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Line school placed on hold
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Conflicting information from two state power organizations has caused plans for overhead power distribution training in Clay Center to "hit a brick wall," Rob Edleston, Manhattan Area Technical College president told a gathering of interested persons in Clay Center last last week.
As a result, MATC officials say they will not establish classes on electric power distribution in Clay Center until they know for certain there are enough jobs available to place all of their graduates in the program.
Edleston said having the classes here is "not a dead issue." But he said school officials are awaiting results of a survey determining whether enough jobs or apprenticeships would be available for the expanded class offerings here.
That would mean the overhead power classes wouldn't begin until January, 2006 if at all.
He did say MATC remains interested in offering a variety of both credit and non-credit classes classes in other disciplines here, including certified nursing associate classes that could begin in January. Other possibilities include construction apprenticeships and other short term courses such as supervision and computer skills.
A recent attempt to provide carpentry training failed due to lack of response.
Edleston told the Dispatch the school is reluctant to move the entire Electric Power and Distribution program to Clay Center because the program "provides a notable draw to the (Manhattan) campus" and that such a move could "affect our public image."
He said that MATC students and instructors were hesitant, even opposed in some cases, to traveling outside the area to attend class.
But he also said a survey conducted by MATC indicated 12 students on a waiting list for the program would be willing to attend a third class in Clay Center which would require hiring of a third instructor and "would have created a break even situation for the College."
MATC officials last March said the overhead power classes have a three-year waiting list of students from utilities around Kansas, mostly from the west and north of Clay Center. They expected 18 to 30 students to begin the program depending on whether the college offers one or two sections in the former auto dealership building.
Edelston said the previous MATC administration decided to keep both sections of the program at the Manhattan campus to share resources and save the additional cost of another class elsewhere.
He said the class "would probably have happened if not for the conflict of information related to internships and placement."
That conflict apparently can be traced to information coming from rural electric cooperatives, which are heavily represented on MATC's Program Advisory Committee for power distribution, and conflicting information coming from officials with the Kansas Municiple Utilities which needs ongoing apprenticeship training for workers.
Edelston said MATC's former president, Duane Dunn, had worked with Clay Center to put electric power apprenticeship training at Clay Center. The plan was to use the town as a central location for the municiplaities around the state to send employees for several days of training at a time to improve the apprentice's skill level.
Edelston said he recently met with Colin Hansen, training director with Kansas Municipal Utilities, to discuss managing their apprentice training in Clay Center, but no decision will be made until the survey on future job openings, internships and pay rates has been completed.
Earlier this year, Clay Center provided the school with the former Skinner building which includes classrooms and bays that could be used to house the equipment. The county also moved to secure 14 acres of land near the Clay County Community Middle School as a potential site for what Edelston envisions as a "Northwest Campus" for MATC.
On Feb. 15, the MATC board of directors voted unanimously to study the feasibility of placing a satellite campus in Clay Center.
On March 9, the MATC board accepted Clay Center's proposal to begin classes in the former auto dealership, including apprenticeship classes in carpentry, plumbing and electrical and said classes in overhead power distribution were scheduled to begin in January 2006. That vote was 8-0 with one board member absent.
Talks between MATC and local officials began long before Manhattan school officials sold USD-383 land used by MATC to store electric distribution trucks and equipment and provide hands-on training. The equipment was moved to property near Keats where equipment is being stored outside at a cost of $7,000 per year, Edelston said.
Edelston said the college still plans to provide a variety of offerings at the center here.
"We will be focusing on both credit and non-credit classes for students and the community as an outcome of Monday's meeting," Edelston said in a statement Wednesday. "We are examining which programs would work in Clay without creating fiscal distress to MATC.
"We are excited about our relationship with the citizens of Clay County and are very optimistic that you will find us a welcome presence."
Jerry Mayo, Clay County commissioner and president of the MATC board, said the school still has the objective of constructing a $2.2 million satellite campus eventually.
He said the school has 300 names on a waiting list for allied health training, one of the options mentioned for the Clay Center campus. Mayo said the college spent $40,000 to move line crew equipment to the Keats site.
Meanwhile, the Clay County's Economic Development Group board Wednesday approved a policy position that would encourage consideration of other uses for the Skinner building.
The board was told interest had been expressed by other institutions and well as private business in the facility.
"We're not giving up on MATC. But we can't wait forever if opportunities come our way and would urge public officials to be open to all alternatives, if any," EDG Chairman Ned Valentine said.
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©Clay Center Dispatch 2010
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