Lansing Community College opened its West Campus in Delta Township in 2004 to serve the technical needs of students, the community and local industry. Incorporating the college’s existing programs, while continually adding new ones, the technical careers division has been developing different partnerships to bring relevant and diversified training opportunities to the area.

“It is important that we stay current to business and industry needs,” noted Jan Danford, dean of the technical careers division. “We do an in-depth analysis of what skills and knowledge employers need from our graduates. We measure our programs against what employers would measure them against.”

“[We want] to increase partnerships to benefit not only the students when they are looking for internships or jobs, but also to increase and improve the content that is delivered in our programs,” added JaNice Marshall, department chair for environmental, design and building technologies. “It allows relevant curriculum offerings because many of our partners sit on our advisory committee.”

“We’ve partnered with local business and industry to develop a curriculum,” Annette Parker, chairperson of the manufacturing engineering technologies, stated. “Part of that was a structured group interview with people who do that job every day to determine the skill sets for entry-level employment. We rewrote the curriculum for the entire department for what was in demand for General Motors and the manufacturing industry in Lansing. We’re continually upgrading now.”

Howard Dillman, chair of the transportation technologies department, agreed. “We are always trying to meet industry needs in our programs. One of the newest programs is high-performance motor sports, which is designed to train students to be able to work in the automotive racing industry. There are a number of different racing venues, such as NASCAR and drag racing. They’re full-blown industries, and their needs have grown rapidly in the past several years. They need good technicians. We will eventually have courses to create a competitive associate’s degree in this area.”

“Most of the training is housed right here,” said Danford. “Also in the facility is the Business Community Institute [BCI], the fire sciences, EMT training, and criminal justice. We have 290,536 square feet.”

Environmental, design and building technologies has nine divisions, including interior design, fashion design, landscape architecture and residential building. The department will also soon be offering woodworking and recently added wedding planning.

“I couldn’t believe the need for it,” said Danford.

“Wedding planning is huge,” said Marshall. “It’s a billion-dollar industry. So a year ago, we launched our first wedding planning course.”

Her students have also earned honorable mentions and scholarships at national competitions in kitchen and bathroom designs, and have attended events with nationally recognized fashion designers. The department also provides training on “green” issues in the building trades.

“In a given semester, we average about 1,300 students across nine academic programs,” Marshall noted.

The manufacturing engineering technologies department started as the careers division in the 1980s, and was one of three training programs in the U.S. for computer-aided design (CAD). The department has since added computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and has started combining different areas to meet current industry needs.

“What used to be separate entities in manufacturing have merged to compete in the global economy,” Parker explained. “We had to pull all of the pieces together because the employers need people with advanced and diverse skill sets. We have created a new engineering technology degree where students will get the type of training to understand electronics, robotics, CAD and CAM. We’re really excited about that. The program launches in June.”

The department has also benefited from partnerships with major corporations like Unigraphics Solutions, providing the design software for GM and its suppliers, which donated $32 million worth of the software to LCC. Other companies regularly upgrade or replace donated equipment to keep the programs up to date. The department has close to 1,200 students a semester.

In addition to the high-performance engines, the transportation technologies department includes automotive collision repair, truck driver training, heavy equipment operation and maintenance, and aviation for its 800 students.

“The truck driving school has been at LCC 42 years,” said Dillman. “We have the most modern tractor-trailer rigs. The aviation has been around for about 30 years. It started out as a flight program, then the maintenance program was added. It operates out of the Capital City Airport with all of the latest tools and training aids we need in order to train students to maintain engines for different types of aircraft.”

Aviation flight students can earn their private pilot’s license, an instrument rating, and a commercial pilot’s certified flight instructor certificate. Like the other two departments, transportation partners with other institutions to enhance its programs.

“We have agreements in place with Kent State University and Siena Heights [University], and we’re going to have one with Western Michigan University, so students can come to LCC and get all of their licenses that they need,” Dillman  explained. “Students have to obtain a certain number of flight hours, so they can obtain their ratings with us. They can finish their four-year program and also have the requisite flight time, which will allow them to be employed by commuter or cargo airlines.”

Attendees at the West Campus also include high school students and working professionals.

“We have the regular community college students who want to either upgrade their work skills or go to a new career track,” said Danford. “We also have the Eaton Intermediate School District. LCC has been functioning as their career center for over 30 years. We have a certain set of programs for those students, who are mainly from the Eaton County School District, but we also have people from the Ingham Intermediate School District, from Clinton [County], and we’re now talking to the Lansing School District about areas they might not offer.”

“We have looked at that as an opportunity to impact the careers and education of high school students,” added Marshall. “The students may continue here in our post-secondary programs.”

“We have articulation agreements with other community colleges and some four-year institutions that will accept certain credits that [those students] have taken here in lieu of taking them at that college,” said Danford. “We also will accept those credits toward an associate’s degree.”

Danford considers the on-site M-Tech center as “one of our links to business and industry,” and her center provides technical training for referrals from Business & Community Institute.

“We will train people in typical semester classes, or we will put together courses that are three or four days long or two days a week, depending on what that business can do,” said Danford. “When General Motors launched its new products at the Delta plant, they had labs here where they could train their people on the production and quality issues. We’re also doing training for team building. Some people think of GM as skilled trades, but it’s so much more than that.”

Additionally, LCC provides training for K-12 educators, and ensures its own employees stay current.

“We have outstanding faculty members,” Marshall stated. “Dean Danford and I can serve as managers and academic leaders, but the real work is done with outstanding faculty members. Together, we’re all about making sure our students have the greatest opportunity for success. That’s the whole motivation for being here.”

Photography: Terri Shaver

Author: Christine Caswell