County Commission supports CCCC Geary campus welding program

Jan. 26—The Geary County Commission unanimously voted to support Cloud County Community College's new welding program at its Geary County campus for $50,000.

Caesar Wood, vice president of Administrative Services at CCCC, said after the college started its nursing program, the staff identified that a welding program was the next most needed program in the area, so they worked to provide a place, equipment and adjunct professors to teach welding at the campus.

Wood said Watco Mechanical Services in Junction City is still looking to hire a third of its welders, which is about 12. Kim Zant, vice president for Academic Affairs, said that last week, 20 welding positions were open within 25 miles and more than 100 were open within 50 miles of the county.

Wood said the goal of the new welding program is to provide the hands-on experience and knowledge necessary to go right into the workforce. Some of the subjects include inspection methods, rigging, fabrication, welding applications and safety, he said.

"The Welding Department is providing essential skills for these young professionals or young staff that will go into the field for them to get a job, so inspection, gridding, robotics and welding," he said. "We hope it's going to meet the workforce needs of the local community."

Zant said the program was approved in December, so to make the program ready to start in the spring semester, the college rented a trailer to put the welding lab. Two adjunct professors will teach the program.

Wood said renting the trailer costs $67,000 per semester, and he hopes to continue renting it through at least the fall semester to establish the program and bring in more enrollment. Additionally, the college pays $9,200 to rent a generator to support the lab and are paying salaries for the adjunct professors. In all, he said the cost of getting the program going is about $81,000.

Wood he said the collage is looking at a few options for a more permanent lab location and was looking for financial support from the county to help, since teaching welding in the county will benefit the community.

"From our accreditation, we do have to teach that class 51% of the time at the Geary campus, so the trailer meets that need, but for long-term, we do want to do something that's permanent," he said.

The options include renovating a storage garage that is already on campus to suit the program's needs, using standalone booths for the lab or constructing another building to hold the program.

Students will attend welding classes in the evenings for two semesters to complete the program, Zant said. The goal is to have 16 students in the program per semester to get the program going.

"It's a total of 18 credit hours, so you could load it up, but we spread it to two semesters so we could appeal to the adult learner and hopefully some of the high school students," she said.

She said in a program being offered at the high school, the students get some exposure to welding, and the college would make them proficient in the four different types of welds.

Jennifer Zabokrtsky, director of the CCCC Geary County Campus, said showing the community's support for the program is necessary for approval from the state, and the college received more letters of support for the welding program from manufacturing plants, the agricultural industry and businesses and organizations in the area than any other new program.

Wood asked for financial support from the county for $50,000, $100,000 or $200,000.

"We're just trying to reach out and get a feel of how the commission is able to help support [the program] in dollars to help us do that, if possible," Wood said at the commission meeting Jan. 24.

Commission Chair Alex Tyson asked where the county's investment will be going to. Wood answered that the money would go toward the rent of the trailer for the summer and fall semesters as the college considered more permanent options.

Trish Giordano said she knows of the need for a welding program and would be willing to invest. Tyson mentioned it's a good program to transition soldiers into the workforce, as well.

After additional discussion, the commissioners unanimously voted that the county commission support the program with $50,000 and then it can consider supporting the program with additional funds after the decision is made for how to continue the program in a more permanent manner.

"We feel you are very valuable to our community and appreciate all the work you've done," Giordano said to the representatives of the college.