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Show r: I Changing workforce will I reauire DA TC exoansion t t f Forty-five percent of the t workforce in the year 2000 will be f skilled workers, 40 percent will r work in the professional and mana- gerial field, and only 15 percent of the workforce will be in unskilled, J low-paying jobs," reported Direc-. Direc-. tor Jack Shell to the Davis Applied H Technology Center Board of Direc-l Direc-l tors in the August meeting. "It's our role to help prepare the skilled f workers for the future." Shell made the comments as he J reviewed a recent capital facilities funding request that was presented 9 to the State Office of Education. nr .-- "We must have the facilities and 5 funding to help prepare people for c the marketplace that will exist." - To be prepared for that marketplace, students need to have appropriate basic skills. Students who want to enroll at the DATC must pass competency tests in order to enter the technological training If programs. Although remediation is l available for students who have j academic deficiencies, students ob- viously progress faster if they can go directly into the program of their f choice, and many students are cur- rently not able to pass the reading j? and math competency test at the re- quired level. c- "Future employment oppor- tun i lies require competency in basic Z skills, and this information needs to I be conveyed to students of all ages," continued shell. Shell pointed out that funding increases in-creases to the DATC have not kept pace with enrollment increases. All classrooms and labs at the DATC will be in continual use from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. this year. Since 1985, the DATC has had an annual growth rate of 53 percent per year in both the day and night school programs. Concurrently, the funding for equipment has diminished. The recent DATC Accreditation Ac-creditation Report recommended over $600,000 in new equipment. Because the DATC has experienced experi-enced such significant growth, the State Office of Education building request review committee listed the DATC as the number one priority need in the state for planning funds for applied technology centers. Its recommendation must now be approved ap-proved by the State Board for Vocational Voca-tional Education, and it will then be considered by the 1991 Legislature. "If approved by the Legislature, the DATC can expect a new addition addi-tion in approximately three years. Planning and construction take that long. We will be seeking funds to buy portable classrooms to meet our growth while we await that building addition," said Shell. "The portables por-tables will help us meet our classroom needs, but they are not adequate for our laboratory needs. ' 1 |
