Lake Superior College News Releases

Lake Superior College’s (LSC) thirteenth annual Spring Semester Art Exhibit will open on Wed., May 2. Students enrolled in LSC’s popular art courses will have an opportunity to display their work during the event. For many of the approximately 350 participating students, it will be their first-ever exhibition.

Student artists will present a wide variety of projects, including paintings, watercolors, sculpture, jewelry, digital photography, drawing, two and three-dimensional design projects, and ceramics. The exhibit formally opens with a reception between 5 and 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 2. Free and open to the public, the reception will include refreshments and an opportunity to meet the artists.

Artwork will be displayed in the upper and lower levels of the concourse in the main building. The public may view the exhibition during regular campus hours, beginning at noon on Wednesday, May 2, and continuing through Tuesday, May 8. For more information, contact faculty member Dorian Beaulieu, (218) 725-7715 or d.beaulieu@lsc.edu

With more than 4,800 students enrolled this spring semester, LSC is Northeastern Minnesota’s largest two-year college. LSC provides a wide range of programs and services, including liberal arts and science courses for transfer, technical programs intended to provide occupational skills, continuing education, and customized training for business and industry. LSC is also the leader in Internet-delivered courses and programs in
Minnesota.

Photo caption: “Feet” by student Bobbikay DeLovely from our digital photography class.

(Duluth, Minn.) — The first annual Lake Superior College “Thrill on the Hill” Scholarship Fund Run for runners and walkers will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 5. Prepare to be challenged by this fun-filled event and its never-ending supply of hills. It is guaranteed to take your breath away!

The “Thrill on the Hill” walk/run traverses a beautiful course through the neighborhoods surrounding Lake Superior College and showcases vistas of the Duluth Harbor and St. Louis Bay. The race course will include parts of the LSC campus, Trinity and Hutchinson Roads, and the Piedmont Ski Trails.

The event includes a 5K run/walk and a 10K course which features a hybrid half road/half trail run. A Husky Dash Kid’s Race is free for kids ages ten and under and starts at 11:30 a.m.

The registration fee is $25. All race proceeds will benefit the Lake Superior College Foundation’s general scholarship fund. Participants are welcome to register online at www.lsc.edu/thrillonthehill. Chip timing will be used. All entrants will receive a “Thrill on the Hill” T-shirt and be eligible for door prizes. The “Thrill on the Hill” also has an official blog site at blog.lsc.edu/fundrun Packet pick-up and race expo is Friday, May 4, 5-7 p.m. in the Lake Superior College main concourse.

LSC is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. With more than 4,800 students enrolled this spring semester, LSC is northeastern Minnesota’s largest two-year college. LSC provides a wide range of programs and services, including liberal arts and science courses for transfer, technical programs intended to provide occupational skills, continuing education, and customized training for business and industry. LSC is also the leader in Internet-delivered courses and programs in Minnesota.

Lake Superior College has been approved to offer a new Hemodialysis Patient Care Technician Program. The program will be available in two versions, a 16-credit theory-only certificate, and a 21-credit advanced certificate that includes theory and clinical experience.

The 16-credit certificate provides fundamental theoretical knowledge only. Students completing the certificate would still require on-the-job clinical training upon hire at a dialysis facility.

The 21-credit version includes a structured clinical internship experience at a dialysis facility, in addition to theory courses. It is anticipated that students completing the longer version of the program will require minimal additional training upon hire at a dialysis facility.

Hemodialysis, a treatment which requires the use of a dialysis machine, is routinely provided for people diagnosed with renal failure. It is critical life support for thousands of Americans. Currently, more than 300,000 people in the United States receive dialysis on an ongoing basis. In the five-state Upper Midwest region there are nearly 21,000 hemodialysis patients.

The college is accepting students for the 2007-08 academic year. All theory courses and the complete 16-credit program will be offered online.

“This new program addresses a critical need for dialysis technicians,” said Candace Barnack, Lake Superior College’s vice president of academic affairs. “Our research indicates that there are job openings across the state and nation.”

According to Pam Elstad, LSC’s dean of nursing and allied health, the theory courses can be completed in a single semester. “With a minimal investment in training, graduates of the program will be ready to enter jobs in a growing field,” Elstad reports.

According to school officials, there are nearly 5,000 dialysis clinics in the U.S., with 405 operating in the five-state upper-midwest region. Nearly all of these facilities hire hemodialysis technicians to provide direct care under the supervision of a registered nurse.

“Trained technicians are highly sought after, as there are only a few education programs in the nation and none in Minnesota. As a result, most employers are forced to provide on-the-job training for new technicians,” Elstad explains. “Our graduates will have the skills dialysis facilities need, making them very employable and reducing the need for expensive employer-provided training programs.”

