Section B – Innovations, Honors and Achievements

This past Spring, the first graduates of Trinidad State Junior College’s news Southern Colorado Line Technician program volunteered to assist Ordway residents in cleaning up after a devastating fire destroyed many properties in and around the town.

TSJC launched the program last Fall in response to a strong demand for qualified line technicians. The college partnered with San Isabel Electric Association, with funding from the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, to create the curriculum which has been designed to provide theoretical and hands-on training.

Line Technician Faculty Member Mark told Connections the following about the clean-up effort:
I had heard of the fire and I called Southeast Power in La Junta to see if they could use my students in any way. I thought it might be some very good experience. Jim Shulda (Operations Manager) felt that this would be a great opportunity as well and he agreed that we could come down and help them.

It was an amazing sight. The fire seemed to have jumped from one spot to another. Everyone, I think was expecting to find one big burn spot. This was not the case. The fire started south of town, and worked its way all through town burning only some locations. It was hard to believe the fire had burned so far to where we were working on the northeast side of town. There were several homes that were completely destroyed as well as several large storage buildings. Southeast Power lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 poles.

The students spent the day pulling wire from burned poles, wrecking poles (removing hardware), setting new poles, spooling wire, framing poles, climbing to string new conductor. The students were somewhat shocked by the damage that we were seeing. They were able to put that aside and did the work that they were asked to do. They did a tremendous job.

Shulda and Rich Wilson (General Manager) were very appreciative that we would be willing to come down to lend a hand. I as an Instructor and my students were actually the ones appreciative that we would be given the opportunity to help out in a time that people had to pick up and rebuild a major portion of their lives.

My students and myself returned on the 22nd of April and we along with the Southeast Lineman, were able to wreck out 30 miles of older line. This averaged out that students climbed an average of 17 poles each. Needless to say, "Real World Training" was a tremendous benefit. The Linemen of Southeast Power treated our students as co-workers and not as students. They  were very helpful and provided a lot of useful information and training.

I have sent Connections a black and white picture of a child's tricycle. To me the picture almost but not quite describes the feeling's that one feels when you enter into an area of destruction such as this. The amount of loss that occurred can not be measured in dollars.   The location where the two firefighters were killed is marked with flowers and cards. People are constantly driving around the burned out areas. I think they do this because it is hard to believe that, "In one minute, your whole life changes".

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In August 2004, Southwest Early College (SEC) opened its doors to 110 freshmen and 25 sophomores—about 90% of whom were Latino.  The Early College/high school model combines the last two years of high school and the first two years of college into a seamless experience that eases students into college as they are ready. Students graduate with both a high school diploma and up to sixty transferable credits--the equivalent of two years of study or an associate's degree.

On May 14, 2008, five Southwest Early College graduates crossed the stage at Community College of Denver’s commencement to receive their Associate Degrees and they did so before they received their high school diplomas!

“It’s definitely not for everyone. If you are someone who doesn’t like ‘traditional’ public school or you are not doing well in school—you should try this,” says Associate of Arts recipient Joe Gerlick.  “I have to say, it takes a lot of maturity to balance high school life and college expectations.”

Joe, who would have attended Englewood High School, plans to transfer to Metropolitan State College to study English Composition with the ultimate goal of becoming a college professor.

“The way I saw it was that I had been accepted into Denver School of Science and Technology… They were offering me a laptop and Southwest Early College was offering me a college degree.  I figured with a college degree I could buy my own laptop.  So that’s how I made the decision to go SEC,” chuckles Cinthia Espino, Associate of Science degree recipient.  “It took a lot of discipline to study, study, study while my friends were hanging out.  But I look at where I am now and where they are, and I know I made the right decision.”

Cinthia aspires to become a Pediatrician and plans to transfer to St. Mary’s College in northern California to study Biology.  “The pay off makes me feel proud.  I know I can do anything I set my mind to.  I can’t say I always thought like that” she reflects.

“I actually developed a passion for learning.  I hated feeling like I had to cram to pass classes.  I wanted to actually learn something.  There are classes, looking back, that I want to re-take ‘cause I feel like I crammed,” states Carlos Sandoval, Associate of Science recipient. 

As a school of choice student, Sandoval was still able to participate in sports at his DPS home school, Kennedy High School.  “I had some of the ‘regular’ high school experiences, went to homecoming and everything.”

