Monday, March 29, 2004

Presented to Manufacturing Tech Advisory Committee

The Problem:
“Two unmet state needs: Source: WNCC President Dr. C.A. Lucy (attachment 1)
1) Not enough high school graduates continue on to college immediately upon graduation.
One obvious solution to this problem is to encourage larger numbers of academically talented college-bound high school graduates to pursue technical occupational programs
2) Local employers consistently describe difficulty in recruiting and keeping highly skilled employees
…provide pragmatic instruction at convenient locations and times via schedules and formats which meet the needs of non-traditional learners”.

A proposed Solution:
“The college proposes to develop a new associate’s degree in manufacturing technology…” Source: High Technology Curriculum Initiatives Application Narrative (attachment 2)
The AAS in Manufacturing Technology with emphasis in Industrial Controls (as proposed in the grant application submitted7/29/03) draws heavily on an existing Industrial Core and Emphasis of previously developed course offerings and state of the art new manufacturing labs.
“The integration of high technology equipment, software and materials into TMCC programs allows the College to develop a modular teaching approach to workforce development”.

TMCC receives technology award of $400K Source: Reno Gazette JournalAuthor: Ryan Randazzo 1/12/04 (attachment 3)
Sen. John Ensign, “We just have to get those workers trained so businesses have people to hire when they come here,”
About $260,000 of the award will go toward creating the manufacturing degree, Green said.
“We take every program we start seriously,” TMCC President Philip Ringle said to Ensign during the announcement. “I will pledge on behalf of the school that we will actually do these things.”

TMCC to create manufacturing labs Source: Northern Nevada Business Weekly (attachment 4) ”Truckee Meadows Community College will use the largest part of a new $397,400 Congressional award to develop state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities.
About $250,000 of the grant announced by Sen. John Ensign last week will be used for new manufacturing labs, including a computer numerical control machining facility and an industrial controls lab.
“The labs will be the centerpieces of a new degree program in manufacturing technology”, said Rich Green, assistant dean at TMCC's technical institute.

The committee needs to define technology. For example, computers in laboratories are not technology, but a tool for the technician. However, computers in auto centers are technological Source: Redfield campus technology and manufacturing committee minutes January 27, 1998
RE: Homer S. Gudelsky Institute for Technical Education Montgomery College...
From: "Jeffers, Eric" Eric.Jeffers@montgomerycollege.edu
Date: 2004/05/03 Mon PM 03:16:14 GMT
To: "cl" dickinsonc@charter.net
Subject: RE: Manufacturing & fabrication technology. info

Hello Charles,
The courses you are interested in were part of an apprenticeship-related instruction program that is no longer being offered. The only manufacturing courses are computer repair type courses and welding.
From this reply to my e-mail…It appears we have still not “defined” “technology”.


1) I feel the first order of business is to define what “technology” we need to “transfer” to the students ( what types of skills does industry have need of)? Are we going to create “computer application” courses, or a Hands-on integrated Manufacturing/Industrial “industry driven” program?

Programs offered in “Technology” (by various institutions) (Attachment 5)
These range across the board, but I have concentrated my research mainly on “Industrial” type Maintenance & Electrical Programs.
I am very impressed by programs offered by “Technical Colleges” , especially those offered in Texas and Alabama. Although other states have some outstanding programs, the Texas & Alabama offerings really stood out. I have made no effort to either edit or rank them except to separate them into three sections (geographically). You will note certain “core” items in each course that tend to define the programs. I especially like the modular approach used by West Texas Technical College EMP program.

After defining which courses are needed, they, and the labs to go with them must be created. Another decision must be made at this time.

2) Quality instructors will need to be found to create courses and labs. or:
3) Professionally created or “canned” curriculum must be purchased.
My preference would be to hire the instructors be to develop (or at least provide input into) the course & program. My personal experience with “canned” curriculum is that it is inflexible and extremely expensive.
The search needs to begin as soon as possible…
As it appears the hiring of Vocational Instructors in Northern Nevada is problematic at best, especially those in Industrial / Electrical / Manufacturing trades. I believe this is due to lower than average pay and uncertain job status and security. No matter how “good” the program is, to be a quality program, it will need instructors with industrial experience and teaching experience and familiarity with “academic” policy & procedure. Also: If curriculum is not professionally developed, the instructor will also need expertise in curriculum development.

