Maddison Farris
Lantern Staff
According to Rodney Dimick, the Communications Specialist at Butler Community College, the institution is continuing to prosper through an ongoing partnership with the Wichita chapter of the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS). This partnership has made way for many students to get immediately involved in their local workforce after graduating. The certifications that are offered through this partnership program include the Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) and Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) certifications. These certificates declare professional competence and enhanced functional knowledge.
According to EMSI (Labor Market Analytics), in many job postings that involve manufacturing, these certificates prove to be more desirable than a masters’ degree in business administration.
Students are continuing to benefit from this program as it is affordable and offers immediate job openings. Butler offers these certificates at affordable prices. The CSCP course comes to $2,095, which breaks down to roughly $58 per credit hour while the CPIM costs $1,356, and comes out to be about $38 per credit hour.
This partnership helps students gain the knowledge and experience they could use and grant new employment opportunities shortly after earning the certificate, therefore benefiting both the student and the workforce.
Butler has also been partnering with a sheet metal union that allows students to work 40+ hours a week as an apprentice with a journey-person and provides the academic mobility they need to graduate with a sheet metal associate in applied science degree after four years. Four years may seem like a lot of time for an associate’s degree, but these students get the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills that they need well enough to jump straight into the workforce after graduating debt-free.
Students are paid $19 per hour during their freshman year and are able to gain raises each year of the internship. Jobs in this field offer a beginning pay of $34.91 with full benefits.
Butler Community College also continues to maintain a healthy partnership with Plumbers & Pipefitters Apprenticeship Training of Kansas (PPATKS) UA Local 441. Butler Community College is the only college to hold a partnership with the company and to offer tailored courses that allow students to earn a degree, graduate the apprenticeship, and earn a journey-person’s card.
PPATKS has partnered with many signatory contractors around the state, which allows students to access a hands-on work environment and learn the skills necessary to gain success in their profession.
Books and tuition for this program cost students $600 per year, which includes the 15 credit hours of courses that are offered by Butler. Students that graduate from this program are able to go straight to work earning $85,000-$100,000 per year.