In 2006-07, SEC students earned a cumulative college GPA of 2.5, with an 87.5% college course pass rate. In 2007-08, 200 SEC students are taking between 1 and 4 college courses.

Karla  Mier received her Associate of Science degree and plans to transfer to college in New Mexico to study Astro-Physics.  She aspires to build jets and airplanes, “I want to go to the moon and back,” she laughs. 

“I am the first in my family to do anything—finish high school or go to college.  Even if this [graduating] isn’t important to them, it means everything to me.”

The academic rigor extended to these students seems to be the common denominator.  Each feels that balancing the social life of a high student with the demands of college was difficult to balance. 

“It was hectic!  I wanted to play sports, but I had late classes.  I made sacrifices to get what I want,” states Mier thoughtfully.

“It’s cool.  I mean, anybody who otherwise wouldn’t go to college this allows them to experience college with the support of their high school,” states Daniel Anderson, Associate of Science recipient.  Anderson plans to transfer to School of Mines to student Electrical Engineering or Electrical Design.

Across the nation, early college high schools are not only closing the graduation gap, but are also placing students into college with high degrees of success. Nearly ninety percent of early college high school students earn passing grades in college level coursework and overall hold higher grade point averages than their older college peers.

Southwest Early College is co-located on the Teikyo Loretto Heights University campus with CCD Southwest’s Branch Campus. The SEC-CCD partnership is partially funded and supported by the Middle College National Consortium.

“Graduating from high school and college at the same time is so exciting.  It sort of feels like the first last step because there is still so much we want to do,” says Karla Mier as her peers laugh in unison and nod in complete agreement.

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Red Rocks Community College and Clear Creek County recently celebrated completion of the three-year grant that funded their creation of a health clinic for underserved, low-income patients.

The Colorado Trust's Health Professions Initiative recognized the work of Red Rocks staff and students in cooperation with Clear Creek County public health nurses and the county commissioners over the three years of the grant.

The Clear Creek County town of Idaho Springs lost its only health clinic serving un-insured and under-insured patients in 2003. Residents, including those on Medicaid and Medicare, had to travel to Blackhawk or Evergreen for health care.

Joan Smith, Dean of Planning, Research and Strategic Initiatives for Red Rocks, worked with the schools in Idaho Springs and knew of the need. She and Jim Keller, head of the college's Physician Assistant Program, brainstormed about a possible solution. "We were looking to expand our students' in underserved rural and urban medicine," Keller said.

They contacted Jean Barta, a registered nurse and public health nurse with the Clear Creek County Public Nursing Office, who approached the county commissioners with the idea of collaboration.

Smith applied for and won a $366,000, three-year grant from the Trust. The clinic opened in 2005 and operated for a year in a Clear Creek County building. In 2006, Dr. Elane Shirar bought the clinic and moved it into a historic 137-year-old home, adding it to the four clinics she operates in Longmont, Arvada, Denver and West Yellowstone National Park.

Red Rocks medical assistant and physician assistant students work at the clinic as part of their training rotation, supervised by the professional staff. Keller initially worked part-time at the clinic, along with two of the program's faculty members. He left Red Rocks in January of this year to work full time at the clinic. "I'm very happy right now," Keller said. "This is the kind of practice I always wanted to get into."

The county obtained grants for the building the clinic is housed in and for equipment and marketed the clinic to the communities it serves, Barta said. "Having a health care site that serves all citizens of a community is basic infrastructure for a community and it needs to be promoted and sustained."

The clinic, which started slowly, now has about 700 patients from several surrounding communities, a number that is growing daily. It is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, averaging about 24 patient visits daily.

Seventy-five percent of the clinic's clients are on Medicare, Medicaid or have no insurance, Keller said. "The whole purpose of the clinic is to be available to people who can't afford to go to another clinic," he said. Fees are based on a sliding scale and uninsured clients who can't afford the $39 charge are treated for free. The county's resource center also helps low-income patients with the cost of medications, specialists, diagnostic tests and other costs.

