Ozarks Technical Community College has big plans for 2023. Here are 7 changes in the works

Ozarks Technical Community College had a banner year in 2022 with the opening of its high-tech training facility, the Robert W. Plaster Center for Advanced Manufacturing.

The space allows the college to offer training in a variety of new career options.

After the opening in August, the college announced plans to relocate specific programs to take better advantage of freed-up space.

The OTC Board of Trustees voted in mid-November to spend $6.9 million to renovate the Transportation Technology Center, or ITTC, building. The graphic design and technology program will shift to that building and others located there, most notably welding, will have room to expand.

The college is also in the midst of a multi-year plan to upgrade safety and will focus this year on Lincoln Hall, home to many health sciences programs.

The News-Leader recently spoke with OTC Chancellor Hal Higdon and Tracy McGrady, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, about what changes are planned for 2023.

OTC will offer its first bachelor's degree

The Coordinating Board for Higher Education granted permission for OTC and a community college in St. Louis to offer a four-year degree program.

OTC will offer a bachelor's degree in respiratory therapy this year. It starts in January.

"We were among the first two community colleges approved in the state of Missouri in history to be able to offer a bachelor's degree at a community college," McGrady said.

The college will offer the program in Springfield and Waynesville. There will be a total of 20 spots available.

The respiratory therapy program has long been a two-year program but the American Association of Respiratory Care set a goal to require a bachelor's degree for entry into the profession.

"OTC isn't necessarily in the business of wanting to offer bachelor's degrees, but whenever an industry moves to the entry-level requirement being a bachelor's degree, then obviously we've got to be responsive to that," she said.

It's creating a plumbing program on the Springfield campus

The college is in the planning stages for a new plumbing program, which will be offered in the ITTC building.

"The unions used to do it, and we kind of stayed out of it because they didn't want us in it. And then the unions, and the industry came together and said, we can't keep people in the pipeline, we need a new pipeline," Higdon said. "I have been pushing for this for years."

Higdon said the goal is to start the program in late 2023 or early 2024.

Building on the Fast Track grant program

OTC has been a magnet for students who want to access the state's Fast Track Workforce Incentive Grant, which is now truly a grant and no longer a forgivable loan.

The state initiative, launched shortly before the pandemic, aims to help eligible adult students pursue a certificate, degree or industry-recognized credential in a program or academic area recognized as high need. It covers tuition and fees not covered by other financial aid.

Higdon said the rules were being finalized in the fall with many colleges expected to start fully offering the option in January.

"At OTC, we decided to go ahead and take a risk. ... Anybody that applied that we felt like would meet the state criteria, we went ahead and awarded them the scholarship," Higdon said. "We have got almost 100 this fall already."

Of the 100, Higdon said the largest number are in health care and students are predominately female.

McGrady said more are expected to sign up this year. "This is so important for that adult student population. It is such a huge benefit to them."

Laying the foundation for a cosmetology program

In the coming year, OTC will explore starting a cosmetology program.

"There is a huge demand," said Higdon, who worked for a college in Mississippi that offered the option. "There is nobody except for-profit (schools) doing it."

He said the OTC program will be significantly less expensive than other local options. He said high school students who enrolled, as part of the Career Center, would not have to pay for the coursework.

Higdon said students who enroll after high school will pay much less than the $18,000 or more charged at some for-profit programs in the area.

McGrady said the college is looking for space right now.

"One of the places we're really considering putting it is at our Republic Education Center. We feel that still accessible from Springfield but also reaches the western edge of our service area," she said. "We had feedback from Republic High School that they think it would be a very, very popular option."

Expanding live virtual learning

During the pandemic, OTC wired all of its classrooms to offer "synchronous, live instruction" that allows interaction between the faculty member and students, wherever they are.

Students can take the course from home or in classrooms set up on each campus and center.

"Students don't have to go to a specific location. They can participate in these classes from wherever they are — from work, from home and they can still go to one of our locations if they want to or need to," McGrady said.

She said this option enhances online learning and data gathered so far by OTC shows it is paying off for students, who are more likely to pass their courses and stay on track to graduate.

Higdon said the interactive learning model also allows students from across southwest Missouri to access a course, such as a higher-level math class, that may only be offered on the Springfield campus.

"We can bring our rural students the same offerings," he said.

McGrady said students are flocking to the live virtual learning option for different reasons, ranging from childcare and transportation needs to work schedules.

EMT training will be offered to high schoolers

Each year, the college offers an Explore OTC event for high school sophomores. They learn about different programs offered by the college and through its Career Center, a half-day program offering career and technical training.

The college surveyed students about their interests and the top pick was an Emergency Medical Technicians, or EMT, track.

"That gave us the data that we needed to know that that's something that would be successful, that is in demand," McGrady said. "So we're moving forward with that."

Preparing to launch airplane repair program

OTC is completing a detailed design for a new facility to teach aircraft repair and maintenance.

The powerplant facility will be located near the OTC flight training center at the Springfield-Branson National Airport.

The college estimates it will cost $12.5 million to build the facility. The goal is to offer the sought-after training to a total of 48 students in fall 2024.

The project and the training must meet all requirements set by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Claudette Riley covers education for the News-Leader. Email tips and story ideas to criley@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: 7 changes in works for OTC in 2023 including plumbing, cosmetology