LSC has elected to offer the program via the Internet, making the theory classes available throughout the state and nation. “While there are many jobs available across the country, they are widely dispersed geographically,” says Barnack. “That’s probably one reason training for this field isn’t widely available. By offering the courses online, we can serve a state-wide and regional training need.”

Components of the programs will be available fall term with the remainder of courses coming online January 2008. Potential students are encouraged to apply soon. Enrollment information is available by contacting LSC Student Services, (218) 733-7601, enroll@lsc.edu.

Lake Superior College is a leading provider of online college courses with more than 140 courses available via the Internet each semester. The college is also a center for nursing and allied health programs, offering the region’s widest selection of health care career training programs, including dental hygiene, massage therapist, medical assistant, medical lab technician, phlebotomy, physical therapist assistant, radiologic technology, respiratory care practitioner, surgical technician, and associate degree (RN) and licensed practical nursing.

Originally published in the “Outlook” edition (March 18, 2007) of the “Duluth News Tribune.”

Highlighting the vital role of the community in the community college, 250 dedicated volunteers attended a special appreciation event held recently at Lake Superior College. The guests were members of the college’s advisory committees, groups organized to provide input to LSC’s programs and administration. The annual event is an opportunity for the college to thank the committee members for sharing their expertise and time helping to connect the college to the Duluth/Superior community.

“The advisory committee system is a key to keeping our programs current and relevant,” Dr. Kathleen Nelson, LSC’s president, explained. “They are a vital connection to the community and are central to our decision-making process.”

College officials say that community input is needed if the college is to contribute to the economic development of the region. That’s one reason that Dan McElroy, Minnesota’s Commissioner of the Department of Employment and Economic Development, was the keynote speaker at the appreciation dinner. Commissioner McElroy, who also serves as a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities’ Board of Trustees, highlighted the role of education in workforce and economic development.

According to LSC’s Vice President of Academic Affairs, Candace Barnack, input from advisory groups has resulted in major changes in curriculum and development of new programs.

“We have to credit our aviation advisory group with creating the vision for our proposed Center for Advanced Aviation,” Barnack reports. “They helped us identify the training needs for the region’s growing aviation sector and have contributed a lot of energy to the difficult process of advocating for and creating a new training center.”

The college plans to develop a training facility at the Duluth International Airport in response to the growth of aviation manufacturing in the region. LSC currently offers pilot training at the airport and plans to expand offerings, adding an airframe and powerplant technician program in fall 2008, and avionics and aviation manufacturing in 2009. The college has also redesigned its drafting and machining curriculum, renaming it integrated manufacturing, to address the needs of the aviation industry and other precision manufacturers.

Lake Superior College’s Customized Training Office also plays a role in identifying community needs. The unit provides education and training options directly to business and industry.

According to Steve Wagner, dean of community and workforce development, customized training projects respond to emerging training needs in the local economy.

As an example, Wagner says, an industry group, led by Stora Enso, Sappi Fine Paper, Minnesota Power, USG and the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, has identified the need to train electrical technicians.

“They’re saying that there will be more than 200 job vacancies for electrical technicians over the next couple of years, so we are adapting to meet that need,” Wagner explained. The college has added evening sections of core courses in electronics and will be changing curriculum and expanding internships and job shadowing in its electrical programs as a result of the industry input.

For LSC’s nursing and allied health programs, interaction with regional health care providers is critical. Regional health care providers are active participants in the educational process, providing clinical sites and staff to supervise students participating in clinical rotations.

The health care system is also facing workforce issues, including projected shortages of nurses and other health care professionals as baby boomers in the workforce retire and require higher levels of health care. The college has already increased the number of associate degree nurses (R.N.) it graduates by more than 50 percent over the past three years.

With the participation of active and dedicated new advisory committees, LSC is developing two new programs, sonography and hemodialysis patient care technician, for the 2007-2008 academic year. Curriculum development and instructor recruitment for the new programs is underway and the college will soon accept students for next year, pending final approval of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.

LSC’s Customized Training Office has also worked closely with the health care industry. The college recently received a $397,000 Minnesota Job Skills Partnership grant funding a customized training project for St. Mary’s Duluth Clinic (SMDC) employees. The project will provide training in “Lean Health,” a system of continuous improvement designed to increase employee satisfaction, improve the quality of work within the organization, and eliminate waste in the medical process, resulting in more efficient and cost-effective health care for residents in Northeast Minnesota.

“Across the board, all of our programs benefit when they interact with the community. The college has made major changes to dozens of programs because our faculty is serious about listening and responding to the industry experts that serve on advisory committees,” Barnack stated. She cites major changes to business administration, integrated manufacturing, and media studies and production as examples of program areas that have been completely redesigned to address industry needs and student success.

“Without the help and generosity of area employers and individual volunteers we wouldn’t be able to adapt to our community’s changing educational needs,” President Nelson stated. “Our graduates will be better prepared to succeed, thanks to them.”