Show Ski Skills II s C Center e n t e r 4 i s A AVital Vital Function Function- By Greg Black BlackStaff BlackStaff Staff Writer A new school year finds the economy leaning increasingly toward service-related service jobs and companies are looking for more and more people who can perform such duties as welding computer programming and truck driving The Skills Center Cent r located at atthe atthe atthe the South City Campus trains and retrains students in these and other areas at an accelerated pace sending sending sending send send- ing skilled ready job employees out to flourishing job markets awaiting them People from UNISYS or businesses businesses businesses busi busi- nesses like that which have shut shutdown shutdown down dont don't have nave the time or the resources to go to college for four years said Fred Paco Salazar Skills Center director They need jobs quickly and we give them skills to last a lifetime e The Skills Skills' Center has been training people in this manner since 1967 when was known as Utah Technical College and was located on Fourth South at Fifth East For just as long the thes s Skills ns Center has battled an unfavorable unfavorable unfavorable un un- un- un favorable image A lot of the students enrolled at the Skills Center are disadvantaged disadvantaged disadvantaged economically physically or otherwise explains Debbie Booth Skills Center public rel relations relations rela rela- coordinator That doesn't mean that they're dumb They are just as smart or smarter than other students While it is true that many of the students attending Skills Center programs are referred and sponsored sponsored sponsored spon spon- by the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation tion Booth argues that I this ibis doesn't make the Skills C Center ni r I student any less a person than a regular college student Both Salazar and Booth are frustrated by perceptions about the Skills Center and they are working hard to change them They point out benefits such as low student to teacher ratio on hands-on instruction coordination with employers for job placement and an open entry exit format allowing students to work toward completion of their training at their own pace About students complete com corn f training at the Skills Center Center Center Cen Cen- ter every year According to Salazar of those graduates will be at the top of their respective respective respective tive areas of study that is they will be experts Graduates are ate in invited to regular graduation ceremony where they are presented with certificates of completion on recognizing their ac ac- ac Despite some misconceptions about its role at the Skills Center continues to plug away amid relative obscurity among the themore themore themore more traditional college life going on around it sending job applicants applicants applicants ap ap- ap- ap out into the world with marketable skills and maybe more importantly a shot of con con- I Ican Ican Ican Just as a recent example can think of four women ages 40 to 60 who were laid off from their jobs They completed the OIS program and all four found new jobs s said id Salazar It Itis is this type of return that keeps Salazar and his entire staff stag confident that the Skills Center plays a. a vital role in the lives of many J |