3/27/2010

By MICHAEL STRAND

Salina Journal

In addition to an electrical program already scheduled to begin later this year, Salina Area Technical College will now offer industrial maintenance and a licensed practical nursing program.

Both programs came out of meetings with local business and industry leaders, said Barbara Coleman, dean of instruction at Salina Tech.

In discussions this past fall, Coleman said, hospital officials predicted a need for more than a dozen LPNs a year.

The program will be housed at Salina Tech, although if repair work isn't completed on time on the basement of Building A, which flooded several years ago, Salina Regional Health Center has made space available.

Salina Regional has also donated eight hospital beds and other hospital furniture, such as supply carts, as well as blankets, linens and hospital gowns.

"We went to their warehouse," Coleman said. "They said, 'Take what you need.' They've just been very generous."

Classes will also have access to the simulation lab and its computerized mannequin at the hospital, Coleman said.

The one-year program will start with summer classes, and there are several prerequisites, such as general psychology and human anatomy and physiology, that must be completed first.

Because it's an immediate need, she said, both the Kansas Board of Regents and the Kansas Board of Nursing encouraged Salina Tech to partner with Hutchinson Community College, rather than start its own program from scratch.

The classes will be taught by HCC instructors, with some of the classes taught online.

Coleman said there are already about 60 applicants for the program, which has a maximum enrollment of 20.

"If this turns out to be a strong program, we'll probably want to do it for ourselves," Coleman said. "But whatever happens, we really value our partnership with Hutch."

Coleman said the college might also set up a night program, allowing people with day jobs to enroll.

Companies' needs

The industrial maintenance program isn't a formally recognized program, said assistant dean of instruction Bruce Crouse.

The program was requested by several local companies, including Exide Technologies, Philips Lighting, ElDorado National, Premier Pneumatics and Schwan Food Co.

As part of a $100,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce to get the program started, employees of those five companies will be able to enroll for free the first year, and tuition will be half-price for others, Coleman said.

"It's kind of a teaser price, to get the program started," Coleman said.

The program will make use of several skills already being taught at Salina Tech, Crouse said, including welding, machining and electronics. The college will be adding classes in hydraulics and pneumatics systems, as well as trouble-shooting.

"It will be customized to what the student needs," Coleman said.

Enrollment will be capped at 18.

Because the college expects most people enrolled in the program to have full-time jobs, the program is being offered evenings and weekends, starting Sept. 2.

"That's so students wanting to transition into the manufacturing sector can keep their day jobs," Crouse said. "We also see this as a door-opener -- someone might decide they like machining or welding and come back for the full program."

The industrial maintenance program, Crouse said, "won't turn out a welder or a machinist, but people with experience in welding and machining."

Salina Tech will also allow people to "test out" of parts of the program in which they already have experience.

"If you have a certain skill already, you can get credit for that," Crouse said. "That's another way for us to work with the community."

Maria Vega Carter, training and development manager for the Schwan's plant in Salina, said she's looking forward to the program.

"We have been involved with Salina Tech since they had this idea of creating the program," she said. "We have been providing some input on our needs."

"We definitely see a value," she said. "It's challenging to provide the training our maintenance people require, and being able to work with an institution like Salina Tech so our needs are met is a good situation."

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