Prepare for a Recession Proof Job at White Mountains Community College
Katharine Eneguess, President of White Mountains Community CollegeWinter has come to the North Country and with it the cold temperatures and snow. We welcome the change in season; it's why many of us live in northern New Hampshire. Even though we'd sometimes like winter to hold off until after we've gotten all our Christmas shopping done, it is still comforting, somehow, that despite all the turmoil in the world's financial markets, Mother Nature is unperturbed, sticking to her annual schedule like clockwork.
We stick to our schedule here at White Mountains Community College, too, and are pleased to let you know that our Spring 2009 credit course offerings are up on our website at www.wmcc.edu/courses/. The listings include online courses. Most spring classes begin the week of January 12 and run through May 7.
With so much going on in the world today it is easy to get discouraged about your own future and think that you are at the mercy of forces beyond your control, but that couldn't be further from the truth. At White Mountains Community College we offer degrees and certificates in fields that are virtually recession-proof.
Among the courses we are offering starting in January are a full slate of water and waste water treatment courses, from Mechanical Maintenance and Pumps, Wastewater Collection Systems to Industrial Wastewater Treatment and more. These course have the added benefit of being online, meaning that for the most part you can take them in the convenience of your own home, on your own time. After the successful completion of five courses worth 16 credits, you will receive your Water Quality Technology certificate. You can either use this to go into the job market, or apply it towards a two-year associate degree in general studies.
The career outlook for those in the field is bright. Clean water is a necessity. According to the College Board, job openings should outnumber job hunters through 2016, as municipalities get more water treatment plants online to meet the needs of their populations. In 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, operators of water and waste water treatment plants earned on average $38,360 a year.
In New Hampshire alone there are 85 municipal facilities, 27 private domestic facilities and 180 industrial facilities. There are wastewater treatment plants throughout the North Country, too, where population density makes them necessary. Fifty percent of the state's population is hooked up to a public sewer system. Berlin, Gorham, Lancaster, Whitefield, Groveton, and Conway all have wastewater treatment plants. Recession or not, that waste water will continue to flow.
We offer many other degree and certificate programs focused in areas that will need new workers to fulfill their job force needs. We will always have the need for nurses and other health care workers, and our public schools will continue to need new teachers as the baby-boom generation of teachers retires.
Don't neglect planning for the long term; either go on-line to see our spring course offerings or stop by our main campus at 2020 Riverside Drive in Berlin, or one of our other academic centers. Our Conway center is located off of Route 16 at the Tech Village, 53 Technology Lane. In Littleton we are at 646 Main Street, the Littleton Learning Center Building, and in Woodsville, at 9 High Street.
Back to News List12/6/2008
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