NIC: Move Mohammad, and not the mountain

As a professional-technical faculty member at North Idaho College, I feel I have special insight to having technical programs off campus. NIC’s welding program was moved off campus in December 1995 to the Industrial Park on Atlas Road.

The facility was much bigger at the new site and eventually became an excellent facility.

One big problem was that the students had to take core classes (English, Math, etc.) on the campus and then move out to the Atlas Road facility to take the lab classes. This was a tremendous burden on these often financially strapped students. (12 miles round trip each day).

Sometimes the solution to a problem like this is obvious. However, politics and stigma attached to academic teachers teaching vocational classes got in the way.

Would it not be more prudent to send academic teachers to the off-campus site instead of students going to the academic teacher? Just the parking problems for students would dictate that teachers leave campus (they have reserved parking) instead of the other way around?

In summary, send the academic teacher to the off-campus site if an off-campus location is selected.

MILT TURLEY

Avery