Around the Campus
In spite of unprecedented budget cuts imposed by
Sacramento impacting curriculum, class size, scheduling
and other aspects of Santa Ana College’s (SAC) services,
the college continues to fulfill its mission to address
evolving workforce requirements, while serving its
students and meeting their educational needs. There is
good news on some fronts. The Human Services and
Technology Division has received several exciting
federal grants recently.
This year, the Automotive Technology Program benefits
from a Diesel Hybrid Grant of $87,000, that will
modernize SAC’s instruction to include training
applicable to green technology. This will be a
far-reaching program, including classroom, hands-on and
multimedia experiences. This Career Technical Education
Act (CTEA) grant will permit the purchase of a natural
gas vehicle with refueling unit and scan tool, two small
diesel auxiliary power units for clean diesel
demonstration and several modern operating clean diesel
engines.
The grant will better align the program with emerging
industry standards. SAC students will learn about
compressed natural gas, hybrids, clean diesel engines
and bio-diesel fuels, enabling them to work successfully
with alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles. There is a
major push not only from Sacramento, but also from
President Obama’s administration to build a green
economy, so the Diesel Hybrid Grant Project is very
timely and can prepare SAC’s automotive students to
participate in green technology initiatives that will
appear with increasing frequency.
A newly received CTE collaborative grant for $101,000
will allow Santa Ana College to modernize its welding
instruction program by bringing its equipment up to
industry standards. The primary focus of the Welding
Certification Training Update Grant Program is to give
students hands-on experience, followed by certification,
using state-of-the-art welding and plasma cutting
machines.
Thanks to both of these grants, students will get the
training they need to increase employment opportunities
for in higher salaried, in-demand jobs.
SAC’s GEAR UP program, a federally-supported program
that aims to boost college graduation rates among
under-represented students, earned a new $4.8 million
grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The program
will receive $800,000 annually to expand and support its
collaborations with the Santa Ana Unified School
District and University of California, Irvine (UCI).
The Pharmacy Technology program is a flagship program
dating back to 1972 and the only pharmacy technology
degree program in any community college in Orange
County. That unique position has just earned it a
$400,000 two-year grant from the American Recovery &
Reinvestment Act Funds launched under the Obama
administration. The grant will be used to do the
following:
- Increase enrollment by a minimum of 100 students over
two years.
- Hire one full-time faculty member.
- Increase the hours for skills lab coordinator and hire
an instructional assistant.
- Provide additional student support services such as
tutoring with the goal of increasing entry level class
completion rate to 85 percent.
- Expand partnerships with pharmacies to provide more
clinical placement sites for students.
- Graduate 85 additional students.
- Increase the state licensure exam passing rate to 95
percent for those who take the test.
According to the California Employment and
Development Department, there is a statewide shortage of
pharmacy technicians. The estimated growth of this
profession between 2006 and 2016 is 36 percent, so this
presents a very interesting career path for SAC
students.
On a final note, with an Employee Appreciation Day
celebration, Santa Ana College opened the doors to its
new Maintenance and Operations Facility on May 19. Dr.
Erlinda Martinez, President, Santa Ana College,
expressed her gratitude to the employees who work
tirelessly to ensure that the college facilities are
well maintained, functional and providing a good
learning environment for students. Attendees enjoyed a
barbecue, picnic, and balmy California afternoon as they
admired the new 12,350- square-foot building, under
construction since November, 2007, that will allow them
to perform their jobs more efficiently.
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