College seeks to partner with businesses

MAT-SU -- After two years of grant funding to establish the foundation for a broader offering of community education courses, Mat-Su College is asking area business and community members to help determine the face of the college's continuing education center.

"We're in the last year of a workforce development grant [geared at] trying to transition into continuing education," said Dr. Paul Dauphinais, Mat-Su College's director. "It's a service we provide in the community for short-term training for jobs. The hope is, this will become a self-sustaining operation."

With the help of grant funding, the college has offered local businesses, employees and job seekers the chance to take part in training programs, often subsidized with a portion of grant funding, for the past two years. In conjunction with the program, a group of Matanuska Telephone Association employees is now taking part in training to operate Excel, a spreadsheet

program. Other groups of students have learned computer systems administration, and helped install a network computer system for Mat-Su Recovery, for example.

Cathy Baxter, Mat-Su's continuing education director, said about 150 people took part in the workforce development program's two-year degree course of study.

"We're very glad that all of them have stayed in Alaska so far," said Sheri Wittman, who also works as part of the continuing education team.

Baxter said although the continuing education center will have a more broad-based variety of classes, those that have been offered through the workforce development program have focused on meeting the needs of area businesses. That, she said, gives locally-based businesses alternatives to asking employees to travel to Anchorage for job-related education.

"The goal is to be a one-stop shop for training and education for Valley businesses and community members," Baxter said. "We've never had that opportunity in the Valley. It's an opportunity for businesses to get employees trained closer to home."

Wittman said officials are working toward a speedy set-up process for the programs that will afford businesses the greatest amount of flexibility.

"Most companies want a fast turnaround," Wittman said. "By the time they realize they need it, they needed it last month."

Wittman said businesses that have responded to their survey have been very enthusiastic. Customer service training courses, project management courses and courses to become a certified professional manager, for example, have resonated with the local business community. Other professional courses, Baxter said, have had good reception among employees who are interested in professional development courses, such as in leadership and communication skills.

People hoping to get started in a particular field will also be able to make use of the center's courses, as the college plans to offer courses for daycare providers, electricians, plumbers, social workers and more. The center also hopes to offer life skills and personal enrichment courses, such as fly tying, map reading and log cabin building.

In short, the college is hoping to meet nearly any need or demand put forward by the community. It's a goal that Dauphinais said makes sense for a community college, and is being offered at a crucial time.

"This is the time now, to deal with these issues," Dauphinais said, referring to the receding economy. "Many companies make a big mistake and one of the first things they cut is the training budget. This is the time to at least hold the line … When the upturn begins, people are going to be scrambling for employees."

Baxter added that businesses have approached the college in the past, asking for classes that directly address their needs, but there hasn't been a way to afford the flexibility the continuing education center offers. Now that there is, Dauphinais said he believes it will be a boon to Mat-Su's economy. Large businesses, he said, look for training centers in their area -- centers that can not only provide ongoing employee education, but can serve as a source of prospective employees.

Growing employees, he added, is an opportunity local businesses can jump on as well. Dauphinais mentioned work at other community-based colleges where similar continuing education programs were developed.

"If you take a consortium of businesses, this consortium would fund 25 to 30 students," Dauphinais said.

If 20 students graduate from the program and the consortium, made up of eight or 10 companies, each have a few employee positions to fill, those employees are absorbed directly into their workforce. It's a positive program, Dauphinais said, but likely one that is a few years out on the horizon.

"That would be something we would need to grow into over time," Dauphinais said. "People would have to be comfortable with the product that comes out of here."

And it shouldn't be long before community members begin to see the fruit of the college's labor. Baxter said the project is already rolling, despite an ongoing public comment period.

"We're trying to kind of do [the program] as we're building it," Baxter said.

The comments, she said, are geared toward making the program fit community needs more directly. Information provided will be used in the program's business and marketing plan, Baxter said. Although today is listed as the last day to comment, Baxter said suggestions or comments will still be taken.

For more information about the plan or to comment on it, contact the continuing education department at 746-9302. Updates of continuing education courses will be available in the coming months at the college's Web site, www.matsu.alaska.edu.