Quoting the National Association of Industrial Technology 2003 Annual National Salary Survey Data and Demographics sheet (source: http://www.nait.org/demographics/Demo.html) (attachment 6 )

Average salary for non-administrative Industrial Technology: Professor, $69.043 Associate Professor, $58,658 Assistant Professor $52,120 Instructor/Lecturer, $44,087

Over 75% were either tenured, or on tenure track

Only 20% were at Instructor/Lecturer status or below

UCCSN System average salary (for vocational/industrial) = *******
TMCC average salary (for vocational/industrial) = ********

**Note: I have not been able to obtain “average salary” range of TMCC or UCCSN system Technical/Vocational instructors. However, wage is dependent mainly on “University Degree” not industry certification or experience. Tenure is not possible (at TMCC) without a Bachelors degree or above. Instructors on Tenure Track who are not granted tenure are subject to non-renewal of contract.

Therefore…Full time faculty will need to have at least a Bachelors degree, Masters or above preferred. Note: To approach industry pay scales, a PhD will be required.

Part time faculty pay is based on the following system classification:

Part-time faculty: CCSN salary: $735 per instructional hour
UCCSN salary:
A Masters degree (or above) is preferred

Note that pay is based on “instructional hour”. Class preparation time, lab setup, and course development is not paid (or must be paid by some other means).

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Letter to Mr. Garza

Mr. Garza
Reading your article of 4/4/04 re: the need for more technology education, I agree wholeheartedly.
What I have found (especially in my case) is that it is extremely hard to get "traditional" educators to even understand the term" technology", let alone actually support the programs!
I'm a bit bitter right now having been just given my "terminal contract for 2004-2005 (a not so subtle way of saying your history after next year) from TMCC. My area of expertise is Industrial Control (Automation & Telecommunications).
I find it very difficult to understand how TMCC could get a $390,000 grant for Manufacturing Technology last January, and lay of the only person even remotely qualified to teach motion control & automation!
No reason was given, (I'll admit to low enrollment, although I think a lot of it had to do with the department title if "Industrial Maintenance" which scared of a lot of the younger students who compared "Maintenance" to "work") but I’ll also defend the time it took to put the program together (when I arrived 5 years ago, they handed me a binder prepared by Michelin to train their electrical personnel). Having virtually no money, I thought I put together a pretty good program (developed 6 new classes, lecture & web) and filled the labs with equipment (mostly hand-built by myself & students with parts procured by “beg, borrow & steal”).
What is really maddening, is the thought that there may finally be some money available to actually build decent labs, and I can’t even tell my current students if the program they signed up for will be in existence after the next two semesters! If they have found someone to replace me, and keep the program in some form operational, no one seems to be willing to convey the information to me. On that note, another problem with technical education is the wages paid to the instructors. Bill Verbeck (the former Dean at Edison whom the administration sacked) fought like mad to get me a salary which was livable (although only about 65% of what I was previously earning in industry). It is my understanding that TMCC pays their part-time faculty about $16/hour and really wants them to hold degree’s.
Sorry for the rambling e-mail here….. what I’d really like you to look into is how we are going to train new people, when the skills of those who have learned technology (hell I started in telecommunications when it was two soup cans & a string!) and have a passion for teaching, cannot find a job (let alone one that pays the bills) teaching.
CL Dickinson

Thursday, March 04, 2004

Letter to Jim Rogers

Go get ‘em Jim.

"Having a chancellor with no academic administrative experience could be a problem", said Regent Doug Hill...

Frankly I don't see a problem here. Having academics administer technological programs.. now that’s a problem!! We need someone with "real world" experience (and especially since you have been putting your money where your mouth is… I think you deserve to see how some of it is being spent).

I started in telecommunications when it was two soup cans & a string (later to Industrial Instrumentation ). I have virtually no experience in “higher education” , but, for some strange reason, decided I wanted to pass along some of this knowledge I've obtained over the last 30 years. So…. for the past 5 years had been setting up a program at TMCC… Seems I’m a bit out of my league (well let’s just say I tried to play ball & you can guess where they stuck the bat)…

Those at the top who live in their Ivory Towers, have no idea what us “knuckle-draggers” (blue collar workers & tradesmen) do nor how to effectively spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to put programs in place (although they don’t seem to have any problems spending the money, I just would like to know where).

We really need someone with business & technological experience up there on that Board. Although the Legislature keeps sending money, and the media keep reassuring us that money and expertise is available to train for “High Skill, High Wage” jobs, ask anyone at any “Technical Institute” of any Community College in the state. What the Academics don’t understand, they bury.
What we need in this state is more skilled employees (not more people asking “want fries with that” with Liberal Arts degrees. Sadly I don’t think the Community College system pays any more than lip service to that goal. The need is still there. How are we going to provide the service?


CL Dickinson
(soon be ex) Instructor, Industrial Maintenance
Truckee Meadows Community College, Applied Industrial Technology, Edison Campus
Reno NV