Biscuits & Business feeds knowledge of WSCC programs

HANCEVILLE, Ala. — Those attending the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce’s recent Biscuits & Business event hosted by Wallace State Community College learned a lot about how the college helps local industries and how students are benefitting from the college’s commitment to providing more pathways to success.
Dean of Applied Technologies Jimmy Hodges outlined the strategic efforts made by Wallace State to help students be more successful and more employable and how the college has catered to the needs of local industry to provide a more-qualified workforce.
One way they’ve helped students is by offering stackable certificates that allow them to earn one certificate after another, building a resume filled with evidence they’ve mastered skills they need for their career.
Applied to the welding program, for example, a student can earn up to nine short-term certificates, each pertaining to a special process that is meaningful to employers in the industry. “Sometimes people want someone with pipe welding skills, and that is a unique set of skills all in and of itself,” Hodges said.
As a student advances through the short-term certificates, they can also work toward their associate degree. “With each step, the student becomes more employable,” said Hodges, who has seen how beneficial the process can be. His son-in-law came through Wallace State’s mechatronics program and is now making $82,000 a year in his job with Nissan in Tennessee.
Through its Fast Track programs, the college has also opened doors to area high school students who want to take an accelerated path toward earning a college degree. In some cases, these students are awarded their Associate Degree in General Studies before they receive their high school diploma.
The Fast Track Academy program, Hodges explained, is geared toward students who want to focus on academic classes in preparation for transferring to four-year colleges. The students take all of their academic courses on the Wallace State campus, but can still participate in their home school’s extracurricular activities if they wish.
The Fast Track for Industry program is geared toward students who are seeking a career in a technical field and is a partnership with the Cullman County School System. These students take courses in their chosen technical program and then take academic courses in the afternoon.  Some of the courses have online content including videos and tutorials, with Cullman County School staff on hand to instruct and assist the students. The atmosphere is casual and comfortable, Hodges said.
“Those students are engaged over there,” Hodges said. “One of the teachers said that some of the students were struggling in school. They were not performing well and were not interested in school. But when they come over here, they’re into it. They are engaged and they are actively learning.”
Unlike the Fast Track Academy, the Fast Track for Industry program is funded through grants, which provides free tuition for the students enrolled in the program. Almost 120 are currently enrolled in the program, Hodges said.
Dr. Vicki Karolewics, President of Wallace State, said the college is currently working with the Cullman County Schools system to provide a Fine and Performing Arts Fast Track Academy, which will allow students to focus on arts as well.
“Think about some of your smaller schools that don’t have any fine and performing arts opportunities,” Hodges said. “Think about that artsy kid, sitting in class, miserable because they can’t use the talent that’s inside of them.”
Students are also offered apprenticeships and internships with area industries. KAMTEK offers apprenticeship for machinists and tool and die, REHAU for mechatronics and polymer specialists, and Topre and Yutaka for mechatronics.
As for how the college’s strategic plan to help industry, Hodges said that has benefitted industries by customizing courses to fit their specific needs. “We go to industries and say here’s what we teach, but you tell us what you want us to teach and we will customize our curriculum to meet the needs that you have,” Hodges said.
Dr. Karolewics is proud of the strides Wallace State has made in creating more pathways for success for WSCC students. The college is one of only 30 in the nation to be chosen for an AACC Pathways Project, and is ahead of them all in outcome data. “We’re pleased about that,” Dr. Karolewics said. “But we’re always working to improve…to make sure students finish what they start. The goal is to get to completion early and get them in the workforce.”
For more information about Wallace State Community College, visit www.wallacestate.edu or call 256.352.8000.