What is the Center of Excellence for Process and Control Technology?
The Washington State Board of Community and Technical Education has designated 12 Centers of Excellence in Washington State, each built upon a reputation for fast and flexible quality workforce education and training programs. Bellingham Technical College has been designated the Center of Excellence for Process and Control Technology, targeting the Process Manufacturing industries.
Our Objectives:
Washington is facing a shortage of knowledgeable and skilled workers and this is very evident in the process manufacturing sector. The growing gap between the economy's requirements and the labor force's knowledge and skills is due to well-educated baby boomers leaving the work force, less educated people entering the work force and an increase in the sophistication of equipment and technology. Businesses and industry demand that productivity increase and adapt, requiring workers to continually improve skills, adapt to new processes and solve new problems.
Businesses find it especially difficult to find workers with occupations-specific skills, problem-solving and critical thinking, positive habits & attitudes, and communication & teamwork skills. Our Center of Excellence for Process and Control Technology at BTC is meeting this challenge to prepare the skilled workforce for the process manufacturing industries in our State by:
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Offering excellent workforce educational programs in the areas of process and control technology.
Expanding the capacity and access in these programs by increasing the student intake.
Developing eLearning options to increase access to match the flexible scheduling needs of the current generation of workers.
Providing a common platform for processing industries in the State to share their workforce needs and collaborate to promote the career opportunities to prospective workers.
Collaborating with local industry, high schools and underserved populations to bring them into workforce training programs.
Acquiring current technology-based equipment and simulators for our labs, as demanded by process manufacturing industries.
Offer customized training for incumbent worker to upgrade their skills as required by various industries.
Sharing the related process manufacturing education curriculum and worker training resources with other colleges throughout the State.
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The major industry clusters that employ people with Process and Control Technology skills are:
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Chemicals Manufacturing
Petroleum Refining
Power Generation
Pulp and Paper Processing
Food Processing
Water Treatment
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BTC's CoE is participating in workforce education on the national stage as an active member of national organizations including the Center for Advancement of Process Technology, Houston ,TX and the Industrial Instrumentation and Control Technology Alliance, Houston, TX. BTC's CoE is currently coordinating a Western States Process Careers Network with industry and educational institutions in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Colorado and California, to share best practices in student recruitment & outreach, training resources & online content, to develop consistent skills standards and to promote skills-based educational assessments.
We look forward to hearing from you regarding your training needs, your need for skilled process and control technicians, or if you would just like more information about how we can serve you. - contact us-
The Center supports the network of technical and community colleges in Washington State in providing quality process and control technology training for their students and the best possible workforce for the processing industries in their area. |
