Nassau Bay Hilton
Date:
Friday, January 26, 2001
Time:
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Steve
Ames, President opened the meeting and welcomed everyone in
attendance. The
participants introduced themselves.
There were 48 members and one guest, Joan Straumanis with the
United States Department of Education in attendance.
Joan
Straumanis, gave some background on the Federal Agency for which she
works under the United States Department of Education. Funding for Improvement of Post Secondary Education
(FIPSE) funds the LAAP Grant, which was, awarded the GCPTA and its
education partners. The
Agency was founded by Elliott Richardson in 1972 who was a former
Attorney General and Secretary of Health, Education & Welfare.
She explained that this agency has more discretion in that
they are not dependent on the opinions of others and that they can
take risks. The agency has more discretion as to whom to fund. Joan
praised the GCPTA for their work stating that they had already
exceeded what was promised in the grant application. She called it her most successful project and uses
it as an example to teach others how to write grant applications.
She commended Joanna Kile for her expert grant writing and
exemplary work.
Approval
of Last Meeting Minutes – Minutes of the
November 27, 2000 meeting were approved January 26, 2001.
The
following members and changes were approved by the steering
committee.
1.
Voting
-
Diane
Dykes, BP Amoco, Alvin, TX
(Representing Alvin
Community College)
Mike Gragg, Dow
Chemical, Freeport, TX
(Representing
Brazosport Community College)
Martha McKinley,
Eastman Chemical, Longview, TX
(Representing Texas
State Technical College)
An
amendment to the by-laws was voted on and passed. The amendment was under Article III-Organizational
Structure, Section 1. Section
1 read as follows: The officers of the Alliance will include
President, Secretary and Treasurer.
All officers must be industry representatives.
The amendment changed the second sentence to read “All
officers must be active or retired industry representatives”.
The words active or retired were added.
Steve
reported that all subscriptions had been mailed the first part of
January. He emphasized
the importance of subscriptions explaining that these are the monies
used to run the Alliance and make the organization work.
He also stressed the importance of all members participating
in Alliance events.
Steve
reminded the membership that the Career Fair will be held next
Friday, February 2, 2001 at San Jacinto College.
He asked if anyone had not registered to please do so, and
asked that all members participate stressing the importance of this
event. Steve asked the colleges to communicate to their
students the importance of attending this Career Fair, stating that
it was the colleges’ responsibility to get the information to the
proper people. And, not
only should Process Tech students be invited to attend, but that
electrical, mechanical, and all related fields students should be
included. In order to
make this a successful Career Fair, communication (getting the
information the proper people) was very important.
Attendance has dropped from 400 (the first Career Fair) to
225 (the last Career Fair). Companies
who attend have first pick of the students available.
In fact, companies have tested and hired at this event.
Steve
talked about the success of the organization.
We have received three awards; the latest being the National
Alliance of Business Award. This proves the Alliance is being
recognized by people outside the area and is making great progress
and accomplishing its goals.
Steve
informed the members that the executive committee and the grant team
are looking into inviting Plant Managers from the Gulf Coast to the
May GCPTA Meeting. The
purpose is to showcase to them what has been accomplished by the
GCPTA and to solicit their continued support.
Steve asked for volunteers to help with the organization of
the meeting after a plan has been formulated.
He also said we would try to invite the new Secretary of
Education to speak at the meeting.
Those interested in serving on the committee contact the
Executive Committee through Ann Treigle.
Ed
Stiles with Lyondell-Citgo gave testimony to the importance of
attending the Career Fair. Lyondell-Citgo
hired 47 people last year and out of the 47, 18 had been to the
Career Fair. Merv asked
Ed to write a “success story” article for our newsletter.
Steve
solicited articles from the membership.
Some of the topics that would make good reading would be
testimonial, coop programs, scholarship programs, good student
success stories, internships, etc.
Steve stressed the importance of the need for every member to
participate in this endeavor, i.e. the Newsletter.
Gary
reported that the committee had approved the completed PT-I, PT-III
and Quality Instructor Manuals.
The PT-II Instructor Manual was sent out in draft form and
the expected final version will be ready by the end of May 2001.
He reported that a company, Simulation Solutions, had offered
to develop several free modules to interact with our Virtual World.
He reported that Joanna Kile is looking into the possibility of
developing textbooks in partnership with a publishing company under
the guidance and approval of the Education Subcommittee.
