ROCKFORD ? Rock Valley College President Jack Becherer is eager to partner with an Oklahoma aeronautics school to expand aviation maintenance education here, even as the community college expands its own program.
But he?s not sure a deal with Spartan College of Aeronautics & Technology in Tulsa will materialize.
Executives of the private college made Rock Valley an offer, but Becherer said he had received no response to a counterproposal he pitched a month ago.
?It?s important for all sides to compromise,? Becherer said Wednesday at the RVC Falcon Road Center. ?I think we?re at that point. Great partnerships take compromise.?
Spartan College officials could not be reached for comment.
While talks continue, Rock Valley will expand its aviation maintenance program to support AdvanceNow, its career education partnership with area high schools.
Beginning in August 2014, high school juniors can enroll in the program and earn high school diplomas while working toward RVC?s aviation maintenance certification. After finishing high school, these students would need one year at RVC?s aviation maintenance program to be certified, allowing them to enter the work force faster and spend far less money to become mechanics.
Rock Valley?s program serves 25 to 30 students; expansion would allow it to serve about 50.
The number of aviation mechanics trained here could increase several-fold, however, through a partnership with Spartan, and that may have larger economic implications for the community.
More jet mechanics here could be the key to landing a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility at Chicago Rockford International Airport.
An MRO is a jumbo hangar where jets are serviced and repaired. Airport officials have long desired such a facility, which can employ hundreds of well-paid workers.
That?s where Spartan could fit in. Spartan is exploring a Rockford campus for potentially hundreds of students, according to email correspondence from Becherer that was obtained by the Register Star through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Many of Spartan?s students are expected to come from outside the Rockford area.
For Rock Valley, the partnership comes down to money.
Rock Valley?s two-year aviation maintenance program, including tuition and fees, costs about $13,000. Spartan charges about $37,000 for a comparable program.
Rock Valley trustees insist that Spartan offer RVC?s tuition rate to students who live in the community college?s district, which includes Winnebago and Boone counties and a bit of Stephenson, Ogle and DeKalb counties.
?Feeding the system?
Given those geographic constraints, RVC?s expansion poses no threat to Spartan, RVC board Chairman Michael Dunn Jr. said.
?We believe once you get north of 50 students, it?s going to be hard to fill those seats if you?re just targeting the in-district kids,? he said.
?Doctor Becherer?s hope, and I think he?s correct, is that by bringing in AdvanceNow, you?re feeding the system. You feed naturally into Rock Valley?s freshman curriculum and then maybe you can go up to 60 students or 70. But we?ll never be able to scale up to the level of Spartan, if those levels are accurate, because we?re restricted to students just within our district.?
Airport Director Mike Dunn, father of the RVC board chairman, did not attend the news conference.
He said later that Becherer?s announcement may have damaged any hope of recruiting Spartan to Rockford.
?Congratulations. Way to go,? Dunn said. ?Now (Rock Valley) has told the world about its program expansion and I?ve got to tell a potential partner that they?re going to ramp up their program and add another 30 or 40 students.
?I?ve met with the president of Spartan. He?s looked me in the eye and told me we?re not coming into a city to compete against a community college.?
Searching for a home
Josh Griffeth completed his aviation maintenance training at Rock Valley about six years ago.
?I was able to complete my bachelor?s degree elsewhere, but I wouldn?t change the first two years of my education for anything,? said Griffeth, a production manager at Midwest Aero Support in Machesney Park.
?Spartan, Lewis University, Southern Illinois University, they all have programs to offer. Rock Valley had two things they couldn?t offer: proximity and cost. It was 20 minutes from my house.?
Still unclear is where Rock Valley will expand its aviation maintenance program. Administrators will begin recruiting students this fall for fall 2014, but they say their Falcon Road Center on the east side of the airport can?t accommodate more students.
Rock Valley wants to have a facility to show potential students in the 2013-14 school year.
Becherer has toured a nearby hangar the airport owns, but airport officials haven?t made the college an offer to buy or lease the building.
?Building a classroom inside a hangar or a facility is not going to be the most complex project that our architects and our facilities people are dealing with,? he said. ?So I think we could act relatively quickly in terms of moving forward.?
Isaac Guerrero:? 815-987-1361; iguerrero@rrstar.com; @isaac_rrs
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