By Lisa Mackinder | Knowledge
lmackinder@mibiz.com
WEST MICHIGAN �As Michigan undergoes systemic economic change, community colleges are anything but asleep at the switch.
Traditionally at the heart of workforce development, they stand at the forefront of this transition, providing workforce training to those moving from other industries into the new fields of alternative and renewable energies.
At Kalamazoo Valley Community College, both credit programs and non-credit training are available for people to retool.
�We try to offer a wide range of options,� said Cindy Buckley, executive director for training at M-TEC at KVCC.
Some of those options include the wind energy technology certificate credit program, which addresses demand for skilled technicians that install, maintain and service modern wind turbines and the wind turbine technician academy, a 26-week academy that trains utility grade technicians to install, operate and repair utility grade wind turbines. Based on internationally recognized BZEE standards, the academy has generated much interest.
�The word just got out,� said Buckley, who noted the school received 86 applications for 16 slots.
Buckley said KVCC sees the importance of helping a student make �a careful examination of what they bring to the table.� For instance, someone from a manufacturing background has concepts and skills transferable to fields like renewable and alternative energies. They just might need to supplement that knowledge with new technologies.
�We know how to manufacture things in this state,� Buckley said, but a wide array of jobs exist in renewable and alternative energies. �It�s not just manufacturing and installing.�
The wind industry, for example, encompasses real estate agents to secure land for wind farms, people to obtain equipment and someone to serve as project manager.
Like KVCC, Grand Rapids Community College also views assessment as important. According to Julie Parks, GRCC�s director of workforce training it helps students understand specific job requirements.
�If you want to be a wind service technician, you have to be able to climb that tower,� said Parks.
In January, GRCC will launch its composite technician program. The 6-week, 30-hours-per-week program teaches students about construction of wind blades. Parks said the hands-on course introduces students to all job aspects.
GRCC also has a sustainable construction program � which has been running for two years � in which students gain hands-on experience building sustainable, LEED-certified homes.
According to Parks, people in alternative and renewable energies need technical, critical thinking and trouble-shooting skills.
�It�s a different mindset rather than skill set,� said Parks. She believes that besides a higher technical skill level and higher computer skills, the jobs of the 21st century make individuals responsible for their own training.
Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek will offer training programs in solar and wind power. According to Dennis Bona, KCC VP for instruction, the presence of United Solar Ovonic in the community has prompted emphasis on solar offerings. In regards to wind, he said, KCC will train students on how to hook wind power into the power grid.
Additionally, at its Regional Manufacturing Technology Center, the school�s HVAC-R program supplements the fundamentals of commercial and industrial refrigeration with the latest HVAC technologies.
�HVAC is all about renewable energies,� said Bona.
Muskegon Community College will offer training through a two-year associate�s degree program in technology with a core course path called applied alternative and renewable energy, according to Tom O�Brien, director for the lakeshore business and industrial service center at MCC.
�Seventy percent of the courses are developed for this program,� said O�Brien. The school has targeted January 2010 for the program to be implemented. Its main focus centers on wind and solar but will explore alternatives like biofuel.
�At the time we began this program, it was going through development,� said O�Brien, �We had many courses that we were already teaching, but the new courses are focusing specifically on the energy development itself and the necessary skills required to construct, wire, monitor and assemble.�
The college has already partnered with Grand Valley State University on a series of alternative energy classes taught at the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center in Muskegon.
At Montcalm Community College, the presence of United Solar Ovonic led to the creation of an integrated manufacturing technology degree program, according to Rob Spohr, the school�s dean of occupational education.
�They hired 90 percent of the students that went through it,� Spohr told Knowledge. MCC developed non-credit and credit training for the company.
�When we first rolled it out, there were over 100 in the program,� he said, noting the college has changed the program along the way based on employee input.
According to William Tammone, VP of academic services at Montcalm Community College, the school created non-credit training for current workers to receive training that he referred to as �not commonly available in Michigan.� Industrial technology � like vacuum technology � said Tammone, �requires special skills as part of a degree and certificate training.�
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