Patients come in for everything from routine treatment like vaccinations and checkups (Keller recently did 17 sports physicals at the local middle and high schools) to emergencies like broken bones, lacerations and other illnesses. This month, certified nurse midwives from St. Anthony's Hospital have begun women's health clinics there two days a week, freeing Keller for home and nursing home visits. Eventually, mental health counselors from Jefferson County will also be housed in the clinic.

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In April, through the combined efforts of personnel at the colleges, CCCOnline, and CCCS Information Technology Division, the 24/7 Colorado Community College Technical Help Desk was launched for online students and faculty using Blackboard Vista.  Now, students, faculty and staff can access support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by calling the Technical Support desk at 888-800-9198 or submitting a support request or live chat through our Online Help Site located at http://help.cccs.edu.

The help desk is staffed by a PerceptIS, a leading developer of IT support services for the education market. Based in Phoenix, the PerceptIS help desk specialists have immersed themselves in learning the intricacies of how CCCS’ Blackboard Vista system functions. Besides CCCS, the Phoenix office also supports the Maricopa and Pima Community College Districts in Arizona.

The specialists at the 24/7 Technical Support help desk are trained to assist users on a variety of “Tier 1” (basic) topics including: configuring one’s computer to use Blackboard Vista; logging into Blackboard Vista; troubleshooting problems using your online course; setting up your browser to support Blackboard Vista; questions about how to use features in Blackboard Vista; and, uploading and downloading assignments/email attachments

Additionally, online students and faculty can now find step-by-step instructions for many common issues in the knowledge base of a newly designed Self-Help site located at http://help.cccs.edu. 

Although the Help Desk is focused on Blackboard Vista calls, as appropriate they will answer and track any basic Banner support calls so that CCCS can get an understanding of the volume and nature of those calls. 

According to CCCOnline co-director Rhonda Epper, “Adequate technical support is a critical factor in retention of online students.” She adds, “Now when our students tackle their courses late in the evening or on weekends they will get immediate and responsive assistance with any basic difficulties they encounter with using Blackboard Vista.” While many staff were crucial to the implementation  of the system, Epper believes CCCS Associate Academic Dean Monica Falk, Front Range Community College Faculty Development Coordinator Donna Hall and CCCS IT Vice President/Chief Information Officer Julie Ouska were exceptionally vital to launching the new system.

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The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $476,000 grant to Arapahoe Community College and Aims Community College in Greeley for the NSF's Advanced Technological Education program. The grant will help the two colleges emphasize essential skills needed within the information technology workforce and will involve more than 12 educational, workforce and industry partners in the Denver metropolitan area.

"With a shared vision to develop a model for information technology education that is responsive to the workforce needs of the region's high-growth industries, ACC and Aims have collaborated with our other partners to bring about major changes in the focus of education for industry. Gone are the days of closed-door IT work, as technical skills are now routinely integrated in the daily operations of business. Employers are demanding more skills and knowledge than ever before," said Diane Hegeman, ACC vice president for instruction.

"We very much appreciate the confidence the National Science Foundation has shown in us and this project by awarding this grant to ACC and Aims, and we look forward to results that will have a measurable impact on the quality of employees in information technology fields in the coming years," Hegeman said.

The Denver region's high-growth industries include aerospace, bioscience, energy and information technology. The project funded by the grant will focus on giving potential and current IT workers employability skills that will provide the intellectual capital required to fill high-skill and high-wage jobs in metro Denver.

Titled the Colorado Advanced Technological Education Partnership (CATEP), the program will receive an award from NSF totaling $476,468, with Aims receiving $133,320 and ACC receiving $343,148. Erica Hastert, ACC faculty president and mathematics instructor, and Richard Gardner on the Aims IT faculty will serve as principal investigators for the project.

"This is a great opportunity for Aims and ACC to work with educational entities and pertinent employers to focus our curricula to produce graduates with those employability skills required by industry," Gardner said.

"This grant will help our IT faculty focus our coursework more precisely to ensure that we continue to produce graduates who are in high demand by an ever-changing industry."
The grant will enable Aims and ACC to meet the needs that employers report are absolutely essential but presently lacking within their information and communications workforce. The colleges will incorporate employability skills needed in the work place into the introductory IT course. These skills include verbal and written communication, critical thinking and problem-solving, teamwork and collaboration, contextual knowledge of work responsibilities, self-management and motivation.

