Newly formed college to offer classes at Mon Valley CTC in Speers
SPEERS – One more post-secondary education option is now available to residents of the Mon Valley and surrounding area. State Rep. Peter J. Daley (D-California) recently announced the creation of the Mon Valley Technical College, an offshoot of Westmoreland County Community College (WCCC), that will be offering classes at the Mon Valley Career and Technology Center (CTC) in Speers.
An 18-month program offering an associate’s degree in electronics engineering will begin at the new site in early March, with classes offered in the afternoons and evenings.
“We lose absolutely too many young people who are moving away, who do not want a four-year degree,” Daley said.
Daley said he first proposed a technical college system in Pennsylvania four years ago, with Westmoreland County Community College receiving the first approval in the state for its technical college campus in Connellsville.
“The Mon Valley is the other campus,” Daley said. “You’re going to see things happen in Fayette County and in the Mon Valley. My vision for the young people of this valley is to get training in things they can actually get jobs in. This is a way we can stop the brain drain.”
The first step in preparing to open the technical college was the preparation of the classroom space. Joe Kirk of the Mon Valley Progress Council and the Mon Valley Community Education Council, said state grant money was obtained to upgrade a room at the Mon Valley CTC to allow Internet connection and a two-way video conferencing system for distance learning, options that could expand course offerings and student experiences in the future.
“Many states have post-secondary technical school models. This will set the stage for a technical college model in Pennsylvania,” Kirk said.
Patrick Gerity, the vice president for continuing education at WCCC, said electronics engineering is one of the fastest growing, high priority career fields in the state.
Gerity said that while tuition at WCCC is $146/credit for non-Westmoreland County residents, $5,000 in scholarship money provided through Daley’s office would allow at least six or seven students from Washington and Fayette counties to attend the new technology college at the in-county rate of $73/credit in the first semester. Gerity said additional scholarship money could be forthcoming for the future semesters.
According to Gerity, the electronics engineering program is a 60-credit-hour course of instruction, with the technical classes offered at the CTC and courses such as math and English offered at WCCC’s Rostraver campus.
“We hope to recruit in the area of 10 students. We don’t want to exceed 18 in one class,” Gerity said.
Gerity said WCCC would like to see a minimum of seven electronics engineering students to start the program in March.
According to Daley, graduates of the program would be qualified to work with technology businesses in the installation, maintenance and repair of electronic equipment. The entry-level wage in those fields with an associate’s degree, Daley said, is $18,000-24,000 and $25,000-40,000 with a bachelor’s degree.
The technical college will be working with California University of Pennsylvania so students can complete their four-year degree at the state university if they desire.