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he cheerful teller wishing you a nice day from behind the counter at your local bank; the ratchet-wielding technician ordering just the right parts to keep your motorcycle engine purring; the white-coated lab technician, gloved hands gently positioning a test tube in a whirring, clacking machine — what do they have in common? All learned vital career skills thanks to Georgia’s technical colleges and their willingness and ability to respond to the needs of the state’s growing business and industrial community.

Programs to train these professionals and many others were developed at the technical colleges to meet unique needs identified in their areas — whether by heeding requests from local utility companies for training and certification for an essential job, recognizing the potential of new mapmaking technology, or realizing that one of Georgia’s largest industries — agriculture — could benefit from the application of some 21st-century business practices.

In the following pages, we review these and other examples of how Georgia’s technical colleges have responded to the economic and demographic developments shaping the future in their communities.

You’ve seen the signs: “Caution: underground cable.” Or the more ominous, “Call before you dig.” They warn of the presence of the unseen maze of underground pipes and cables that weave together the infrastructure of our contemporary lifestyle. With the landscape continually being torn up and rebuilt, it has become increasingly important to know just what lies beneath our feet and where exactly it is.

If you don’t, the consequences could be disastrous.

“We see it on the news all the time: a gas explosion, a sewer line cut,” says Consuelo Godden, Industrial Technologies Department chair at DeKalb Technical College.

As development booms, especially in the densely packed counties of metro Atlanta, the need for technicians who can find and map those underground lines so the bulldozers can roll on safely has become a business necessity. More and more, utility companies are putting their lines underground — gas, sewer, electric, water, telecommunications, fiber optics.

DeKalb Tech’s new Utility Locating Technician certificate program responds to that demand by providing training for those locating the utility lines that power the development. The program was a response to a need directly expressed by the utility industry.

“Several utility companies said, ‘We need a certification process for this important job,’” Godden says. “If you need a license to cut someone’s hair, then you definitely need certification to locate utilities, which affect everyday lives.”

DeKalb Tech collaborated with industry and government to build a testing site with underground lines for gas, water, communications and power. The Covington Police Department donated land for the school’s testing facility. The city of Covington and Snapping Shoals EMC (a power company) installed the lines.

“This is a perfect example of how DeKalb Tech builds effective partnerships with government agencies and industry to meet the demands for a well-trained workforce,” says Dr. Robin Hoffman, president of DeKalb Tech.



Recently, officials at Northwestern Technical College in Rock Spring began to notice a trend. In a part of the state best known for tourism and textiles, suddenly more and more banks were opening.

One year later, the college was launching its Banking and Finance Assistant certificate program.

It started when Dr. Mindy McCannon, vice president of Academic Affairs at Northwestern Tech, was sitting in an advisory board meeting.

“Members started talking about how many banks were opening and merging in our service area,” McCannon recalls. “It started me thinking: Northwestern Tech doesn’t have a banking option to meet the needs of an entry-level employee.”

After McCannon left that meeting, she started researching the idea. She found that other technical colleges had a template for such a program. Then she performed a needs analysis in her area. McCannon contacted local bankers and asked: Would your employees be interested in this program? Would they benefit from it?

The answer was a resounding “Yes!”

McCannon also drummed up interest for the new certificate through marketing. Last fall, the college sent a letter to local banks, announcing the program. Northwestern Tech Director of Public Relations and Marketing Jay Mayfield followed up with a press release to local newspapers.

Last year, McCannon expanded the classes to the school’s campus in Catoosa County. Why? “Because there’s a huge growth in banking there,” she says.

“This program is a great example of how, as an institution, we are able to sense the needs in our community and respond to them,” says Dr. Ray Brooks, president of Northwestern Tech. “Working with local business and industry to produce a well-educated workforce means better jobs and better lives for our community.”

Georgians love their outdoors, and North Georgia beckons year-round to enthusiasts who devote weekends to hugging the curves of mountain roads on their high-performance motorcycles, spitting up rooster tails on their JetSkis and See-Doos, or grinding down old logging roads on their mud-spattered ATVs.

With their campus located close to North Georgia’s popular lakes and mountains, the team at Chattahoochee Technical College was in the perfect position to spot this booming market and respond to the need for qualified technicians to repair those motorcycles, watercraft and ATVs that have been flying off the lots.

“We did a lot of industry research,” says David Green, lead instructor for Automotive Technology at Chattahoochee Tech. “We talked to Yamaha, Polaris, American Honda Motorcycle and local dealers such as Earl Small’s Harley Davidson. We asked these industry leaders what they needed.”

