Terra community College continues to work to provide skilled labor force for area business

In educational institutions, progress can manifest itself in the construction of new buildings or in the addition of unique programs. At Terra Community College in Fremont, progress can be seen in both.

Terra has contracted with SHP Leading Design from Cincinnati to plan and design a new Skilled Trades Center for the college. Currently, this project is in the design development phase where the college is working with SHP in defining expectations, site planning, budget parameters and detailed cost estimates, as well as schedule expectations.

This new building will be approximately 23,225 square feet. The total cost of the building will be approximately $3,300,000, with the funding for the project being a combination of state and local funds. Terra expects to break ground late August to mid September. The timeline for construction will be approximately one year. The new design incorporates many energy savings and conservation measures. It will also provide the shell for future energy management plans to incorporate either a biomass boiler or a natural-gas fired combined heat and power unit for the campus.

This facility will consolidate spaces into a new state-of-the-art lab facility for skilled trades including, HVAC, welding, power technologies and truck driving. These are existing programs being relocated to this new building to support program growth. The new facility will also include classrooms and administrative offices. These new lab spaces will be sized appropriately for the program to allow for maximum efficiencies of space. The students completing programs in the new Skilled Trades Center will meet the workforce needs of our communities.

The space that is being vacated by these programs will be renovated in the future in order for the college to offer new Allied Health programs in collaboration with neighboring colleges. It will also provide upgraded space for our growing music programs.

While the new building will be crucial to the college's overall energy management plan, officials are also looking to alternative energy as a career path for Terra students.

Last fall, the college offered its first green class, Fundamentals of Alternative Energy, and students are currently halfway through the second class, Sustainable Architecture. It was part of the restructuring of Terra's Architectural/Construction Management program.

The new curriculum will make the program's graduates even more marketable, according to Bill Hotz, an associate professor in the program.

"Our program has always opened lots of doors for our graduates, from architecture to surveying, to drafting," Hotz said. "This gives our students even more avenues to explore and makes them more marketable."

The courses are designed to enlighten students on the concepts of environmentally friendly energy and construction.

* Fundamentals of Alternative Energy is for anyone who has an interest in the related technologies for electric power and the current status of our non-renewable sources. Topics of alternative energy, including fuel cells, solar energy, wind energy, hydrogen energy, biomass, geothermal, wave and tidal energy are discussed.

* Sustainable Architecture is a study of the process of green building, covering the theory, history and current materials and systems that are used in today's building industry to meet the environmental needs.

The associate degree program in architectural/construction has also been streamlined. Students beginning the program in the fall of 2008 will have only 63 credits to complete which will allow them to be finished in two years.

For more information on the Architectural/Construction program, call Bill Hotz, associate professor, at 419-559-2448.

And next fall, Terra is planning to offer a Wind Power certificate. The certificate will include a series of electrical classes as well as a wind technology class to help students understand how wind turbines work and also create an awareness regarding alternative energy.

"There is a tremendous amount of interest in infrastructure jobs which includes electrical/PLC, welding, fiber optics, computer technology, HVAC and alternative energy," said Bruce Meyer, dean of technology and workforce development at Terra. "Terra is really focused on developing students that can add value to an organization immediately after graduating."

For more information on the Wind Certificate, call Denny Setzler, associate professor, at 419-559-2443.