Hilton Hotel, Nassau Bay, TX
Date: Friday,
May 17, 2002
Time: 9:00
am – 1:00 pm
Steve Ames, President, opened the meeting and
welcomed everyone in attendance.
The participants introduced themselves.
There were 37 members and guests in attendance.
Steve explained the process for GCPTA membership
and asked all to get involved with the various subcommittees and
participate as much as possible.
The
following members were approved by the steering committee.
Voting—
Denise Rector, Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, TX
Non-Voting—
Doug MacLaren, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology,
Calgary, Canada
Executive
Director Report – Merv Treigle
– Merv reported that Mike Kukuk had recently graduated with a 4.0
grade point average in Process Technology.
He received his AAS Degree with highest honors from the
College of the Mainland. The
entire group congratulated Mike.
Merv also
reported that Kathy Trahan has accepted the job as Director of
Process Technology for Baton Rouge Community College.
With her acceptance of this position, Kathy will forego her
position as Treasurer of the GCPTA.
The Executive Committee has appointed Mike Gragg with Dow
Chemical Company to fill the position of Treasurer.
Merv posed a
question to those in attendance from one of the members of the
GCPTA. The question
was, “What advice should be given to an individual who has been
convicted of a felony about the opportunities available in Process
Technology?” The group offered several answers: (1) With a felony conviction, most companies tend
not to look at these persons as viable candidates for employment,
(2) If it involves drugs it almost is assured that the individual
will not be considered for employment, (3) One company said that it
had hired these individuals in the past and the success rate was not
great, and (4) It was brought up that tax credits are available to
companies who hire such individuals. These tax credits are straight off the tax
liability and are not just deductions.
Merv told
everyone that Paul Swaile from Saskatchewan Institute of Applied
Science & Technology in Saskatoon, Canada was at the meeting and
that he had brought brochures on his program and asked everyone to
take a look at them.
Merv reported
that John Hough had available a book on Contextual Academic Problems
which was designed for general education assignments related to
Process Technology. This
book is a result of a study done in Louisiana linking academic
problems in Science, Math and English to Process Technology.
John has agreed to make the book available to those who
request it at a nominal charge. John
can be contacted at LCTCS, phone 225-219-8774 or e-mail jhough@lctcs.state.la.us.
Merv reported
that the Executive Committee had met the day before.
Some of the items discussed at the meeting were:
(1) How the GCPTA is evolving.
(2) Is there an interest on behalf of the P-Tech Instructors
in having networking time at the GCPTA business meetings—if so,
would they attend or be allowed to attend?
A survey questionnaire on this matter will be sent to solicit
the interest level. (3)
IPTA meeting in October will be 1½ days and the business meeting
scheduled for the morning of October 10 will be moved to a November
date to be announced. (4)
Merv reported that we now have four partners in Canada and they
would be afforded the same price structure on curriculum as our
United States members. However,
the cost of shipping is greater and will have to be paid by the
institution ordering the materials.
(5) All materials both CAPT and GCPTA will be moved to one
central ordering place as soon as possible.
Members will be notified when this is done.
Special
Note – Ed Stiles –
Ed reported that an Ad hoc Subcommittee of Standards and Quality had
been formed by the Executive Committee and will be chaired by Kathy
Trahan and Ed Stiles. This
subcommittee will be studying ways to determine the best way to
evaluate member colleges to determine if they are meeting the
objectives of the GCPTA. Ed
stated that they were looking for members to join the subcommittee.
Special Note – Kathy Trahan
– Kathy reported that she and Mike Kukuk had attended a
SkillsUSA-VICA competition at the Sowela campus.
Approximately 85 competitions involving over 600 students
were conducted. She and
Mike were evaluating what the GCPTA might present at a SkillsUSA
competition. Kathy
reported that Larry Rabalais of SkillsUSA would address the GCPTA
meeting in Lake Charles on August 2nd.
Mike Kukuk asked if industry would be willing to
work with the college campuses on VICA Chapters and promote PTech
competition. A show of
hands from those in attendance indicated they would be willing to
work with their college campuses.
Mike has also volunteered to co-chair a committee to further
study the issue of creating a GCPTA sponsored PTech competition.
Subcommittee
– Funding – John Payne
– John explained that the Grant does not take care of the GCPTA
organizational expenses. He
spoke about getting Advisory Committee membership to provide
subscriptions to the GCPTA. He
asked all persons who had not received a subscription to request an
invoice in order that they might provide additional funding to the
GCPTA.
