Northland Pioneer College (NPC) has renewed its annual vocational skills training contracts with the White Mountain Apache Tribe and is signing new intergovernmental agreements with two other high school job training programs.

During this week’s Navajo County Community College District Governing Board meeting, the board unanimously approved renewing an agreement with the White Mountain Apache Tribe to provide vocational services in construction trades technology.

NPC has had the skills training agreement with the tribe for more than 20 years. The agreement provides construction trades training for 15 students, for which the tribe will pay $88,065 to NPC in the coming year. Occupations program participants are trained for include carpentry, building maintenance, electrical and plumbing. Most of the participants in the program go on to provide construction services for the tribe’s housing authority, while others enter the private construction trades.

The college board also agreed to enter intergovernmental agreements with the Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology (NAVIT) and the Northeast Arizona Technological Institute of Vocational Education

(NATIVE).

The agreement with NAVIT commits the college to continuing to provide educational courses to NAVIT students at NPC facilities, offering dual enrollment courses, meaning students receive both high school and college credit for the courses taken.

Under the terms of the grant program that provides funding for the NAVIT and NATIVE programs, participating secondary education institutions must explore the additional development of programs of study tied to these dual enrollment programs. NPC will be evaluating the welding programs at participating high schools to determine whether the programs provide curriculum at the same standard as college-level curriculum, and whether they align with national accreditations standards.

High schools participating in NAVIT include Blue Ridge, Joseph City, Snowflake, Winslow, Holbrook, Show Low, Alchesay, St. Johns, Round Valley and Mogollon.

Participating NATIVE high schools are Monument Valley, Piñon, Valley, Red Mesa, Red Valley-Cove, Ganado, Chinle and Window Rock.

The college has until June 2012 to complete the evaluations of each high school welding program.

In other business Sept. 20, the board:

* Was advised by NPC President Dr. Jeanne Swarthout that she has been notified by the Kayenta Unified School District that it will no longer provide school facilities for use by NPC, as the district wants to use the facilities for expanded school programs.

Swarthout said NPC has to be out of the facilities by January, and at this time no suitable alternative facilities have been identified.

“The alternative facilities which have been suggested so far are not ideal by any means for education of college students,” she said.

Swarthout said she will present facility recommendations at the November board meeting.

* Approved the purchase of six new passenger vehicles to be added to NPC’s fleet. The college will purchase six 2011 Toyota Corollas from Hatch Toyota for a total of $117,799.14. The college anticipates purchasing six new vehicles a year to replace its aging fleet of 37 vehicles. The average age of vehicles in the college fleet is more than eight years old.

* Announced the hiring of three new employees.

Cathy Reed took up the post of secretary to the Dean of Nursing and Allied Health in August. Reed is a graduate of NPC.

Dr. Leslie Wasson will begin work Nov. 1 as the director of Institutional Effectiveness. Wasson is moving to the area from Boca Raton, Fla. She has a PhD in sociology from State University of New York at Stony Brook, a Master of Arts in sociology from the University of North Carolina, and a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Eckerd College.

Shawntell Skousen, an NPC student, is the new center assistant and monitor at NPC’s St. Johns campus.

The next scheduled meeting of the governing board will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 18.