The result was Chattahoochee Tech’s Motorcycle, ATV and Watercraft Repair certificate program.

“It’s staggering what’s happening in the motorcycle market,” Green says. “Sales in metro Atlanta are growing at 25 percent a year.”

Technological changes are propelling the need for this training. Recently, the industry that produces motorcycles, ATVs and watercraft started implementing the advanced technology the car industry has used for years, Green says. Recreational vehicles now use computers to monitor emissions, fuel injection and fuel economy. Repair technicians must be fluent in those computer systems in order to fix the vehicles. “It’s the same thing that happened to cars 20 years ago, and it takes an advanced technician to repair it.”

Chattahoochee Tech President Dr. Harlon Crimm says, “Many families are purchasing these vehicles, and with the increase in ownership of watercraft, ATV and motorcycles, these vehicles need to be maintained regularly. The college is producing qualified technicians to meet the anticipated demand.”
 

No field has escaped the impact of digital technology, including the ancient art of cartography, or mapmaking. Scrawling “Beyond this point be dragons” is no longer a viable option for a mapmaker who doesn’t have data about a section of territory. In fact, new Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology makes it possible to trace the smallest contours of the landscape and layer a wide variety of information — from property tax data to the marital status of neighborhood residents — on top of the basic map, creating a new breed of geographic images.

“GIS technology bridges the disciplines of computer science, information management, cartography and database management,” says John Locke, director of Ogeechee Technical College’s GIS associate’s degree program, the only one in Georgia. “The GIS is distinguished from other systems by its ability to perform spatial analysis with a linkage to database management systems.”

Despite all the headlines about booming development in Georgia, agriculture is still one of the state’s largest industries. But today’s farmer is a far cry from the pitchfork-and-overalls image that persists in the minds of many. These days, it takes much more than a strong back and a green thumb to work in agriculture, and with 24 percent of workers in Georgia employed in agribusiness or a related field, there is obviously a great need for training programs that bring together the eclectic set of skills required to make it on the 21st century farm. Ogeechee Technical College is filling that need with its new Agribusiness degree and diploma programs. Launched in 2003, they are the only ones offered in the state.

“The prominence of agriculture in southeast Georgia’s economy demands that workforce development efforts be directed toward this industry,” says Dr. Gene Waters, president of Ogeechee Tech.

To prepare themselves for the reality of contemporary agribusiness, students take core classes in agriculture law, agriculture policy and agriculture finance. The program offers two specialties: e-agribusiness and operations. E-agribusiness students take classes in Web site design, networking and e-commerce. Operations students explore machinery and equipment, irrigation, animal science, poultry science, and Geographic Information Systems.

Also, marketing has become a necessary part of farming today. “Most farmers don’t fail because they are bad farmers, but because they are bad businessmen,” says Program Coordinator Anne Marie Kyzer. “Those in agribusiness have to be more creative to find their target market.”

Chris Conner is Ogeechee Tech’s first student to specialize in e-agribusiness. A second-year student, Conner developed a combination of computer skills and field experience to land a part-time job as an irrigation technician with the Georgia Soil & Water Conservation Commission. Conner performs uniformity tests on irrigation systems to help determine possible water conservation measures for farmers, who depend on the careful management of irrigation water supplies. “They are really cracking down on water use with agriculture. You don’t just turn on the sprinklers and let them run anymore,” he says.

In the movie “The Graduate,” Dustin Hoffman’s character is buttonholed by one of his father’s friends who has one word for him regarding a surefire path to career success: “Plastics.”

Today, it’s likely that his cocktail party wisdom would be summarized differently: “Biotech.”

With biotechnology considered a hot growth area, Athens Technical College became the first technical college and two year college in the State of Georgia to offer an associate’s degree in Biotechnology in 1998, a program designed to produce the workforce needed to attract new industry to the Athens-Clarke County area.

“Offering the only two-year degree in biotechnology throughout the state of Georgia has enabled us to attract tremendous instructors and students,” says Athens Tech President Dr. Flora Tydings. “This has made it possible for us to become leaders in this area and establish relationships that can only help our state grow in this field.”

During their first year, students explore a traditional science curriculum, including biology and chemistry. Second-year students take specialty classes in molecular biology, cell biology and microbiology. Hands-on training is crucial, and students must complete 500 hours of laboratory time where they learn cutting-edge skills, working with complex machines to separate DNA.

