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Donors back CTC workforce development with cash and in-kind gifts

Preparing a qualified workforce is a top priority for UAF. Access to updated equipment and machinery is essential for students in the more than 50 high-quality workforce programs offered by the UAF Community and Technical College. Fortunately, from individual donors like Matthew Varga and Jory Buker to industry partners, the community has rallied to advance these CTC programs.

Varga, a UAF alumnus, provided funding to start the UAF CTC Process Technology Program and Student Support Fund. Varga has a process technology degree from CTC and a strong belief in lifelong learning and in paying support forward. This past May, Varga began a generous endowment pledge to start the UAF Process Technology Alumni Scholarship, which will provide tuition assistance to current process technology students. Varga’s goal is to alleviate the financial burden placed on students and help make attending college possible.

In addition to such scholarships, equipment gifts also positively impact students learning the trade and looking to start an apprenticeship or an entry-level job.

Buker, an Alaska Airlines employee, has witnessed many CTC students become Alaska Airline technicians. The education-to-job pipeline inspired Buker to give his first gift, a 2003 RotorWay 162F two-seat helicopter kit. The helicopter, complete with an engine and avionics instrumentation, was still in its original packaging. Alaska Airlines shipped the helicopter from Juneau to ����ix���� this past May.

Students in the aviation program will benefit from the RotorWay kit in their Assembly and Rigging, Communications and Navigation, Powerplant, and Instrumentation classes.

CTC’s heavy equipment program also received an in-kind gift in the form of an underground loader from Northern Star, which operates the Pogo Mine northeast of Delta Junction. The loader made the 130-mile journey from the mine to its new home at the Hutchison Institute of Technology in ����ix����. Since April, the loader has been helping students learn almost all the necessary skills required for a one-year certificate at CTC.

“This loader is a perfect fit for students participating in our entry-level course introducing the truck and heavy mechanics industry,” said Ray Ludwig, advisor and assistant professor at CTC’s diesel-heavy equipment program. The single piece of equipment will help CTC “teach our students everything from safety operations to basic and advanced electrical systems, as well as multiplexing, the self-sustaining internet system inside a truck,” he said.

Sometimes an industry partner delivers a spectrum of benefits. For example, NC Machinery, the local Caterpillar equipment supplier, and the Caterpillar Foundation have worked with UAF in a variety of ways since 2013.

Most recently, NC Machinery made a $25,000 gift to the UAF CTC Diesel-Heavy Equipment Programs Support Fund, which provides money for scholarships and other program needs. The Caterpillar Foundation matched the $25,000 through its Dealer Excellence Fund, helping create a greater impact and showing the transformational difference industry partners can make.

“Attending the nine-month UAF CTC diesel-heavy equipment program costs over $12,000,” said CTC Associate Dean Keith Swarner. “For many students, scholarship programs such as this are the difference between attending or not attending, between more or fewer workforce-ready graduates.”

In addition to the student financial support, NC Machinery’s partnership with CTC has led to many other positive connections. Chet Bennett, NC Machinery Alaska’s product support manager, joined the CTC advisory committee. Brian Saitta, ����ix���� NC Machinery branch manager, spoke at a diesel-heavy equipment class and invited students to tour the NC Machinery ����ix���� location. NC Machinery also will have a presence at future UAF CTC job fairs.

The potential for students within the diesel-heavy equipment program to earn apprenticeships or entry-level jobs at NC Machinery illustrates how industry partnerships help Alaska’s future workforce flourish.

“CTC relies on its over 400 industry partners to deliver quality workforce education and training programs,” Swarner said.