The programs range from energy technology to oil and gas, auto and diesel, business, paralegal studies, criminal justice, fire and emergency medical services (EMS) education.
"There are a lot of career and technical options," said Jennifer Myers, associate vice president of Workforce Education. "We also offer healthcare programs that are considered workforce education because they are preparing students to go into the workforce."
Myers said that workforce education prepares individuals for the workforce by providing them with any training that they need.
"We can customize and do training for any business in the city or in our service area," Myers said.
Myers added that another aspect of the workforce education is continuing education.
"Continuing education ideally caters to everyone," Myers said. "We serve students who are looking to gain basic computer skills such as learning how to open a word document all the way up to our professionals who are receiving ongoing professional development."
Continuing education is meant to serve the needs of the students and offers customized training.
Chelsy Gann, the director of workforce continuing education and the Petroleum Professional Development Center, said that Midland College can design programs that cater specifically to a company's needs.
"I'm working with a company now to customize some Excel training specifically for them, using their data to help their employees learn how to analyze it," Gann said.
Myers added that Midland College can train on almost anything related to continuing education.
"If a company has a group of employees that needs to learn a skill, for example a basic weld, we can teach them here," Myers said. "We can train them on high end equipment that they are going to see in the field."
She added that the college works to find the instructors and get the curriculum ready to teach the students.
When in need of an instructor, Midland College looks to their faculty to see if there is anyone that can be utilized to teach that subject.
"We like to start in house," Gann said. "If we don't have anyone at Midland College that can teach a subject, we start to look at other professionals that we've worked with for various projects."
Myers added that the college also offers part time positions for anyone who's interested in teaching.
"We have a program that caters to our 55 and above students and one of the classes is quilting," Myers said. "Our instructor for that is amazing and just loves to quilt and wants to share that passion."
She added that sometimes a professional degree isn't needed to be a teacher and that if anyone is interested in teaching a subject, they can reach out to the college.
"That's how a few of our classes started," Myers said. "Our compliance courses started because the instructor reached out to us and said, 'I teach this on my own, but I'm interested in partnering with the college' and it's been very successful."
Myers said that continuing education not only ranges in topics, but also on the type of class.
Some companies may choose to do a lunch and learn, another may be a class that's eight hours long and completes the training, while others can span over a few months.
Myers added that it depends on the type of training needed and how many hours are needed to effectively complete that training.
"I don't know that enough businesses or organizations think that their local community college has the means to do a customized training program or to provide a certain industry-based credential to their employees," Myers said.
At Midland College, students can get their continuing education credits.
"It can be a great introductory to a college setting to individuals who have never been to college," Myers said. "It's a safe space to learn."
She added that there is also grant money available to small companies who may need additional training for their employees.
"The state of Texas is offering funds to businesses and colleges to partner together to offer the essential skills necessary to have a highly trained workforce," Myers said. "The cost doesn't always have to fall on the organization or business."
Gann said that workforce training can encompass both hard skills, such as a basic weld, and soft skills such as leadership training.
"A lot of times we can also go to their facilities and teach, if necessary," Myers said. "We can do a lunch and learn at the business. With continuing education, we have a lot of flexibility to offer customized training for our local businesses and industry partners."
©2024 the Midland Reporter-Telegram (Midland, Texas). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