Joanna
Kile showcased the CAPT Instructor Manuals and Student Workbooks
that have been developed. She
reported income of over $20,000 from the sale of these materials
last month. She said that all monies collected are put back
into the grant to continue the efforts of the grant focus with the
approval of the GCPTA Executive Committee.
Joanna
reported that the web-based course Intro to Process Technology was
piloted last semester with success.
The classes were limited to 20 students maximum.
This semester, San Jacinto College Central has 43 students
enrolled in the Intro Course comprising 2 classes.
David
Bourque, web-based course instructor at San Jacinto College Central,
reported with enthusiasm his experience with web-based course
delivery last semester. He
said he spent quite a bit of time working with the students through
e-mail. Students like the flexibility web-based courses
give them. He reported
that 13 out of the 19 students that originally enrolled in the
course last semester received grades.
He reported that some students enrolled this semester are
ready to take their first test.
He mentioned that on-line classes are great for shift workers
and that he has 3 or 4 incumbent industry workers enrolled in his
classes.
Cathy
Gardner and Denise Kennedy of Futron demonstrated the Virtual World
Plant that Futron developed under the LAAP Grant.
The entire plant file size is around 350K and can be
downloaded in about 10 to 20 seconds.
As you move through the virtual plant, the structures and
objects appear on the screen as you approach locations within the
plant. The Virtual
World will allow for embedding activities at any point in the plant.
For a demonstration of the type of activities the Virtual
World is capable of, visit the web site virtualastronaut.jsc.nasa.gov
that Futron developed for the Johnston Space Center targeted for
instructing 5th through 7th grade students on
space exploration. Joanna and Cathy thanked Lou Caserta for his
contributions and many hours spent helping with the design of the
final product.
The
Virtual World Phase I development will be available on the www.captech.org
web site next month.
Joanna
reported that she would be attending Advisory Committee Meetings at
the local colleges to inform the committees on grant activities and
products available. She
also reported that she had met with the New Jersey and Alaska
Alliances to discuss the Center Grant.
She has been in contact with the National Skills Standards
Board about collaborating with them on National Skills Standards for
Process Technicians. She
said that Suzanne Kolodzy would be working with the Texas Skills
Standards Board to establish Process Technician Skills Standards in
Texas. Those committee
members who previously participated in this activity are invited to
do so with Suzanne as well as anyone else who might be interested in
this activity. Because of Suzanne’s involvement with this, the
revisiting of the Instrumentation I & II Instructor Manuals will
be postponed.
John
Payne, BP Exploration, and Vice-Chairman of APICC, said that Alaska
was very interested in collaborating with the GCPTA and their grant
activities in Distance Education.
The need for this in Alaska is great due to the 600,000
people scattered over a very large area in 220 villages with single
schooling. Alaska is
100% in favor of Distance Education because of these statistics.
Ed
reported that we were in good financial shape and able to pay all
our bills. Operating on
a budget of $31,000 for 2000, we spent $29,000.
He said that the bank account was in good shape, but that
everyone needs to continue with his or her subscriptions in order
for the GCPTA to remain a financially viable entity.
The budget for 2001 will increase by approximately $2,400.
Ed said that anyone interested in exact figures were welcome
to contact him and he would be glad to furnish them.
Ed also read the list of 2001 subscriptions received to date.
Steve
reported that the Executive Committee had met and reviewed the
budget. The committee
also discussed the need for an Administrator for the GCPTA.
With the need for someone to handle the numerous requests the
officers and Executive Committee receive, the activities, the phone
calls from people all around the country requesting information,
etc., and the other demands to represent the GCPTA at functions both
locally and nationally, the time has come to consider having an
Administrator. The
Committee is developing a task list for the Administrator. If anyone would like to contribute to this list,
submit your ideas to Ann Treigle.
John Payne volunteered that APICC has a fulltime
Administrator. Mike Kukuk also stated that the Executive Committee
would naturally still maintain control.
§ McNeese State University & Sowela – Kathy Trahan, Vice-Chair of the Lake Area Alliance in Lake Charles, LA reported that McNeese and Sowela are working on a cooperative effort for use of the new Glass Lab for Process Technology students. McNeese is developing an Engineering Technology 2+2 course. She also reported that all of the lake area Plant Managers are excited about what’s happening in Process Technology education.
