Calling it a suspension, Ozarks Technical Community College has halted three applied science associate degree programs after two years of discussion, effective with the fall 2011 semester.
The college’s two-year degrees in applied science in construction, industrial maintenance and machine tool technology have been cut, at least temporarily, according to OTC spokesman Joel Doepker. Administrators made the decision last month with help from business advisory council members in each of the programs, Doepker said.
Doepker said students currently enrolled in the programs would be allowed to fulfill their associated of applied science degree requirements.
“All three AAS degrees are suspended and could be brought back if the enrollments increase and the need in the community is realized,” Doepker said. “The programs still exist, they’re just in different delivery methods.”
The decision was based on decreased enrollment and graduates in the three programs, Doepker said.
Graduate numbers from each program during the last five years weren’t living up to expectations, said Shirley Lawler, OTC vice president for academic and student affairs.
“We would like to see a minimum of five to 10 graduates a year out of each technical program,” Lawler said.
Graduate numbers for the three programs, according to OTC Trend Data:
- Industrial maintenance, 55, an average of 11 per year;
- Construction, 30, an average of six per year; and
- Machine tool technology, 22, an average of 4.4 per year.
Doepker said some of the businesses in the community that hired graduates of the programs included Kraft Foods, City Utilities, Copeland Corp. and Reckitt Benckiser as well as construction contractors and machine shops.
Lawler emphasized that the programs are not being permanently cut, and the courses are still available toward a one-year certificate.
“When we bring students into the program from this point forward, we’re bringing them in to complete a certificate,” Lawler said. “The basic four or five courses.”
Lawler believes an economic recovery in full swing will increase demand for the courses.
“As the economy comes back, we’re quite certain construction and manufacturing both will come back, and therefore, we would allow students to complete a degree in construction technology,” Lawler said. “Until that point, we will work with those in that pipeline to make sure those who have already started in the progam can complete an associate degree, if not in construction, then in manufacturing technology.”
The underachieving programs have been considered for the chopping block for some time, said Layton Childress, OTC’s dean of technical education.
“We’ve been looking at low-enrollment programs for several years because of budgetary reasons,” Childress said. “Those three programs, construction, machine and tool, and industrial controls and automation, on the technical side were low-enrollment programs. We looked at enrollment, completion rate and new folks applying as far as degree seekers.”
The changes resulted in the retirements of two staff members, Lawler said, and both will stay on board to teach part-time. Some who taught courses in the eliminated programs were transferred to other programs within OTC.
Childress said when the college began considering the cuts, his goal was to not eliminate the programs entirely.
“In each one of those programs, a student can get an AAS degree in manufacturing,” Childress said. “They could take classes in pretty much any of the technical programs, and that would count as a class in the manufacturing program. A student still has the opportunity to get an AAS degree. I feel like a new student coming in will have a lot of options, still.”[[In-content Ad]]
