WATC leading the way

As Wichita’s economy continues to lag the state’s, in part because of aviation manufacturing, the Wichita Area Technical College is way out in front of its peers in readying a diverse workforce for the rebound.

In fact, no other institution governed by the Kansas Board of Regents even approached WATC’s impressive growth in fall enrollment of 14.8 percent. Its total 3,369 students are enrolled across three campuses including the National Center for Aviation Training, which WATC manages.

The Salina Area Technical College came the closest among peer schools, increasing enrollment 3.5 percent. Wichita State University’s 3.1 percent increase led the state universities, and Garden City Community College’s 4.5 percent growth stood out in a community college system that saw a 4.3 percent overall drop. Of the 6,844 students in Kansas’ technical college system, nearly half attend WATC.

And the spike was no fluke, following fall enrollment growth at WATC of 9.6 percent in 2013, 25 percent in 2012 and 5 percent in 2011.

The college, under the energetic leadership of president Tony Kinkel since late 2010, has made the most of Gov. Sam Brownback’s statewide technical education initiative, which enables students at 16 area high schools to earn dual credit by taking career and tech courses tuition-free at WATC. In two years the high school enrollment at WATC has gone from 87 to nearly 2,000, as more and more parents recognize that a two-year degree or one-year certificate can get their child into a well-paying job.

“I think the culture is changing, and I think the high school principals and high school counselors are really starting to understand the needs of the U.S. economy are different” now, Kinkel told The Eagle editorial board.

WATC also has a nursing partnership with Pratt Community College. WATC has weathered some strange NCAT-related discontent at the Statehouse, also leaving governance and financial troubles behind it.

And last week Kinkel announced that WATC had won a federal grant in partnership with Washburn University. WATC intends to use its $1.5 million to invest in robotics and industrial automation related to its aerospace coatings and paint, welding and sheet metal programs and, working with Trane and Siemens, add a program in building automation system controls. It also wants to update equipment in its heating, ventilation and air conditioning lab. An earlier grant helped WATC develop a national curriculum in aviation.

Congratulations and thanks are due Kinkel and elected officials, including Brownback and Sedgwick County commissioners, whose decisions have enabled WATC to stand out in, and even soar above, the technical college system, regents system and local economy.

As Wichita tries to ensure there are more than enough jobs to go around, WATC is doing its part to get people trained and ready to go to work.

For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published October 9, 2014 at 7:08 PM with the headline "WATC leading the way."