§ College of the Mainland – Dow James reported that an orientation meeting was held for potential P-Tech students and out of the 110 that attended, 80 new students were enrolled. They got with the area newspaper and advertised the program and talked about hiring practices in the area and what P-Tech was all about. The new pilot plant will be commissioned this year by students who will be given course credit for participating in the commission of the new plant. There are currently over 300 students enrolled in this program.
§ Brazosport College – Gary Hicks introduced Mike Gragg of Dow Chemical who is the new Advisory Committee Industry Voting Member. Mike reported that Dow had negotiated with the union a requirement for all new hires to have the two-year AAS degree in Process Technology either completed or finished within 3 years after hiring. Gary reported that this has nearly doubled the student enrollment at Brazosport. Gary reported that BASF was moving their HAZWOPER training to the college pilot plant. He also reported that the college had piloted a 64-hour class for new engineers in the industry.
§ Baton Rouge Community College – Ronnie Hotard reported they were working with the State Department of Education on the Gateway to Education Program. He said they were shooting a video at Dow Chemical aimed at 7th and 8th graders describing the potential jobs available to Process Technology graduates. He said there would be 12 Baton Rouge Community College graduates this semester. He also reported that Dow had 4 interns this semester and have plans to have 12 interns this summer.
§ San Jacinto College Central – Jack Makarczyk reported that the student count was up from last semester. The count is at 257. He also reported that they had run special classes for Shell and OxyChem trainees. He reported that the weekend program has proved successful and PT-II is being offered on the weekend. Currently offering Introduction to Process Technology via the web and will pilot PT-I and SHE on the web this fall.
§
Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
– Tim Coppinger reported that he had 2 programs, Engineering
Technology and Mechanical Technology.
He reported that the first students out of these programs
will graduate in the spring of 2002.
He reported that the greatest number of students in these
programs generally come straight out of high school.
He also reported they would move into a new 15,000 square
foot facility this December.
§
Alvin Community College – Lou Caserta
reported that the student enrollment was down slightly to 85
students. He also reported that he was working with the ACS
on categorizing the Voluntary Industry Skills Standards for Process
Technicians, which was developed by the ACS under a NSF Grant in
1996.
§
Steve encouraged the members to become
active in the committees especially in Public Relations and the
Education Subcommittee.
§
IPTA – Steve reported that to date the
GCPTA has sponsored 3 IPTA meetings, 2 of which have been in
conjunction with the API National Training and Development
Conference. The API
will no longer be able to sponsor and support the IPTA Meeting and
hotel negotiations. Because
of this, the GCPTA Executive Committee has decided to hold the next
IPTA Meeting in the Houston area in October of this year.
The date and place has yet to be determined. This will be posted on the web site when it is
finalized.
§
Steve told everyone about the next GCPTA
Meeting that would be held March 30th in the Lake Charles
area at the Holiday Inn Express in Sulphur, LA.
We have some rooms blocked for the meeting.
For reservations call 337-625-2500.
§
Joan Straumanis with the U. S. Department
of Education invited the members to attend a workshop Monday,
January 29th at the Hobby Hilton Hotel from 11 a.m. to 4
p.m. on how to write grant applications.
Joan also gave out information on a project, which encourages
women to become involved in science technology such as engineers and
technicians. It is
administered through San Jose University in California, but the
mentors and students can be anywhere in the United States.
Information on this program is available at www.mentornet.net.
§ John Galiotos with Houston Community College invited members to attend a workshop Saturday, February 3rd from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Computers in Chemistry. Lunch will be provided. More information at www.scitechnologies.com.
§
Web site www.processtech.org
is fully active and maintained by Bob Kosar of Grand Isle Group.
If your school or company has a web site and it is not
accessible by just a click, contact the webmaster by e-mail bobkosar@hal-pc.org.
College of the Mainland is providing the host server.
§
Center for the Advancement of Process
Technology (CAPT) web site www.captech.org.
§
Contact the GCPTA at atgcpta@msn.com
Holiday
Inn Express, Sulphur, LA
9:00
a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Friday,
August 17, 2001
Friday,
October 19, 2001
Nassau
Bay Hilton
9:00
a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
***Other
Events***
San
Jacinto College – Central Campus
Date
Pending
Meeting
adjourned at 1:00 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Merv
Treigle, Secretary
Gulf
Coast Process Technology Alliance
MT/at