Congratulations to Trey McGinnis for being promoted to Chief Training Officer at Tech901!
Trey has been an instructor at Tech901 for over five years, and he has continuously proved his commitment to his students and this program. Now as Chief Training Officer, he is already brainstorming how to keep increasing positive outcomes for students.
“What are the value-adds that we bring to the table?” McGinnis said. What are the extra labs we add in? What are the extra things we put into the slides or the notes that can elevate, that allow us to be more intentional with our focus?”
Because at the end of the day, Tech901 is about helping people find job opportunities in IT, which can take more than just a certification.
“We want to be able to know very confidently that the students coming out of the class have these hands-on skills so when they go to employers, they can say, ‘I did this,’” McGinnis said. “We are making sure that people have more experiences, more things they could talk about in an interview or put on their resume.”
Trey has some ideas for how to achieve this in his new role, with a central goal of setting students up for success in finding a career beyond just checking the boxes.
“Students always tell us that they're hands-on learners, that they learn by doing. And I get that, and I feel that,” McGinnis said. “We are finding ways that we could integrate that more into the class, and maybe that becomes an apprenticeship, a boot camp or something, and then you could work on the job.”
With Tech901 approaching its tenth year, he also has a vision for how to continue positioning Tech901 as a leading, affordable program for learning technology in Memphis: integrating the certification into the program cost.
“By integrating it in [with the cost of the program], we get more people taking [the test], we get more certifications, higher-quality students, and higher-quality outcomes for these students, such as jobs,” McGinnis said.
But don’t worry - Trey’s new title doesn’t mean his time as an instructor is over! He’ll still be teaching courses, and it’s one of his favorite things about working at Tech901.
“The student interactions, being able to sit down with somebody, help them and explain things that I grew up with. I've always been around technology, I've always been kind of in this world,” McGinnis said. “So being able to share that with somebody who hasn't had that, and is also looking to start a career in it, has been really rewarding, really good for me.”
Trey hopes that he is remembered for helping others and that he can be trusted to help his students achieve their career goals, but is most concerned with moving students and the program forward.
“I'm a mission driven person, I want to work somewhere that has a greater goal,” McGinnis said. “I don't think as much about my legacy as just continuing to find new ways to innovate and to push.”
Congratulations, Trey! We are so proud of you for earning your new title, and we can guarantee you will be remembered for the positive outcomes your students have experienced! Thank you for everything you do for our students and our program.