“Can I give you the nickel tour?” asked Marvin with his easy smile and somewhat glazed look.

“That would be great, thank you,” Dan said getting up. Marvin led the way back down the long corridor, this time stopping at the last office on the left just before the reception area. A bearded man with longish, thinning brown hair and gold-rimmed glasses stared up from his computer monitor as Marvin peered in. Bob, I’d like you to meet one of our dean candidates, Dan Amor. Dan, this is Bob Wiener, our Director or Human Resources and also our Placement Director. Bob got up, and extended his hand to Dan. “Nice to meet you, Dan.”

“Likewise,” Dan responded shaking Bob’s hand.

“We’re a small operation, so Bob does double duty. We’re lucky to have him,” Marvin said, smiling beatifically.

“Twice the work at half the pay, that’s the PEMTI way!” Bob replied as if reciting a jingle, chuckling, and momentarily making Marvin’s smile disappear, only to quickly and brightly return as the sun emerging from a fast-moving puffy cloud over a field of pretty red poppies.

“He’s such a kidder,” Marvin said. “But he is the best resource for our graduates, most of whom owe their jobs to his hard work and many contacts.” That was a true statement. And Dan immediately liked the man He also liked Marvin who seemed a genuinely nice person to him.

“That’s me,” Bob chimed in, “People pusher extraordinaire.” He chortled again good naturedly as Marvin smiled on. “I hope we’ll have a chance to work together, Dan,” Bob added. “Good luck!”

“Thanks, Bob. It was really nice meeting you. And I hope so too.”

With that, Bob went back to his desk and Marvin led Dan out towards the reception area to the hospital-style double swinging doors with the words “To Classrooms” stenciled in black letters above the small window in each door. They passed through to a long, fairly narrow hallway with windowed doors and extra-large windows that gave the place the look of an aquarium—or the large displays of giant octopi atop sperm whales and life-size dioramas of prehistoric humans hunting, building grass huts or just looking lost amid hip-high grassland at the Metropolitan Museum of Natural History.

“We’re lucky that classes are in session right now, so we can observe the faculty and students without the class change hubbub,” Marvin said. “To the left is our nursing-assistant training lab. They stopped by the large picture window and observed about a dozen students practicing catheterization on male and female practice dummies—anatomically correct partial mannequins of a male and female lower torsos cut off at the waist and about a foot above each knee, making for a rather gruesome but cost effective practice tool. Dan winced visibly as a student practiced inserting a plastic tube in the anatomically correct penis of the male mannequin under the guidance of the nursing instructor. All wore white lab coats and several looked up smiling as they noticed the observers. Marvin then moved on.

“To the right, you’ll see our electronics lab.” They stopped by the next picture window to see about twenty students circling around a large shop table, soldering components while a distinguished tall, thin gentleman in a dark business suit sporting a neatly trimmed beard lectured, pointing to a blackboard with a circuit board. “They’re building a regulated power supply that powers a D.C. motor,” Dan said smiling.

“How do you know that?” Marvin asked, puzzled.

“The diagram on the blackboard--It shows a step-down transformer and dual capacitors connected to a D.C. motor.” Dan said. “They may be making a personal fan or similar project. I hope they wound their own coils for the D.C. motor and created their own breadboard circuit, otherwise it’s not much of a learning experience,” Dan added with a smile.

“I don’t have a clue. But Mr. Singh is an excellent electrical engineer and one of our finest teachers. I’m sure they’re getting a lot out of the lesson.”

“Maybe it’s a power supply for a computer with a cooling fan. Yes, that sounds right. A good way to introduce them to electricity or to basic computer repair, for that matter. Is that what they do here?”

“We train electronic technicians that can work on the emerging personal computer technology as well as basic electronics repair. They are technician-generalists,” Marvin answered.

“Where do they get jobs?”

