. In an effort to meet the workforce needs and stay relevant, the programs are providing students with Integrated Education and Training programs, or IET's. A student will take coursework in an IET and the GED to provide them with job skills needed to enter the workforce c...

Brian Millner, the President and CEO of the Missouri Community College Association (MCCA), joins the podcast to discuss how the association works to showcase the importance and strengths of Missouri's 12 community colleges. Learn about about MCCA at: https://www.missouricolleges.org/

A group of Missouri community colleges work together in a consortium to provide health care programs to fill the need for health care professionals in rural Missouri. The Missouri Health Care Professionals Consortium (MHPC) includes five Missouri community colleges - East Central College, Three Rivers College, North Central Missouri College, State Fair Community College and Moberly Area Community...

The number of adult learners (24 years and older) at the nation's community colleges has been declining for several years. Attracting adult learners back is a strategic plan of East Central College and many other community colleges. At the time of the September 2025 recording, Elizabeth Cox Brand was the Director of Student Success Center at the Oregon Community College Association (OCCA). She pre...

Dr. Parvadha (Parvi) Acosta, ECC's Associate Project of Biology/STEM division chair, discusses the changes in food over time and some of its positive and negative impacts on our health. Parvi isn't a medical doctor, and looks at the intake and development of food over time from a biological point of view. For example - a tomato looks much different than it did 80-100 years ago. DYK - Broccoli isn'...

The state of Missouri passed a bill in May 2025 to simplify and strengthen the transfer pathways from the state's community colleges to a public 4-year university. The new legislation establishes a 60-credit hour, transferable lower-division course block for five high demand programs: General Business General Psychology Elementary Education General Biology or Biological Sciences Nursing Dr. Robyn...

Investing in East Central College is an investment in your community. Proposition ECC is a Tuesday, April 8 ballot initiative, and if approved by voters, will provide funding for a $15 million campus renovation project, to repair and renovate every building on the Union campus and construct two new facilities, a welding training center and a centralized storage facility. ECC is a vital asset to st...

Leigh and Joel hear the story of 27-year-old Kayla Jaspering of Union, who completed her high school education in the ECC Adult Education and Literacy (AEL) program while also caring for five children! Francisco Contreras, from Sullivan, is 36 years old and is originally from Mexico. He's lived in the area for nearly 20 years and wants to improve his English language skills. Francisco's daughter i...

We fire up the conversation with women who have found careers in manufacturing. More and more women are discovering their abilities and interests as welders, machinists, HVAC technicians and manufacturing maintenance technicians. Hear more about the unique abilities of women in manufacturing and how they are being welcomed in the industry. Scholarships are available for tuition, fees, books and ot...

A week-long spring break trip to London, England in March 2024 for a group of ECC students provided them with an opportunity to explore. They learned more about themselves and the world. Lauren Hoey, an English major and Elijah Long, a STEM major, shared their experiences that left them with great memories that will last a lifetime. The best thing about the trip? Waffles outside, a walkable city,...

Leigh and Joel have a great conversation with Renee Richardson, the Director of Philanthropy for Metallica’s “All Within My Hands” (AWMH) foundation. AWMH’s philanthropy focuses on three main objectives--to help with disaster relief, feeding people and the Metallica Scholars program. East Central College is part of the Metallica Scholars program and receives support and funding to promote and prov...

A student finds more success inside the classroom by being active outside of the classroom. Students involved in student clubs or organizations find themselves more successful in the classroom with a higher GPA and tend to complete their certificate or degree on time. The involvement also helps them to enhance their leadership and team building skills that will serve them well in their job, life a...

The academic success of a student includes being involved in the process of learning while in the classroom. Outside of the classroom, it is important to engage with the instructor and other students about the class. In addition, using the resources available at a college, such as tutoring, can help a struggling student be successful. We discuss this topic with Erin Anglin, Executive Director, Lea...

Dr. Jon Bauer, president of East Central College, joins Leigh and Joel to discuss "Proposition ECC." The proposition will be on the April 2, 2024 ballot, asking voters in the College taxing district to approve a NO-COST increase to the ECC tax levy. Dr. Bauer details how the debt service levy transfer to the operating levy will positively impact the ECC Union campus by modernizing the campus build...

Joel Doepker and Leigh Kolb discuss the early college programs at East Central College that include the Early College Academy (ECA). ECA students start attending ECC courses on the ECC campus in their junior year and after two years have the opportunity to graduate with an Associate of Arts degree while at the same timeframe also completing a high school diploma from their high school. Approximate...

Joel Doepker and Leigh Kolb discuss the history of East Central College with two people who have a long history with the College. Ina "Cookie" Hays is the only person to be a graduate, support staff member, professional staff member, administrator, and trustee at East Central College. Current ECC president Dr. Jon Bauer started at ECC in 1995 and became president in 2012. Find out more about the h...

Joel Doepker, Vice President of External Relations and Leigh Kolb, Associate Professor of English will discuss all things East Central College (Mo.). Higher education trends and topics that effect the east central Missouri region and the nation.