Amador County – The Amador County Transportation Commission recently discussed the future of its Sutter Hill Transit Center and a teleconference and telecommuting center, and the possibility of basing college classes there.
Transportation Commissioner and Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said after a survey by the Amador Community College Foundation, which he chairs, it was found that people want to use a community college for personal enrichment; continuing education for emergency personnel and hospital staff; and for GED programs or occupational training.
He said the robustness of the GED program would probably impact the facility, and they may have to transition it from a traditional, web-based community college to teleconferencing. Or, they could look at moving the college presence to the Health and Human Services building, which would have less impact on scheduling, and the building was built with telecoms and high speed Internet capabilities. Plasse said he would like to see as much teleconferencing capabilities as possible at the Transit Center.
ACTC Executive Director Charles Field said the Transit Center is a little bit ahead of most other agencies, and he was really “interested in hearing what the college board will say.” Field said the dais will be movable, as will be the wireless microphones, and the LCD screens will be tablet style.
Field said they will come back in December and talk about tech staffing needs, and “at least one local business is interested in bidding this job.” Commissioner Michael Vasquez said the county Information Technology Department told him they would need a full-time tech for the teleconference center. Commissioner Keith Sweet said: “Nine of us couldn’t get a DVD to play the other day at the American Legion.”
Amador Community College Foundation’s Karen Dickerson said the majority of off-site college extension satellites are “online and web-based.” She saw the use of teleconferencing for continuing education and personal enrichment, but she was concerned about the capacity. Architect Steve Haidet said the teleconference area seats about 40 people.
Dickerson asked about the cost, and Plasse said the preliminary cost estimate was $87,000, for furniture and computers, but it still must be put out to bid. He said he would like to use the remaining contingency fund to acquire as much of the telecoms equipment as possible, then ask the Community College Foundation for funding.
Field said: “What we can install depends on how much we can save in construction.” He said engineer Rebecca Neillon initially thought that outfitting of telecoms equipment could qualify for grant funding, as could solar shade and solar charging equipment at the Transit Center.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
