Salina Area Technical College has created a new position aimed at supporting local businesses.
The school says the Salina Tech director of business and community partnerships role was created to create training tailored to the needs of local businesses. Alisha Jester has returned to her new position.
Salina Tech President Greg Nichols said the responsibilities of this new role are wide-ranging. “Many will be providing or arranging for customized short-term training to be delivered based on the needs of individual companies,” Nichols said. “Part of this includes establishing apprenticeship and internship programs.”
One example Nichols gave was plumbing. The university does not offer a plumbing program and does not have the space to offer one. However, there are state and federal apprenticeship programs that train new plumbers at local plumbing companies and can lead to commercial certification.
Nichols emphasized that the training provided through this program is not intended to replace the university's existing full-time programs.
“A lot of that will be outside the scope of what Salinatec is currently doing,” Nichols said. “It could be leadership training for people who get promoted to supervisory roles. We've all seen good employees get promoted, but they're not good at being the boss. No. But that's because they require training for the role.”
Nichols said that sometimes Jester will teach some classes herself, but in other cases “she'll get the right people together.”
Jester added that the training is not limited to the Salina Technological University campus. “We can come out to businesses and provide training, or we can set it up online, and we can cover the entire region, not just Salina,” she said.
Jester is already familiar with Salina Tech, having spent four years at the university, first as a recruiter and then as instructional coordinator. She earned a bachelor's degree in art and art education from Bethany College and a master's degree in instructional design from Baker College. She teaches in the International Baccalaureate program at Hutchinson High School and has experience in curriculum building and marketing. Additionally, she holds a Kansas teaching license and a Kansas Realtor license, and she has connections with building contractors and other industry professionals throughout the region.
Jester currently serves on the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission and was previously a member of the Salina Animal Care Advisory Committee and Executive Director of BeKind Salina.
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Organizations interested in learning more about how Salina Tech can help with their training needs can:
Contact Jester at 785-309-3152 or [email protected]
