Cloud County Community College will discontinue the wind energy courses it provides at USD 257’s Regional Rural Technology Center (RRTC) in LaHarpe.
Brandon Galm, Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Concordia community college, said lower numbers at LaHarpe’s program was the reason it is canceling the program.
Galm said it was a “difficult decision,” based on an increasingly tight budget.
“Our wind energy program itself is not scaling back,” said Galm, adding that local students interested in the wind program can take the coursework online.
THE CHANGE also affects staffing at the tech center. Iola instructor Paul Miller’s contract with Cloud County’s wind program is coming to an end.
Miller said the program’s closure at RRTC reflects broader trends in higher education rather than a lack of opportunity in the wind industry.
“Every community college is aware of the enrollment cliff, and nationwide we’ve seen colleges cutting programs that have lower enrollment,” he said.
He added that wind energy remains a growing field with strong job placement.
“I think one advantage that the wind program has, especially at Concordia, is it has a really strong job rate, and it has targeted high growth,” Miller said. “I think Cloud will continue to train wind turbine technicians.”
Looking ahead, Miller said he is exploring options with the college. “I’ve got a great relationship with folks at Cloud County Community College, and we’re trying to figure out what the best thing is for students here and me, and students there,” he said.
He also pointed to the potential for growth in the region, including discussion of another wind farm in Allen County.
“I believe wind energy is an agricultural product,” Miller said. “We plant a metal tube in the ground, we build it up tall, and we reap a harvest of wind and we sell it. And it creates local jobs, because you can’t export wind.”
PARTICIPATION in the program has shifted over time, Stacey Fager, USD 257 Superintendent, said Wednesday. “Enrollment in the wind energy program had been higher in the past. There were more school districts that sent kids,” he said.
“One thing that has hurt the enrollment here has been Chanute students taking different options at the Mitchell Career and Technology Center at Neosho County Community College,” he said. “When we initially started the program, Chanute didn’t have that option at the Mitchell Center.”
That expansion has changed the landscape of enrollment in recent years. “When you have more options for students, you start dividing up those opportunities a little more,” Fager said. “It’s unfortunate. But, you know, unfortunately, it’s a reality.”
According to Iola High School Career Counselor and Advisor Dana Daugharthy, Iola currently has three students and Humboldt has one student in the wind energy program at RRTC.
