Alaska’s Institute of Technology, also known as AVTEC or the Alaska Vocational Technical Center, had to close the doors to their Anchorage satellite campus Aug. 15, because of budget cuts.
Alaska Workforce Investment Board executive director Heather Beaty also is a spokesperson for the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. She said the closure was because in part because of the 33 percent budget cut to the State General Funds.
Budget cuts are not a new thing for AVTEC, though.
The agency has already made many money-saving cuts in the past, Beaty said.
“With those cuts have come many efficiencies,” she said. “We’ve combined two of our divisions, we’ve eliminated vacant positions, we’ve had to do some lay offs, we’ve consolidated our lease spaces, [and] we’ve cut back on travel. We’ve looked for saving everywhere, but unfortunately these cuts are so deep that we are at a point where we’re having to close some of our offices and we’re having to eliminate some of the programs we have to offer.”
The state of Alaska opened AVTEC in 1969 in response to the coming pipeline.
The state knew they would need to increase the number of highly trained workers in certain skillsets to accommodate for the pipeline’s construction.
AVTEC programs include maritime, culinary, welding and many other training programs.
Last year, nearly 1,400 students completed long-term training at AVTEC.
The Allied Health Program had been offered through AVTEC’s Anchorage Campus.
Now that the campus has closed, AVTEC can no longer offer their main nursing programs.
The Allied Health Program typically served about 100 certified nursing assistant candidates each year, Beaty said, and about 20 people each year enrolled in the register nursing and the LPN programs.
The last group of licensed practical nurses graduated in November 2015, before the LPN program was shut down because of previous cuts. However, the Medical Office Assistant program is one of the few medical programs that are offered at AVTEC’s main campus in Seward.
As for the future of AVTEC, Beaty said that they hope for a fiscal program to be passed so that there can be more certainty for the programs that they offer.
“It’s so important to be able to offer good quality job training in our state so that people have the skills they need to go to work in careers that are going to help them earn a good wage and provide what they need for their families,” Beaty said.
AVTEC’s main campus in Seward is to remain open.
