Ramsey Resident - 1985 - September/October

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r II I I H I I ~ ; ,I ,[ II ~ ! I I L r I ' "\.- AVTI Strives To Become Top In Nation Throughout the state of Min- nesota, Anoka A VTI is recog- nized as a top vocational insti- tution, and at a recent meeting of A VTI staff members, direc- tor, Nuri Hassumani outlined several steps to be taken toward achieving national recognition as well. "With the amount of experi- ence and quality people we have on staff here, there's ab- solutely no reason why we , cannot become one 'of the top AVTls in the nation," he pro- claimed. Toward that end, several in- itiatives were established: duties and responsibilities of the assistant directors were reassigned, plans are being made to offer part time pro- grams at the AVTI, school- wide accreditation of all pro- grams is being sought, the school's marketing committee compiled a job description for a full time institutional market- ing expert to be hired in the fall, while two new programs are being established, and a major remodeling project of 1.2 million dollars for hi-tech programs is nearing comple- tion, targeted for September 4. The reassignment 'of administrative responsibilities has two assistant directors in charge of all programs offered at the school, leaving the three remaining directors in charge of marketing, student ser- vices, program accreditation, staff development, foundation and grant procedures and es- tablishing part time com- ponents of full time programs. Hassumani clarified what is meant by part time programs, "We are not suggesting week- ~~~~~~2!r,~'i:dr--~,~(r-~5-~~}-.~t~~~~, 'Anoka A VTI A'dult Extension Division Anoka AVTI's Adult Exten- sion Division offers courses and programs to cover a varie- ty of interests and skill levels, It caters to adults in all stages of career developme'nt, from entry-level, to advancement, to re-entry. Gerald Stuhr, assistant WTI director in charge of the Adult Extension Division, comment- ed, "I think we perform a very valuable role for people who are looking to ,change jobs or who are looking to re-enter the job force after a period of time, or who are seeking to update and increase their saleable skills. We provide a very economical way to do that." Adult education needs are met in a variety of ways at the AVTI: Last year, there were 37 courses conducted through Anoka A VTI for various com- panies. For example, at Feder. al Cartridge Corporation in Anoka, four courses in CPR were taught while a program for firefighters was conducted at Princeton Fire Department and a Small Computer Opera. tions class 'was offered at Honeywell. In other course offerings, adult division classes were completed at 21 off-campus sites, including a fashion course in New York City. Fifty-one new courses were conducted for the general public during the 1984-85 school year, with programs ranging from Professional Pet Grooming and Grammar for People Who Hate Grammar to International Trade Admini- stration and Understanding Computers. But the list of courses and services available to the public through Anoka A VTI's Adult Extension Division doesn't end there. In the constantly changing world of business - -- --- - and industry today, knowledge and skill levels must also be constantly increased and up- dated. "There's a new need to re- main competitive in today's labor force," said Stuhr, "Peo- ple who are already in the labor force attend our classes to maintain and upgrade their state-of-the-art skills, and we' continue to keep our courses current and up to date by us- ing qualified part time in. structors who are experts in their own industry. We've found this to be an extremely helpful resource in keeping us current in what's going on in industry," he added. With the average age of AV- TI students increasing from the early 20s to the mid-20s, the needs of a new population of students must al;so be ad- dressed. AVTI students are no longer recent high school graduates, but young adults with full time jobs, families and other obliga- tions. One way Anoka A VTI is meet i ng those particu lar needs is by restructuring full time programs to include part time components of those pro- grams. "We are now in the process of providing more options for potential students by offering part time enrollment in por- tions of full time programs," Stuhr explained. Statistics show that all these efforts by Anoka A VTI staff and administration are paying off: since 1981, enroll- ment in the school's Adult Ex- tension Division has increased at a rate of 93 percent, and with further plans to meet the needs of the student popula- tion, as Stuhr puts it, more and more people will be "making a' part time investment in their full time future." end A VTI or A VTI in the even- ing, but a restructuring of pro- gramming to make part time enrollment possible," he said. Assistant director Gerald Stuhr further commented, "Part time programming means offering components of our full time programs for part time enrollment. This is not due to a lesser demand for education, but due to the changing nature of our stu- dents," Stuhr said, continuing, "The students are no longer recent high school graduates, but young adults with full time 'jobs, families and other obliga- tions. We will continue to 'develop offerings for those people." Several AVTI programs cur- rently offering part time enroll- ment