College Workforce Training Programs Benefit Area Employers and Community

If given the opportunity, those involved in organizing Workforce Training and Community Education programs at Barton County Community College would probably shout from every rooftop in town.

Electrical Training

Their message would be: we are here to help local businesses train their employees.

The list of WTCE offerings is comprehensive and Barton professionals are willing to add to it any time. All they need to know is what a particular business needs.

One long-time partnership with a local business is just one illustration of how the college can be of service. For more than 15 years, Barton has collaborated with CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, 1809 24th.

Jane Howard, CPA, executive director of Business, Technology and Community Education, gives CPI the personal touch while keeping its employees up-to date and helping with their certification requirements.

Meat Judging

"I teach two classes at CPI and one of its employees teaches the other two," Howard explained. "I am happy to do this for any other business that needs it. Certification is a big issue; it is a really good partnership with CPI."

Howard and her colleagues also are working with Ellsworth Correctional Facility, where an inmate education program has been established. It offers coursework for 18 hours, 32 hours or to earn an associate's of general studies degree, with an emphasis in business.

"There is no federal financial aid," Howard stressed. "The inmates pay the exact same fees that students on campus pay. Either the inmate pays or the family pays. They go through the same application process; everything is the same."

Howard did note that some privately funded scholarships are available for this BASICS program; the acronym stands for Building Academic Skills in Correctional Settings.

"The hope is to reduce recidivism," added Julie Kramp, Barton executive director of workforce training and economic development, who noted that the college serves Barton, Russell, Rice, Stafford, Pawnee, Ellsworth and Rush counties.

"Our mission is to deliver educational opportunities that improve the lives of students, meet the workforce needs of the region and strengthen its communities," Kramp said.

"So this (BASICS) aligns with our mission statement," she continued. "The ability to enhance employment and economic development in our service area will benefit Barton County, central Kansas and the state as a whole."

For example, Barton contracts with the military and provides education for troops at Fort Riley, providing soldiers and their families opportunities to complete degrees. Besides on-site instruction, the college offers online instruction, mostly through its BARTONline classes, which are highly utilized by military personnel. Online courses make Barton accessible, regardless of student location.

Another program with local and statewide implications is in the works, Howard said.

Criminal Justice Graduates, 2006

"We are in the developing stage of a staff education program for corrections officers," she said. "Turnover in the corrections industry is high; there is a shortage throughout the state.

"This is a partnership with the Kansas Department of Corrections and we are talking with wardens. We are hoping Barton will be responsible for the corrections curriculum in the state and other community colleges will be responsible for general education courses."

Graduates would come away with an associate's degree in applied science in corrections. (Howard noted this coursework is for corrections officers and is separate from the college's criminal justice program.)

"These corrections positions are good jobs, with good wages, steady wages," Kramp noted. "There would also be opportunities to advance." Another crucial area in community education is healthcare, noted Leonard Bunselmeyer, executive director of healthcare and public safety education.

CPR Training

"We are all aware of the nursing labor shortage but not many are aware of the medical lab technician shortage," Bunselmeyer said. "It is not as visible. We do the whole spectrum of healthcare training - whether it is short-term or for an associate's degree.

"We are clinical partners with Central Kansas Medical Center, regarding medical lab technicians and nurses. And for nurse aides and medical aides, the nursing homes participate on the clinical side."

In addition, Barton offers Emergency Medical Technician and paramedic training. "The range of programs is huge," Kramp commented.

And then there is the natural gas industry, which the college has supported with its annual corrosion seminar for two decades. Now this support has grown to a whole new level.

Legislation requires employees to demonstrate certain operator-qualified skills, Kramp said. "Instead of them doing it themselves, they came to us and we offer the necessary training in a standardized setting.

Leak Detection

"The industry put up the money and we now have the Midwest Utility and Pipeline Training Center on campus," Kramp said. "Barton built the classroom but the gas industry built the facility for the hands-on training."

Customized training in gas transmission and distribution is currently offered at the center; the degree program will start in August 2008.

This isn't the only area where the college offers customized training - far from it. "If a business gets a new piece of equipment and needs training for employees, we find the instructor," Kramp said. "We can do it on-site or here on campus.

"The goal is to be responsive to the needs of business and industry," Kramp emphasized. "We have the structure to do this. Not only can we help people without jobs find them, but we can work with employers who want to upgrade their employees' skills so they can keep their jobs or advance. Some get to a certain age and want a new career; we can help with that too."

Kramp acknowledged that some business owners shy away from providing new training because they fear that workers will take the knowledge and run. But Kramp wants them to ask themselves a question: is it better to not train them and have them stay?

Barton collaborates with Kansas Works, 1025 Main, which offers employment advice and support. "Since we need to know what resources are in our community, we call on Kansas Works," Kramp said. "They have case managers that can find the right resources for an individual."

Bunselmeyer noted that at a recent meeting at Kansas Works, community leaders discussed various problems and their possible solutions. For example, he recalled, if an 18-year-old, pregnant, high school dropout seeks guidance, what can the community do to help her?

"Once she can get her life turned around, she can ask what does the future hold," Bunselmeyer added, noting education is often a big part of the answer.

Kramp serves on the Workforce Development Recruitment and Retention Committee for the Barton County Strategic Plan. One of its goals is finding ways to keep young people here.

"We have to show them opportunities here and provide their training and education here," Kramp said. "We have to show them they can have a career and a satisfying life here.

"We are trying to address this," she continued. "We need to keep people who are here and also recruit from outside the community. It is a perplexing problem. We have so many services and so many opportunities. We just need more people to respond to them."