College receives $700,000-plus grant

Flathead Valley Community College was awarded a grant between $700,000 and $800,000 for equipment, President Jane Karas announced Monday.

The college asked for money to buy equipment for the surveying, construction trades and heavy equipment programs.

Karas made the announcement at the regular board of trustees meeting. The Montana Board of Regents approved the grant from a pool of $3.6 million set aside in the state budget for two-year education programs.

The president said that the allocation will allow the college to continue to offer the 30-credit, heavy equipment operations certificate this fall.

"We had a number of students save money for two years to get into that program," Karas said.

Kathy Hughes, vice president of instruction, said Tuesday that the grant will reduce the per-student cost for the heavy equipment program from about $6,700 to under $1,000.

The college started the program two years ago with leased equipment which resulted in steep student fees. The training was in high demand from displaced workers who paid the fee with federal retraining dollars.

When the retraining money expired after one year, the community college enrollments dropped.

"Last year we had a very small class even though a large number wanted to enroll," Hughes said.

She said the grant means the college can purchase its own equipment, eliminating the excessive cost of leasing heavy equipment. Hughes said the college will share the equipment with the College of Technology in Missoula.

"They have their own equipment but a lot of it is really outdated," she said.

The schools will shuttle the new equipment between Missoula and the Flathead Valley.

As part of the training, the heavy equipment operation students work on real projects. In the program's first year, students helped with the site work for The Wave in Whitefish.

"Last year, they put a road in at the county gravel pit," Hughes said.

She said the program has received a number of requests for local projects. The college is considering a request for student participation in building a bike path between Kalispell and Whitefish.

According to Karas, students with heavy equipment operation certificates find work quickly.

"Students are literally being hired off the equipment," she told trustees.

Hughes said the building trades portion of the grant money will allow the college to expand that program to include electrical and plumbing training.

According to Hughes, the regents received 29 proposals for projects from Montana's 10 institutions offering two-year programs. They awarded 16 grants.

"We're very pleased with our share," she said.

Hughes expects to purchase

a significant portion of the new equipment in time for the fall semester.

Also at the Monday meeting, Linda Hunt, director of Project THEO, gave the board an update on the development of another high-demand training program, the practical nursing training.

As part of the approval process, Hunt has initiated a feasibility study of the need for a program at Flathead Valley Community College. She explained that practical nurses work in nursing homes, hospice programs and doctors' offices.

"This is your population that has chronic illness," she said.

Hunt said her research found 17 institutions who were looking for 32 full-time practical nurses as of last January. Salaries offered averaged $25,450.

With benefits included, pay ranged up to $34,000.

Hunt found that 58 percent of certified nursing assistants were "very strongly" interested in upgrading their skills to take the licensing exam for practical nurse. She said some have suggested making the assistant program a prerequisite for entry.

"This will be the statewide LPN curriculum," Hunt said. "The program is rigorous."

She expects the college to admit 20 students on a continuous basis. To have access to lab space, the college will offer clinical courses only in the summer.

If the regents and Board of Nursing approve the program, Hunt expects the college to schedule the first practical nursing classes in spring 2007.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.