Athens Tech Biotechnology student Cindy Wood already had a bachelor’s degree in biology. But after staying at home with her daughters for a few years, she found that hands-on skills were needed to be competitive in today’s job market. “With a four-year degree, I got more theory on why things work. But at Athens Tech, I actually get to do it in the lab myself,” Wood says.

The biotechnology field will continue to evolve, and Athens Tech will evolve right along with it. “The newest branch is informatics and gene splicing — the computer applications,” says Dr. Joe Pyle, Athens Tech Biotechnology program director. “The advanced instruction is what really sets us apart.”

“When you talk to employers, what they want in a lab tech is the basics,” Pyle adds. “And that is the knowledge and training needed to make the right decisions and to solve problems.”

Picture this: You’re at the office and notice that it’s getting cold outside. So you log on to your computer and turn up the heat in your house (which is 10 miles away).

Then, still at your office desk, you access the Internet-enabled oven in your home kitchen and start cooking dinner.

When you arrive home, the temperature is toasty warm, dinner is ready and your choice of flicks is already cued up on your home theater system.

Who would have thought that “The Jetsons” was actually a fairly accurate portrait of the American future, where the modern home is configured so appliances, home security systems and home theaters are controlled remotely?

What once was science fiction is now science fact, as more and more wired communities are making broadband telecommunications available to the average consumer. As new homes increasingly are being designed as Internet-ready digital cocoons, North Metro Technical College has designed and launched its Home Technology Integration Specialist certificate program, the first in the state.

Students in the program take classes in areas such as electronics, telecommunication and data cabling, and security systems. Technical skills are practiced on a mock three-room “house” that the school is building, says Greg Palmer, North Metro Tech Electronics Technology instructor.

The real-world model contains a home theater with DVD player, surround sound, lighting and a security system, all of which are controlled by computers in the home office next door. There is also a “kitchen,” which the school is outfitting with the newest Internet-ready appliances.

“Some of this technology has been around for a long time, but it was for the super-wealthy,” Palmer says. “But prices have come down, and it’s now affordable to a much broader audience.”

The applications for home integration technology are endless. Imagine: You and your spouse go out, leaving the kids with a sitter. Since it’s a new sitter, you want to check in. Using your cell phone, you remotely log in to the home camera system and see what the sitter and kids are up to.

The certificate prepares students for jobs with companies that build home theaters, home security systems and home networks.

The Home Technology Integration Specialist certificate is “a good example of how we adapt to the changing workforce,” says Steve Dougherty, president of North Metro Tech.

New medical treatments need to be refined; new drugs need to be tested; even old drugs need to be reviewed to ensure their safety — think Vioxx.

Working behind the scenes to continually improve the methods and tools of health care are the

laboratory technicians who have been trained in the protocols and procedures of clinical research. In metro Atlanta, with its high concentration of research hospitals, the need for these trained professionals is acute. That’s why Gwinnett Technical College — motivated by industry demand — is launching the state’s first Clinical Research Professional (CRP) program.

“With the CRP program, Gwinnett Tech will bridge the gap that exists in the field, and open up a world of opportunities for our citizens,” says Gwinnett Tech President Sharon Rigsby.

The origin of the program was an off-the-cuff remark made by a member of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, says Dr. Robert Powers, program director of Gwinnett Tech’s Bioscience Department. “We were discussing our new Bioscience program at Gwinnett Tech, and the member said, ‘Well, if you are looking for a new program, we really need some clinical research professionals.’”

Powers researched the idea by calling a colleague, Rob Merritt, director of clinical research at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, who confirmed the growing need. Then, Powers assembled a strong advisory committee consisting of members from Emory University Hospital, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, DeKalb Medical Center and Northeast Georgia Medical Center. They all agreed the CRP program was an idea whose time had come. When the creation of the program was announced at an industry dinner at DeKalb Medical Center, Powers recalls, “There was a standing ovation. It’s always very gratifying to feel you are filling a need.”

A CRP plays a crucial role in medical studies, helping to identify and enroll qualified patients, administering medications and following patients through the course of the medical research study. When medical research studies are performed, the CRP is the vital link between patients, doctors and drug companies.

“We have a very active medical research community in Atlanta,” Merritt says. “And to have a resource like Gwinnett Tech, where we can train folks locally, is an excellent partnership. They have an excellent track record of training people in a well-prepared fashion. It’s a great fit for the medical research community.”

“The Certified Research Professional is just one of several programs we are investigating in the bioscience area,” Rigsby adds.“We’ve designed this program, as well as others, to produce workers who are up to speed with today’s newer technologies and newer human sciences.”

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