The Career and Technical Center at State Fair Community College added “significant improvements” during the school year, as reported during Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting.
CTC Executive Director Michael Wright gave an update to the board regarding those improvements to the CTC, which offers free technical training to juniors and seniors from 13 high schools in 10 school districts. One such improvement is the addition of a criminal justice program.
“The criminal justice program is going to bring an additional 40 students to CTC,” Wright said. “It’s aligned with the college’s criminal justice program and we think it brings in a whole different group of students to the campus here at State Fair Community College.”
Wright said the electric and power program has been modified to be aligned with the college’s industrial equipment maintenance. He added that the CTC has established a social media presence, started a HOSA chapter and SkillsUSA had its highest enrollment.
Enrollment at the CTC increased from 212 students in 2015-16 to 244 this year, and Wright said he expects that number to be near 300 next year with the new criminal justice program.
To recognize those students graduating from the CTC, the center will host its first signing day, similar to when student athletes commit to a school or team. Wright said of the 33 students graduating, 29 will sign to continue their education at SFCC, with the remaining four signing to start their careers with an employer.
Wright also offered some areas that still need to be worked on at the CTC.
“When we are discussing the needs of our industry partners, one of those things that always comes up is the soft skill development and employability skills,” Wright said. “I feel that our programs and our staff do an excellent job of providing the technical knowledge and skills that are necessary to succeed, but we have areas of improvement in our soft skill development.
“The other is our placement in industry, our placement at State Fair Community College through our continued education. We see the CTC as a valuable pipeline of students coming to the college and going out to our communities.”
Wright said CTC is adding the AMP program — Advanced Manufacturing Placement. By working with The LearningForce and community partners, a cross-training program has been developed, with the pilot program focusing on welding, precision machining and industrial equipment maintenance programs. Students will focus on one program but will learn all three areas to be a well-rounded employee.
An instructor has also transitioned to a math and soft skills instructor embedded in all CTC programs.
During his remarks, Wright noted he has resigned from his position and will be returning to Smith-Cotton High School in the fall to again teach engineering and technology.
The board also heard a report from Athletics Director Darren Pannier and Vice President of Education and Student Support Services Brent Bates regarding the college’s first year with its four new sports programs, men’s and women’s soccer, baseball and softball. The Democrat will publish a full article on the new sports’ first year in an upcoming edition.
During the meeting the board also:
• Approved the personnel report which included hiring Kelly Asbury, director of the Small Business and Technology Development Center; Eric Cornett, instructor of industrial technology in Eldon; Zachary Grove, instructor of industrial technology in Sedalia; Brady Glover, CTC instructor IEM; James Benge, CTC instructor automotive; Jaime Beltran, head soccer coach; Carla Childers, LearningForce coordinator; Eric Rehmer, CTC executive director; Matthew Brown, head men’s basketball coach; and Keri Benner, Student Success executive assistant; and the resignations of Kevin Smith, TRiO advisor; Paul Schenkel, CTC instructor automotive; Michael Wright, CTC executive director; and Bethany Kreisel, Student Success executive assistant.
• Certified the April 4 municipal election results for the proposed bond measure. The final count from Benton, Cooper, Henry, Johnson, Morgan, Pettis and Saline counties was 4,105 yes and 4,031 no. The measure needed a four-sevenths majority to pass.
• Approved a bid for $5,100 from KXH LLC for the Building Trades House. This is a yearly project to build a local home that will be partially constructed by SFCC students. The company will front the costs and liability; the $5,100 is mostly equipment.
• Approved a bid from Air Hygiene of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, for $4,500 to conduct performance testing on two emission stack engines.
• Authorized administration to proceed with obtaining bids for the Stauffacher Theater renovation that will provide for new carpet, paint and light traps at the theater entrances. Total cost is estimated to not exceed $50,000. The funding source is the Stauffacher Title III Endowment Challenge Grant Funds. Final bids were not available in time for the board to approve.
