Local community college restructuring in tough times

CLIFTON FORGE—It might seem strange to train wind turbine service technicians in a state where no wind turbine has ever been built.  But Dabney S. Lancaster Community College is doing just that.

“The wind turbine program was created with future employment in ‘green energy’ in mind,” said Gail Johnson, assistant to the president for marketing and recruiting.

The program, begun a year ago, is one of several efforts by the college based in Alleghany County to adapt to the sluggish economy. The school also maintains a campus in Buena Vista.

Johnson said that the school, one of 23 community colleges in Virginia, seeks to train workers who could be hired immediately when investors come to the state to build the turbines and other renewable energy facilities.

Earl Dodrill, coordinator of Dabney’s continuing education and work force services, said such forward thinking is standard practice for community colleges. Entrepreneurs look for an effective work force before bringing a new business to town.

But existing businesses are also asking Dabney to create specific programs, hoping to build their own pool of hirable workers. For example, in 2011, The Homestead, a resort and spa in Hot Springs, asked Dabney to develop a massage therapy program and volunteered to help pay for it.

Still, many students must be willing to go where the jobs are. Dodrill said he and college advisers are telling students more often than they once had to that they will have to consider commuting or moving away after graduation.

“We’re having to reach out farther,” Dodrill said.

The closest jobs for wind turbine technicians are in states such as Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware, said Johnson.

As Dabney adjusts its programs to the stalled economy, it is also seeing a change in the type of students signing up for classes.

Since the 2008 recession, enrollment has risen substantially at the second-smallest community college in the state. Michael Scott, vice president of instruction, student services and research, cited two reasons for the increase: laid-off workers seeking to update their skills and students trying to save money in pursuit of a four-year degree.

The school’s enrollment jumped nearly 20 percent between 2008 and 2009. Today, more than 2,000 students are enrolled in classes .

The largest growth has been in the number of students taking two years of classes at Dabney with plans to transfer to a four-year school after that, said Scott.

Many of those students hope to take advantage of Dabney’s credit-transfer agreements with about 30 four-year colleges and universities in the area. They include The College of William and Mary, Virginia Tech and James Madison University.

Scott estimated that 55 percent of Dabney’s students are on that path.