Student Services Committee Tours KCC Industrial Technology Department
Industrial Technology – The Original IT!
Launch the media gallery 1 playerKankakee Area Regional Vocational Education System (KARVES) sponsors a committee comprised of area school counselors, and liaisons from I-KAN, Kankakee Community College, Tech Prep, and KARVES staff. The Student Services Committee meets four times throughout the school year and is dedicated to the dissemination of pertinent information concerning career and technical education.
In keeping with the purpose, Anne Perry, Industrial Technology Chairperson at the Kankakee Community College spoke to the committee at length in regard to the courses available at the college and then gave a tour of the classrooms and labs.
At the beginning of the tour, this reporter began taking notes based upon what each instructor had to say about their field, employment opportunities and the emphasis they place on their students obtaining a four year degree after completing their studies with KCC.
No matter what the class, the resounding common attributes are:
- Employment opportunities are fantastic! The Industrial Technology courses at KCC typically only lose students before the completion of their programs because businesses have hired them at enticing salaries.
Courses have been outlined for each industrial technology course of study in order for students to earn their Associate’s Degree. Most courses within the program are transferable to four-year colleges. Typically, the first 2 years of their bachelor’s degree are complete. - Student-faculty ratios are much smaller than at four-year colleges and most vocational/ technical schools. In fact, in the automotive repair department, KCC’s new instructor, Chris Spracklin mentioned one of the main reasons he left Wyoming Tech, a large, prestigious, tech school, was KCC gave him the opportunity to work with students 16 to 20 at a time, not 80 to 100.Newest member to the KCC Industrial Tech Dept. Chris Spracklin shows his auto lab and explains curriculum opportunities.
- KCC’s professional instructors are not only degreed, they have all had experience in the workforce and many still own and operate their own businesses in addition to teaching at the college. They’re all current on what goes on within their respective professions.
- Each Instructor not only imparts their knowledge within their profession, they also make sure each student knows the importance of continuing their education after KCC. Oftentimes, students are leered away because of the exceptional salaries they can earn without a bachelor’s degree. Ms. Perry and her team of instructors let students know how those who go on to earn their bachelor’s degree are the ones who are promoted more often and have the greatest chance of being CEO.
Launch the media gallery 3 playerThe facility tour included Welding and Machine tool, hosted by instructor Mark Stevenson. Mr. Stevenson explained the myriad of occupations available to his students, such as quality control, race car teams, integral assembly, CNC, etc., etc. The field certainly embraces any gender, and stated math and English skills are important to the students’ success. An instructor from the Kankakee Area Career Center, Mike Spangler also teaches at KCC. Mr. Enz’s KACC class, Automotive Technology with Precision Metals is eligible for dual credit at KCC.
Launch the media gallery 2 playerCharlie Cooke, Air Condition and Refrigeration/Construction Management, stated students should have a good foundation of science and math upon entering his program. Employment opportunities abound in the pharmaceutical, food processing, residential HVAC and many other areas. He spoke of the need to keep interior environmental controls for various healthcare industry areas as well as preventing what is called “sick building syndrome.”
Anne Perry showed various work completed by her Drafting/CAD students and spoke of need to consistently encourage students to complete their education as she is constantly having companies call her to hire her students. Ms. Perry also expressed the resounding call for math and English skills within her program. Ms. Perry took the committee members through her computer aided drafting (CAD) lab as well as the lab for manual drafting. Ms. Perry spoke at length about the various careers available for her students, not only in engineering, architecture, but also in more creative fields such as animation and graphic design.
Tim Wilhelm spoke of the many facets of his Electrical Technology Program. Mr. Wilhelm, having been educated in a large four-year university, emphasized the benefits of the cost and student-teacher ratio within KCC’s Industrial Technology. He related many new and innovative projects being undertaken such as a solar energy wall at KCC and potential for wind-energy and other work involving alternative energy sources. Patrick Klette, a former student, who finished his degree at SIU and returned to teach, also spoke to the group about the ability of KCC to keep up with the latest technology in their field and various other benefits to the students.
Frank Fischer, Law Enforcement/Criminal Justice was unavailable as he was teaching a class during the time of the tour. The Law Enforcement program is the largest within the IT department at KCC, with a typical enrollment of 300 to 400 students.
Considering the high school counselors spend so much effort in guiding students in planning their continuing education, the tour of Industrial Technology was extremely pertinent, informative and interesting to those who attended.
KARVES Assistant Director, Bosa Goodale, certainly extended her thanks and appreciation to Ms. Perry, the Program Instructors and Kankakee Community College for a fabulous tour.