John gave a
presentation on the Funding Subcommittee Mission, Vision, and
Objectives. This
presentation is being made a part of these minutes and is attached.
Eileen Booher
with Gulf Coast Tech Prep School to Work stated there are ways that
Tech Prep could find some funding through high school links.
Stacey
Chiasson stated that perhaps a set of slides could be prepared to
make the right level of decision makers aware of what the GCPTA is
all about. Public
Relations and Funding Subcommittees should commit to making a
presentation before one of these high-level decision making groups.
Mike Kukuk stated that they would be looking to
standardize documentation for internships and establish minimum
standards for activities and evaluations for an internship.
Special Note – Joanna Kile – Joanna introduced Elizabeth Poole, a Chemical Technician with Shell. They serve together on the Committee for Technician Affairs with the American Chemical Society. Elizabeth presented the criteria for technicians to join the Technician Affiliate Group “TAG”. This is a means of providing professional development for Process Technicians who join.
NSF and
LAAP Grants Update – Joanna Kile
– Joanna reported that
a three million dollar ($3,000,000) National Center of Excellence
Grant had been awarded to CAPT and GCPTA by the National Science
Foundation. She stated
that a press release announcing the grant award would be sent out
Monday, May 20, 2002, so that those members wishing to release the
news would be able to insert their information before releasing it
to their local press. A
handout of news release was made available at the meeting.
Joanna Kile
and Leslie Hunt made a presentation on the Grant and Upcoming CAPT
activities. It
is being made a part of these minutes and is attached.
Joanna made
it known that the October 10th and 11th 1 ½
day conference formally known as the IPTA will now be called
Critical Issues and Best Practices in Process Technology Education.
There will be full and partial scholarships available to
educators wishing to present and/or attend this conference.
Further information on the conference will be sent out in the
next few weeks.
Steve Ames
stated that the grant is the culmination of a lot of work and effort
over the past 2½ years. He
recognized Joanna, Leslie and the entire CAPT staff for all the hard
work they had put forth. Steve
stated that the NSF team had said this is the most organized
alliance they had ever seen.
§
Houston Community College – John Payne reported
there were 160 students in Process Technology.
They had a campus wide career fair on May 3rd that
was successful. They
have their strategy in place for offering Web-Base courses for next
fall. They are looking to offer Introduction to Process
Technology and SH&E at all 13 Houston Community College
campuses. They have
been working with the Saigon Institute of Technology to help them
deliver PTech courses. A
representative of the British Columbia Institute of Technology came
to look at the GCPTA curriculum.
§
Brazosport College – Gary Hicks
reported that he and Mike Gragg had been working with the Brazosport
ISD and had talked to all the Science classes.
Approximately 240 high school students want to take dual
credit PTech courses in the fall.
Brazosport held a Parent Day for high school parents to
discuss PTech courses. They
are now working with three school districts to offer the PTech
courses.
Gary reported that there
would be two workshops for teaching hands-on training in Process
Technology. The ACS is
sponsoring these workshops. The
first workshop is scheduled for June 10 thru June 14, 2002 and the
second workshop is scheduled for July 22 thru July 24, 2002.
Both workshops will be held for 5 consecutive days.
Interested instructors should contact Sam Stevenson with the
ACS at 1-800-ACS-5558, Ext. 6108.
§
Wharton County Jr. College – John Poland
reported they have 35 to 40 students enrolled with 1 graduate thus
far this year. They
will have three to graduate this summer.
They will be offering the SH&E Web-Base course this fall.
§
Del Mar College – Denise Rector reported
they have 60 students in their PTech program.
Their summer enrollment is up from last year and will have
two graduates in the fall. They
have started an internship program working with Valero and their
representative, Johnny Arevalos.
§
San Jacinto College – Mike Varnell
reported that their Advisory Committee had chosen Jesse Gonzalez as
their chairperson and that he and Paul Summers would be the two
industry representatives to GCPTA.
He reported that they would be using a version of the
Louisiana audit tool to audit their PTech program.
Four instructors have signed up to teach distance learning
and they hope to offer all of the on-line courses in the fall.
They will be teaching two distance courses and three
classroom courses this summer.
He also reported that a request for switching their
distillation unit from pneumatic to DCS control has been submitted
for approval.
§
College of the Mainland – Bill Raley reported
they had two interns at BP for 16 weeks and both were hired.