include electronics, au'tomotive, landscape, secre- tarial and medical office core. funding to develop two new Addressing the goal to programs at the school achieve school-wide accredi- (Statistical Process Control tat ion of all programs, assis- and Physical Therapy Assis- tant director Herb Murphy stat- tant), and he expressed his ed, "We have a number of pro- confidence that the state de- grams that are nationally ac- partment of education and credited already. We will strive Anoka AVTI can work together to achieve, more accreditation to achieve excellence. in other programs as well," he Hassumani concluded the said. meeting by expressing his ex- Murphy explaineq the tasks citement in being part of "this to be assigned to the school's very, very good organization" marketing expert, to be hired and said he looks forward to this fall, "the marketing expert "being here for a long, long will implement the marketing - time." and public relations activities "Anoka AVTI already has of the institute. This includes wonderful programs in an finding attractive opportun- ideal location. Minnesota is ities to market the institute, already recognized as a top develop marketing strategies state for education. There's no and, finally; implement those reason why we can't become strategies." one of the top AVTls in the na- Hassumani announced that tion!" he exlaimed. Anoka A VTI has received state Medical Office Core Program Starts At Anoka' A VTI Anoka AVTI's medical office core program, which gives its students the knowledge and practical experience needed to enter the fascinating field of medicine, began September 3. The core program, which is a combination of four special- ized medical office occupa- tions, gives students unusual flexibility and allows them to choose a specific area of con- centration after completing the first 12 weeks of study. Students enrolled in each of the four specialized programs (medical clerk-typist, medical secretary, medical assistant and _ medical receptionist) spend the first 12 weeks of the curriculum in the "core" classes. Core classes, which provide entry-level background to the speciality areas, are offered in the evening as well as in the daytime and include these courses: anatomy, business, English, medical terminology, disease conditions, typing, and math and medical accounting. Following successful com- pletion of the core curriculum, students enter a specialty pro- gram to concentrate on ihe skills necessary to qualify for a diploma. Specialty medical office oc- cupations share the common objective of better health care, but are varied in their means of achieving that goal. The medical clerk-typist may function as a receptionist or office assistant in physi- cians' offices, clinics, hospit- als and a variety of other health care settings. The medical receptionist works in clinics, doctors' of- fices, admitting departments and other medically related facilities. The medical secre- tary works as an administra- tive assistant with duties that include billing and account. ing, insurance processing, receptionist skills, processing correspondence and transcrip- tion. Medical secretaries func- tion within hospitals, clinics, physicians' offices, dentists' offices, insurance companies and other medically related settings. Students who complete the medical assistant program or the medical secretary program earn one year of course credits that are transferrable to Anoka-Ramsey Community College. The tinal four weeks of each program is spent in a clinical experience in which the stu- dents get on-the-job training in a clinic, hospital or nursing home situation. These clinical sites can be established any- where in the state. An advisory committee, made up of people who work in the medical field, serves as a resource for the program staff. Its members help to up- date the curriculum, assist in clinical placement and gradu- ate placement and keep the staff informed of current trends in the field. The medical office core pro- ' gram, with students accepted on a full time or part time day or evening basis, began Sep- tember 3 at Anoka AVTI. For further information contact counselor Karen Halverson at 427-1880, ext. 211. "\1\i; ..;:.-/j--i-p'.) l ,,;..~;j-,~t;., ~"(r-~\L.i$';l-~~t,-. ~S;~,h, ~It~}i,~;ir~t, .&.ir-~i, ,Zc~~.t~. (.;.'V':r'~;l....t "-L,-.;,f -<::;'''l)-.!.' r...-..... ~Lr'>' -r..-..r _~N' l.,.,'Li.( ~~ r.c~ ~~ ~ ~- ~~~ ~ Seven A VTI, Programs Receive' High Ratings Seven programs offered at Anoka A VTI were recently rat- ed as "commendable" by the Minnesota State Board of Vo- cational Technical Education for the 1984-85 school year. Those programs are Medical Records Technology, Medical Assistant, Baki ng and Baki ng Assistant, General Secretarial, Mechanical Drafting, Automo- tive Body Repair and Building Utilities Mechanic. To receive such a rating, the programs must exceed an es- tablished level.' in each of these five criterion: student satisfaction, employer satis- faction, completion percent- age, placement percentage and instructional efficiency. Joseph Graba, state director for the Board of Vocational Technical Education, com- mented in a congratulatory let- ter to Anoka AVTI Director Nuri Hassumani, "Maintaining and improving program quality is vital to the future of the A V- TI system. These programs are good examples of the quality needed in Minnesota AVTls if we are to achieve excellence."