PhD, 2013 Patrick Crane is the vice president of strategic initiatives for the North Carolina Community College System. Previously, Crane served as director of the Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development for the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission. He exercised statewide leadership on community college and workforce issues and represented community colleges to other agencies and organizations, to the Legislative Assembly, and to the governor. Before moving to Oregon, Crane served as the project manager for the West Virginia Bridging the Gap Consortium for the Technical College System of West Virginia. In this role, he was responsible for the overall project management of a four-year, $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor designed to promote sector-based workforce development in the areas of energy, advanced manufacturing, information technology and construction trade programs in West Virginia. He coordinates with institutional and cross-institutional work teams to oversee the development of career pathways, wrap-around student support services, and course redesign efforts that support Trade Adjustment Assistance workers, veterans and others to complete technical career programs. Crane also served as the director of policy and strategic initiatives for the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission. He first joined the commission staff in October 2009 as a research and planning analyst. In 2009 and 2010, Crane served as education policy advisor to Governor Manchin.
