At Moorpark College several degrees are designed to help students get hands-on experience in a specific specialty and find work.
These degree programs are known as Career Technical Education. Dr. Julius Sokenu, the Dean of CTE at Moorpark College, said these programs connect industry with community colleges to identify high demand jobs in the area.
“They are designed to provide students with high wage, high demand and high skill careers,” said Sokenu.
There has been a focus, in the past five years, on community colleges as engines of economic development. In fact, he said Obama’s proposal to make community colleges free is fueled by the availability of career technical programs at community colleges, according to Sokenu.
“[Obama’s proposal] is informed by the ethic that community colleges prepare people for work,” said Sokenu.
Some of the Career Technical Programs offer students the most opportunity to find work are in the sciences.
In 1994, Baxter, an international health care company, built a manufacturing plant in Thousand Oaks and went to Moorpark College to fill the new demand for skilled labor.
Professor Subhash Karkare, an instructor in Biotechnology and a former employee at Amgen, said career technical programs in biotechnology were created at Moorpark College as a result.
“Moorpark made the biotech program in collaboration with Baxter and Amgen,” said Karkare. “We have people from both companies on our advising board.”
There are three career technical degrees in Biotechnology at Moorpark College. The Biotechnology Certificate of Achievement and the Biotechnology Manufacturing Operator Certificate are each available now. They qualify students to be manufacturing operators as well as research associates. The starting wage for these positions is $30,000 a year.
A certificate of achievement in Biomedical Devices Manufacturing will be available in the fall. This degree was created because Kannamed, a manufacturer of knee implants in Camarillo, had a demand for skilled laborers in the field and asked Moorpark College to meet that demand.
To earn this certificate, students are required to take biology theory classes at Moorpark College and machining classes at Ventura College. Karkare said this certificate is the first in the state in which two community colleges are collaborating with each other.
Nursing and Radiologic Technology are two other career technical programs that are in high demand. Students are required to apply in order to get into these programs. Carol Higashida, the Director of Nursing at Moorpark College, said nurses will always be in demand.
“They are within the top popular professions,” said Higashida. “Even during recession, healthcare was still employing.”
Nursing applications can be turned in twice a year: once in January and once in August. The selection process is highly competitive with only 33 students being accepted a semester out of 200-250 applicants. The average starting salary for a nurse is $40,000 a year.
Radiologic Technology applications are due this month and there is a 2 year long waiting list for those waiting to get in. The selection process is random. The average starting salary is $35,000 a year.
These career technical programs are actively seeking students who want to participate. Karkare said the problem is not finding jobs for students but rather finding students who are willing to earn a science-based certificate.
“We don’t have trouble placing students in industry, but we have students who are scared to take the courses,” said Karkare.
