SHELDON—The Northwest Iowa Community College Board of Trustees approved the purchase of new lab equipment for its applied technologies program and the establishment of a nurse aide program during the board meeting Monday, Dec. 22.
Applied technologies
Additional equipment was purchased for the NCC applied technology program, which operates out of Building C at the Sheldon campus.
There will be two computer numerical control, or CNC, mills and two lathes that will be purchased. The school currently has one of each that are brand new. Some older machines that need repairs could be sold.
Dean of the program, Shane Peterson, explained the reason for the purchase and how it will be used to benefit the students, especially with the growth the program has seen recently.
“The way the program is set up, the students come in and they get some manual machining experience,” Peterson said. “Along with some projects that they can do, they’re kind of self-guided projects. As we looked at what the needs of the area manufacturers are, and what our program is achieving, we really decided that developing student skills in machining, so that they have a good understanding of those basic skills that employers are looking for, that’s were we came up with the new direction that we wanted the program to go.”
Peterson said the goals of the program are for students to be have confidence in operating the machines and know the difference the different codes that make the machines move.
“We want them to use it throughout the program so that it’s almost second-nature to them when they leave,” Peterson said.
In the long-term, Peterson wants to acquire two more mills and lathes.
The program has nine first-year students, with an estimated cap of around 10-12 students. Peterson estimated that 10 machines could fit in the lab area, which would work so that each student can use a machine independently.
The funding will come from the equipment reserve fund that NCC set aside, along with some dollars from the foundation that will be transferred over. Peterson is hopeful the machines will arrive by the end of January.
Nurse aide program
While NCC offers a CNA program, which is a required piece of many healthcare degrees and pathways at the school, it never had it classified in the school catalog.
The trustees voted unanimously to change that.
“At the state level, it’s not considered a program of study,” said executive dean of student and academic services Leah Murphy. “That’s all we’re doing here, is we are asking for it to be an official program of study, so that we can help those students in their successes, and our successes, when we report those numbers.”
With the program now official, it means that the school can keep track of how many students are in the program and how many complete it. The program can be completed for credit or not, and the instruction remains the same on the path to completion.
The CNA will still be classified as a certification, not a diploma.