Partnerships expand education opportunities
The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development and Kenai Peninsula College have implemented a joint vocational training program to prepare technicians to work with complex electrical instruments and systems used in oil and gas extraction and other heavy industries.
The joint venture formalizes a training partnership between KPC, a community campus of the University of Alaska, and the Alaska Vocational Technical Center in the labor department. Graduates of both programs have an opportunity to receive dual credit leading to higher certification levels in instrumentation and electrical control programs.
The state labor department has also partnered with the University of Alaska Anchorage School of Nursing in an effort to help alleviate a chronic shortage of licensed registered nurses both in Alaska and nationally.
The agreement provides that graduates of the licensed practical nurse program at the Alaska Vocational Technical Center will be able to enroll in the second year of the university's Associate degree of nursing program that leads to certification as a licensed registered nurse.
The state labor department's vocational technical center is a postsecondary vocational training facility for resident Alaskans, providing vocational training in 15 program areas to more than 1,500 students per year.
Agreement to speed up environmental reviews
The Alaska District of the Corps of Engineers and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities have entered into a cooperative agreement that will speed up the corps' environmental review of permit applications for the state transportation department's construction and maintenance projects. Federal permits are needed because the corps is responsible under federal statutes and regulations to protect aquatic and other natural resources.
The agreement establishes two liaison positions for the purpose of expediting design and implementation of highway and airport improvements. Under the agreement, state transportation department will fund salaries for two full-time liaison environmental analysts to support regulatory services, while the corps' regulatory section chiefs will provide day-to-day supervision and work product review of the liaison positions.
The agreement will expire Oct. 31, 2006, with a possible extension.
Looking for a few good volunteers
The Alaska State Community Service Commission is accepting applications to recognize extraordinary volunteers for their commitment and service to their communities. The recipients must have demonstrated the ethic of volunteerism through their dedication and commitment to a specific cause, and have provided exemplary service to a community within Alaska. The areas of service to be considered as volunteer work are education, mentoring, environmental protection and areas of specific needs that have enhanced the lives of individuals and their communities. Applications are available online at www.commerce.state.ak.us/ascsc/-home.htm. The deadline for application is 5 p.m. Dec. 3. For more information, contact Cheryl White at (907) 269-4637 or cheryl_white@commerce.state.ak-.us.
Alaska Regional Hospital has received the Award of Excellence in Health Care Quality from Qualis Health, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the improvement health care quality with an office in Anchorage. The award recognizes the hospital's dedication to preventing surgical site infections by using appropriate and timely preoperative antibiotics and clinical interventions proven to have a significant impact on preventing infections. Alaska Regional, with a hospital in Anchorage, provides a full range of health care services in Alaska.
