Schools weld programs together
By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN
Some of the best family conversations come around the dinner table.
The same can be said for neighboring educational institutions.
A lunch with the presidents of the two local post-secondary schools this past spring has resulted in a new program -- the Kansas Institute of Welding.
Classes will be taught by an instructor from the Hays campus of North Central Kansas Technical College, in the lab on the Fort Hays State University campus.
Welding students won't attend class in the lab until Aug. 25, the same day FHSU begins its 2008 fall semester.
The rest of the classes at the NCKTC-Hays campus begin a week earlier, and during that time the welding students will go through their safety training through Occupational Safety Health Administration to become OSHA-certified.
Don Benjamin, dean of the technical college's Hays campus, said he was with the two schools' presidents -- Ed Hammond at FHSU and Clark Coco at NCKTC -- at a lunch last spring. And the technical college representatives voiced their opinion about wanting to start a welding program in Hays, if only they somehow could find the space.
"President Hammond said, 'We have a welding lab that's not used very much,' " Benjamin said.
"And," he added, "here we are."
Establishing the nine-month program went quickly as the two schools found it was a good fit for both.
The welding lab at Fort Hays, which has been used for only one class a semester the past several years, now will be in use five days a week by NCKTC students.
While the Fort Hays welding class is going on, during a two-hour time period twice a week, technical college students will attend general education classes on their campus.
In exchange for use of the lab, the college will supply materials for the FHSU welding classes.
"There's always been a demand for welders in the Hays area, but there hasn't been much training," said Benjamin, in his second year in Hays.
The technical college hired Bob Meistrell from Plainville, who has 35 years industrial welding experience.
"I've wanted to teach for a long time," said Meistrell, who saw the position advertised in the newspaper and contacted the technical college. "This really fit with what I wanted to do."
The welding students will join other technical college students in being able to participate in FHSU activities as part of the Gateway Program, a partnership between the two schools, begun last year.
The Gateway Program allows NCKTC students to live on the FHSU campus and participate in university activities.
The Beloit campus of NCKTC has a welding program, as do several technical schools in Kansas.
But Hays didn't, before now.
Fort Hays has offered welding classes as part of its manufacturing program but it has not had a certification program specific to welding for several years.
Getting the students out in the workforce will be no problem, both schools agreed.
"We can place every welder we graduate," Meistrell said. "There is a high, high demand for welders."
Graduates can make anywhere from about $18 to $30 an hour.
"There's a high demand for welders right here in Hays," agreed Fred Ruda, chairman of the technology studies department at Fort Hays.
The new welding institute has eight students enrolled in its inaugural class, which Meistrell said "is a nice number to start with."
Maximum class size is 16.
The technical college is purchasing new, specialized equipment such as a multi-process welder that will allow students to experience every type of welding off the machine. The equipment, while owned by NCKTC, will remain in the Fort Hays lab for the duration of the partnership.
Ruda said Fort Hays students also will benefit from the new equipment.
"Hand-eye coordination is utmost in welding," he said. "So they have to learn how to use the most up-to-date equipment for when they go out in the workforce."
Meistrell, who said he is anxious to get started, plans to set up an advisory committee that will include local employers.
"I think it will be a great opportunity for our institution, our students and the work force in the Hays area," Benjamin said.
To learn more about the Kansas Institute of Welding, contact the Hays campus of North Central Kansas Technical College at (888) 567-4297 or (785) 625-2437.
Information about the program, as well as the college's other offerings, also can be found on the school's Web site at www.ncktc.edu.
The addition of a welding program brings to 10 the number of programs of study offered on the Hays campus, including two-year associate degrees in eight of those areas.