The colleges also will provide professional development for faculty at the partnering community colleges and their participating secondary schools toward implementing educational experiences that include problem-based and collaborative learning driven by real-world problems. Professional development opportunities also will be offered for high school counselors and community college advisors to assist them in guiding students interested in IT toward specializing in a specific discipline and in guiding students of all disciplines to gain a commanding knowledge of technological applications in their field of choice.

Partnerships with secondary schools will result in the infusion of employability skills into fundamental Career and Technical Education classes at participating high schools in Douglas, Larimer and Weld counties. Professional development for educators in those programs will assist them with teaching employability skills in the classroom.

Best practices generated from research and previous NSF grant recipients will serve as the program's foundation. Studies by organizations such as the National Center for Emerging Technologies show that a shortage of qualified workers is the biggest challenge to growth of IT businesses and that technical, analytical and employability skills must be integrated into basic information technology courses.

The broader impact resulting from the project begins with the boost to economic development that will occur when technicians possess the skills industries need to experience growth. The project also will equip workers with life-long learning skills and add value to technician certificates and degrees. CATEP will establish strong partnerships among educators, the workforce and industry that will reach beyond the program itself.

The project will build relationships with industry to develop a student internship program, a faculty externship program and a project advisory board composed of industry representatives who can expertly guide the project and assist with continual feedback to evaluate the project's success.

Partners committed to this effort include the Colorado Community College System, the Denver WIRED Initiative, Douglas County Schools, Greeley-Evans Weld County School District 6, Thompson School District, Arapahoe/Douglas Works!, Weld County Employment Services, CH2MHill, Avaya, Lockheed Martin, Snelling Professional Services and BB2e.com.

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This Fall, Nursing students across southeastern Colorado will be able to work in a new mobile clinical simulation laboratory made possible by a $1 million grant from The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration Community-Based Job Training Grant program.

Denise Root RN MSN, director of Otero Junior College’s Nursing Program, says a fifth-wheel trailer has been customized to include all of the equipment and supplies necessary for a medical simulation lab and will enable educators to deliver medical training at OJC, Lamar Community College and healthcare agencies and medical centers all over the region. Procuring all of the necessary equipments for the simulation lab took almost one year.

The laboratory consists of four life-like human patient simulators (HPS) that are electronically hooked to a computer. Each simulator is able to replicate many of the major functions of the human body as well as display reactions to treatment. Monitoring equipment inside the laboratory allow students to assess the patient’s vital signs, including heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure. Each of the simulators register a pulse, exhibit breath and bowel sounds, and can display allergic reaction symptoms.

Nursing faculty member Kimberly Starr, MS, RN, explains, “The simulators consist of an adult patient, a female obstetric patient, a pediatric patient, and an infant.” She adds, “We can actually give shots, run fluids through their bodies, and simulate most bodily functions and reactions.” “The computer interacts with the simulator to create responses to treatments that truly mimic how the human body would react to medications and procedures,” she said.

Otero Junior College was the recipient of the nearly $1 million grant from The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration Community-Based Job Training Grant program, last year. The grant project is titled: “Health and Education Linking Partnership” (HELP). The project is designed to boost the local healthcare industry by addressing the shortage of qualified nursing professionals in the region.

The grant proposal identified that limited capacities in the nursing programs at both Otero Junior College and Lamar Community College have led to a nursing shortage in the area. Being able to provide additional clinical space and resources will enable both colleges to turn this trend around. Besides providing mobile training, the HELP initiative has resulted in a student recruitment program that provides scholarships for nursing students.

Although OJC was the lead applicant for the project, several partners came together in developing the proposal. In addition to OJC, partners include Lamar Community College, Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center, Prowers County Medical Center, Bent County Healthcare Center, Colorado Workforce Center, Rocky Mountain SER and the East Otero School District.

Jim Rizzuto, president of Otero Junior College, sees many opportunities for both OJC and LCC as a result of the grant award. “We are excited about the possibilities this grant affords us by allowing us to expand clinical opportunities for our students as well as allowing us to serve more students in the nursing programs at both colleges,” said Rizzuto.

“These awards recall the imperative that businesses and the workforce system team up with their region’s community colleges to ensure that workers are armed with the right skills to thrive in the 21st century economy,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco. “Community colleges are closely tied to the areas they serve, and they have proven themselves adept at responding to the regional workforce demands of numerous industries.”

