nn April 1980 LO. ST Aes COMMENT arn WEBER STATE COLLEGE demonstrates assessment, uses a computer to assess interests, aptitudes and talents. The computer draws together information about job experience, maturity levels, reading and math skills, values, interests and personality. With this information counselors help students make wise training decisions. A lab with games also aids students in discovering where their real interests are. Every effort is made, prior to training, to match personality and work-related traits with traits related to specific jobs. Potential students also try their hand at a special “hands-on work bench” where they use the tools of various trades after watching a film and cassette which gives step-by-step instructions. This enables students to find out for themselves where their abilities are strongest. Students are also invited to explore several areas. “At first we trained a student for a job and placed him, then he didn’t show up for work,” said C. Brent Wallis, center director. “We realized there was more to being employed than just the skills involved to do the job. “We take a complete survey of each student’s problems, such as lack of transportation and lack of care for young children. We conduct the center like a job, with rules and regulations they will encounter.” “We also use the revolving door concept, with open entry (continued on page 2) lll eS a Center The center works closely with Utah Job Service, which maintains a branch office at the Gary Walker, sheet metal instructor, technique to student Tonia McCoy. recruitment, training and placement. The vocational training facility provides 22 different training programs aligned under one of five major clusters: bench and service trades, building trades, clerical and sales, health services and metal trades. When a student enters, the and exit. A student can enroll at any time and leave whenever he or she is prepared to do so,” said Dr. Paul Butterfield. “With open entrance and exit, students progress at their own pace and come up to profiency levels. It’s an industries’ utopia because we can train from the entry level up through a B.S. degree at Weber State.” Mr. Wallis cited several students who have gone out on special jobs - individuals with low self-esteem who have been identified as having high potential and are extremely able. The firms they are employed by often are so pleased they send the students back to Weber State College for advanced training and assist with their finances. “Training for non-traditional jobs for women is also available,” said Mr. Wallis. “We have many women who have great aptitude and interest in the non-traditional fields. One young woman was extremely skilled in carpentry. Her father objected until she pointed out that she had found her interest and gained her profiency working beside him in his shop all throughout her childhood.” She was 5’2” tall and was momentarily dismayed when her 6’2” instructor showed her how to move sheetrock under one arm, but she made the adjustments and became one of the best students in carpentry. Instruction at the center is individualized through the use of brief, illustrated handouts called Project Sheets. These sheets tell the students what materials are needed to complete a training project, what steps to follow and how well the project must be done. The center also uses slide-tape presentations. “Hands-on training is the name of the game, students learn by doing -- whether it’s cutting meat ... finishing a cabinet ... servicing an electrical appliance ... or constructing stairs.” a 5 -_Education.” center. The center also operates an Employers’ Service Center, providing office space and clerical help to assist businesses in the areas of employee ig “Instead we call them bricklayers ... welders ... mechanics ... or office workers,” the film strip emphasizes. The uniqueness of the Center, located at 1100 Washington Boulevard, is that it takes into consideration what the area employers want and trains employees to match their requirements -- thus aiding both. The correlation is so close that weekly meetings are held with employers to assess their needs. “The Center believes in Hire el “Frontier railroad towns like Ogden and other places in the old west were built by hired hands. If there was a job to do from mending fences to joining a continent - these hired hands handled it. The work was rough but rewarding,” begins a film strip introducing the Weber State College Skills Center. Students who come to the Skills Center - approximately 1,764 yearly with 2,480 enrolled during the ‘78-79 year - want to upgrade their employability. “Hired hands are still building Ogden and the new west. Except, of course, we don’t call them that today. a a WSC Skills Center believes in "hire education"