Published: November 06, 2009 10:14 pm      

New Ivy Tech campus hosts regional board

Officials talk about changes in welding program

Local education officials had the opportunity to see Ivy Tech’s nearly completed, $20-million project first-hand this week at the college’s regional board of trustees meeting.

The Logansport campus hosted the regional meeting and provided trustees and educators with a tour of the new facility.

Guests provided positive feedback as they toured the building, which includes a community room, library, computer labs, student affairs area and study rooms. The 81,000-square-foot building also houses two life science and three health science labs.

One feature of the building discussed at the meeting was the school’s welding lab.

Kevin Bostic, vice chancellor and dean of the campus, said the welding shop would be used to enhance a partnership with Tyson and other corporations in a worker training program.

Welding was also highlighted as a program within Ivy Tech’s workforce development program that is currently receiving a lot of attention.

“We are working to strengthen the Ivy Tech welding program,” said Jan Bailey, executive director of the workforce development program.

Bailey said officials were working to identify high school courses that could be used in coordination with certification or an associate’s degree at Ivy Tech.

The school is also talking with local employers to certify employees and identify which degrees lead to particular jobs.

“We are putting together a diagram that lays out pathways to see the education equivalent to what jobs you can achieve,” Bailey said. “We will show a certification can get you this job, an associate’s degree can get you this job and students can go up the rungs of the ladder.”

Bailey said the program enhancements would benefit both students and local employers.

“It is really an exciting thing,” she said. “We are acting as a pipeline for the employer.”

Bostic said the new Logansport campus remained on target to open in January for the school’s spring semester.

• Jennifer Tangeman is a reporter for the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at 574-732-5148 or jennifer.tangeman@pharostribune.com.