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PCC Lands $2 Million Grant
to Deliver Advanced Manufacturing Training

The first Pueblo Community College Mobile Learning Lab

The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded Pueblo Community College a nearly $2 million, three-year grant to help meet an acute regional need for skilled employees in the advanced manufacturing industry. Training will impact production, maintenance and support staff for the existing manufacturing sectors in Southern Colorado.

With the help of several regional partners, PCC, along with the Pueblo and Pikes Peak workforce centers, will develop and deliver job-readiness training and technical competencies to students as well as new and existing employees to prepare them to enter this field.

“This grant will be the foundation for establishing the Academy for Advanced Manufacturing and will further improve upon employer-driven training programs,” pointed out John Vukich, Director of the Business & Industry Workforce Training Department at PCC.

“PCC and its partners will help to address a workforce shortage echoed by local employers in Pueblo, El Paso, Teller and several of the counties that are part of the Southeastern Colorado Employment, Education, & Economic Vitality Partnership (SCE3P) as they contend with attrition caused by a high number of retirements, company growth and the challenge to attract younger people into these rewarding career choices,” he added.

Specifics of the project include:

• Developing new curriculum and enhancing existing curriculum
• Increasing PCC’s training capability on and off campus
• Upgrading technical teaching competencies and delivery methods to expand the use of technologies including web-based course delivery
• Expanding program delivery capacity through the creation and implementation of three mobile learning labs that can be taken to company’s facility
• Implementing nationally-recognized certifications as participants successfully complete the training program

The aim of the training program is to enable participants to qualify for jobs, improve work performance in their current positions and help facilitate opportunities for promotion. Over a three-year period, the project is expected to provide job readiness and technical skills training at no or minimal cost for up to 450 participants. Additionally, the project anticipates impacting 1,300 individuals in Southern Colorado and affecting both short- and long-term industry needs.

Individuals will participate in an assessment process initially to determine eligibility to enter the program. Those successfully completing the entire training program, which follows the DOL “Model of Competencies,” would gain Manufacturing Skills Standards Council certification and meet National Institute for Manufacturing Standards (NIMS) qualifications.

Partners will leverage an additional $612,000 in in-kind and financial support. It includes committed time for project oversight, Workforce Investment Act funding for participants, and employer support through the purchase of employee course materials and time allowed during their workday to attend training.

Local business, construction and industry partners have already stepped forward to support PCC’s mobile learning lab project. Their funding provided the resources to purchase and bring up to DOT requirements a used Mack semi truck to pull a learning lab. In addition, Aquila recently donated a used Ford F-550 from its fleet to pull the existing or new labs as they are developed.

Some of the donors include: K.R. Swerdfeger Construction, ICM-Zercher, TL Printz Construction, Pate Construction, Schrock Electric, Acorn Construction, Pueblo General Contractors Association, Airgas, Lincoln Electric, Rexal and the PCC Foundation.

In support of increasing the number of students enrolling in manufacturing-related programs, Incognito Marketing has established a scholarship for manufacturing students. PCC is working with local manufacturers to establish additional scholarship opportunities for persons interested in entering high-demand fields with excellent salaries.

The grant was written by an eight-person team that included three members of PCC’s Business & Industry Workforce Training department: Amanda Ackerman, Operations Coordinator; John Vukich, Director; and Nancy Zimmer, Administrative Assistant

Other members of the grant-writing team were Marci Colb, PCC Grant Writer; Steve Chorak, Labor and Employment Specialist at the Pueblo Workforce Center; Frank Porreco of the Pueblo Workforce Center; Laura Williams-Parish, Grant Writer at the Pikes Peak Workforce Center; and Jo Ann Galvan of the Colorado Association for Manufacturing & Technology.

Key players in the grant’s implementation will be Ackerman as Project Coordinator, Chorak as Assistant Project Coordinator (through the Pueblo Workforce Center), Zimmer as Development and Activities Coordinator and the staff at the Pikes Peak Workforce Center.

PCC’s Workforce Training staff will provide technical curriculum development and delivery, while staff members at both workforce centers will develop and deliver curriculum for job readiness topics. In addition, specific subject experts from those areas will assist in curriculum development. Vukich will provide oversight for the project.

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