Delta College to Show Off Upgraded Facilities in Feb. 29 Open House
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Welding Instructor Brian Schultz, left, helps welding student Bob Cianek of Essexville prepare for welding certification test in new Delta skilled trades facility on campus.
Delta's new Technical Trades and Manufacturing Complex boasts 49,000 square feet on the east side of the college complex in Frankenlust Township, Bay County.
Bob Cianek, of Essexville, is one of about 60 students at Delta College in the welding program. Currently unemployed because of downsizing at a large corporation, he is working toward his certification under direction of Brian Schultz, welding instructor. Soon, with his newly certified welding skill, Bob will have vast new job prospects.
Thanks to the voters of Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties, Bob is working in a brand spanking new welding lab on campus instead of in outdated facilities in a building in Midland.
Bob is being joined on the Delta campus by hundreds of students who will have the opportunity to learn a job skill in the college's new technical trades and manufacturing complex that opened last fall.
"Most of Delta was built in 1961 and had received minimal upgrades over the years," notes President Peter D. Boyse. This project modernizes 500,000 square feet of building space and nearly completes a dramatic campus makeover begun in 1999 which also provided an expanded library and science facilities, he said.
"The move of the welding unit from Midland is part of the $42 million Renovation II where as part of a major face lift we merged skilled trades, welding and Automotive Service Technology Program (ASEP) with the academic unit," said Dr. Winnie Black, Ed.D., Senior Vice President of the college.
"We are urging most of the graduates of our welding program to go on to four year degrees in welding engineering," said Schultz, who is one of several instructors in the welding program. A major option is Ferris State University, Big Rapids, which has a two-plus-two academic articulation arrangement with Delta, making it easier for students to earn the four-year degree.
"Thanks to the long-awaited Renovation II project, the Technical Division, Corporate Services and the Workforce Development Center have become the leader in the Tri-Cities for technical transfer programs and job training," said Steve Rosin,technical division chair.
The project puts Delta in position to better fulfill its mission and assist the region in reacting to globalization of industry, requiring advanced technology-based training of workers for the U.S. to be competitive.
The college piloted a new Workforce Development Center as a joint venture combining Corporate Services and the Institutes for Continuing Education in the academic area, Dr. Black points out.
New partnerships with institutions of higher learning include those with Ferris in skilled trades, computer and information science and environmental health and safety management, with Michigan Technological University, Houghton, in engineering, and with Kettering University, Flint.
"The skilled labor force is diminishing," said Rosin. "Our new complex represents an opportunity to assure local employers that they have an educated, well-trained pool of job candidates for positions that are vital to our economy."
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