One of the candidates qualified in record time on his job.
They had 13 graduates this May.
He also reported that students and adjunct faculty ran their
new distillation unit around the clock for 40 hours working 12 hours
shifts. He said they
would be adding one fulltime instructor in their PTech program.
At present, they have 25 plus adjunct faculty in the program.
PTech has approximately 250 students, which is the largest
program at COM. He also
reported that Rene Campbell their Tech Prep coordinator had been
working with plant managers and seven independent school district
superintendents regarding what they need to do to prepare high
school students for two-year college courses.
§
Baton Rouge Community College – Ronnie
Hotard reported
that Kathy Trahan was now the new PTech Director. He also reported that the new labs have been
installed and hazard analyses have been performed on the labs.
They have 144 students who have declared PTech, as their
major, and 240 students are involved in PTech courses.
Sixteen interns have been placed this summer and Dow hired
eight of 12 interns.
§
Louisiana PTEC – Stacey Chiasson reported
they were aggressively recruiting students for the PTech program.
She reported that 24 high school students would graduate with
PTEC 101 college credit. She
reported that River Parishes would graduate their first class with
16 graduates. They have
eight interns at present. More
companies want interns than there are students available for
internships. She also reported that Baton Rouge Community
College needs a PTech instructor.
§
Texas State Technical College – Tommy
Edgar reported
they had two students in the program last year and they are now up
to 19. He is teaching a
class on materials of construction and is in need of support
materials for the class. If
anyone has any material pertaining to this, please contact him.
He reported that they held a Career Day that industry
attended to talk about job opportunities.
§
Lamar Institute of Technology – Harry Wood
reported they had 50 students graduate Friday.
They have about 600 students enrolled in PTech, but they see
a decrease in enrollment because employment in the area is soft at
this time. He also
reported that construction on the distillation unit had begun in
March and was due to be finished in November.
§
Alvin Community College – Mark Demark reported
they have a full summer of PTech courses scheduled and have hired
three new PTech instructors. Ron
Calvert will be initiating Alvin’s online PTech courses starting
with Quality PTech 2314 this summer and adding the three additional
courses this fall. Bill
Hughes, Training Supervisor at Valero Refining, donated their
Honeywell TDC-3000 based computer simulator.
They have participated in
career days at Alvin, Pearland, and Elkins High Schools.
Their Advisory Committee
combined with that of Continuing Education and Workforce Development
with the mission “to provide third party, industry based guidance,
insight and audit into Alvin program offerings and outcomes”.
They will, with the help
of BP and other local companies, have its first Co-Op or intern
classes this summer and companies are in their final phases of
selecting candidate students.
§
Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science
and Technology – Paul Swaile reported on his three-tier program designed
to encourage northern native people to become involved in technology
programs. Paul made
available a brochure and handouts of his program requirements for
his three-tier program. He
also reported that they have a portable simulation lab that they
make available in four different locations to evaluate the students
in the program.
§
Bob Kosar has put a new discussion tool on the
website that can be accessed through the Education Subcommittee
link. On this website,
you can ask questions, have them posted and persons will be able to
provide answers to the questions.
This is an open discussion forum.
§
There is now posted on the CAPT website a
Management of Change (MOU) that will allow those involved in using
CAPT/GCPTA curriculum materials the opportunity to provide
constructive feedback on changes needed to the curriculum.
§
A new GCPTA business meeting date has been set for
November 1, 2002 at the Nassau Bay Hilton in Nassau Bay, TX. This is due to the fact that the meeting on October
10 & 11th, 2002, will be dedicated for the Critical
Issues and Best Practices conference formally the IPTA annual
meeting.
§
Merv Treigle made known an article published in
Business Week May 20th issue regarding the coming
shortage of skilled workers. The
Public Relations Committee agreed to draft a response to the
article, which would be submitted to the editor for publication.
§
Website www.processtech.org
is fully active and maintained by Bob Kosar of Grand Isle Group
Information Delivery Specialists.
If your school or company has a website and it is not
accessible by just a click, contact the Webmaster by e-mail bobkosar@hal-pc.org.
§
Center for the Advancement of Process Technology
(CAPT) website www.captech.org.
§
Contact the GCPTA at atgcpta@msn.com.
Sulphur, LA
Friday, August 2, 2002
Nassau Bay, TX
Friday,
November 1, 2002
***Other Events***
Meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Ed Stiles, Secretary
Gulf Coast Process Technology Alliance
ES/at