“Bob can answer those questions for you in detail in due course. But I believe he places these graduates in electronic assembly companies and, more recently, in the emerging computer manufacturing and repair industries. He has been able to place almost all graduates from this program to date—the same as our nursing-assistant students, as these are both growth fields.”

“How long are there programs?”

“Both of these run for 12 months,” Marvin answered.

“They can get real job training that leads to good jobs in just one year?”

“They sure can. And they qualify for federal student loans and TAP and PEL grants, so it is an affordable investment for them,” Marvin said, adding, “The remaining classrooms are traditional classrooms, typing labs and computer labs.”

They continued past several classrooms, stopping briefly to see students listening to lectures on Business English, Accounting, Business Math and Business and Personal Finance. Each room held approximately 30-40 students. Next came two typing labs with I.B.M. Selectric typewriters, the preferred business typewriter of its day, and two labs of Apple IIe computers. Even in 1987, these were not state of the art. Dan could not help but ask, “Why are you using the older Apple IIe computers instead of the new Mac or IBM PC computers?”

“We feel it does not really matter what platform students use to learn the basic skills of word processing, spreadsheets or database management—or to practice typing on a computer. We are not training students who know WordStar, DataStar or Lotus 1-2-3, but rather students who are familiar with the basic word processing, spreadsheet and database concepts so that they can easily be trained in any current or future flavor of these programs by their employers. No matter what platforms emerge, the students will be able to adapt because they know the concepts. In a world where the average employee does not know how to turn on a computer, our graduates have a real leg up because they are familiar with basic concepts.” That seemed questionable to Dan who had recently build his own first IBM-PC compatible computer from parts and taught himself DOS, Word Star, DataStar, Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect without the benefit of formal training or user-friendly manuals. Knowing basic concepts was important when the PC and Apple computers were still in their infancy. But students should also know how to use the most current application software used in business in order to be truly attractive to employers, he thought. Word Perfect for DOS had overtaken WordStar as the DOS word processor of Microsoft Word for DOS had not yet been developed. The Mac was in its infancy and not generally used in business as yet, let alone the older Apple II computers. Dan did not want to press the issue. If he were offered the job, however, that is something he would immediately work to change.

“Our students learn more that is of use in the business world in six to twelve months with us than they do in any four-year baccalaureate degree,” Marvin continued. “Computerized Office Specialist program is very popular and is also our most profitable.”

“Do you offer any programs of short duration to train students in specific programs or platforms, such as WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 for DOS?”

“No, not at present. But that is something we would certainly be open to in the future. We’re not locked into the curriculum.”

That was a relief, Dan thought. There was certainly room for improvement just from what he could see in this very brief tour. “How many full time faculty do you have on staff right now?” Dan asked as they continued to walk and observe each classroom in turn.

“Fourteen,” Marvin answered. “And we’re proud to say that all of our faculty are full time—we have no adjuncts here.” That surprised Dan, and he took it to be a good sign.

As the tour came to an end, Marvin escorted Dan back to the reception area where he shook his hand and assured him that he would be in touch within a week, whether he was offered the job or not. Dan thanked him and left, uplifted by the possibilities of a new career, and thinking that he had an excellent chance of being offered the job at a place he knew he could make a real difference.

On the way to the subway station, Dan could hardly contain his enthusiasm. The salary offered was very disappointing, but the chance to change students’ lives for the better enormously appealed to him. He had always believed in the traditional mission of community colleges and technical schools of providing practical job training. Understanding the difference between Plato and Aristotle and their impact on all of Western philosophy for more than two thousand years expands the mind, as does reading, seeing or performing a Shakespeare play or spending a glorious semester reading the British Romantic poets. A liberal arts education is crucial for any well-rounded professional and can expand the mind and increase one’s appreciation of life in general in ways that are impossible to quantify. But introductory courses on American literature, sociology, poetry, music appreciation, and archaeology will not put food on the table. For someone who either due to lack of interest, lack of capacity or lack of funds cannot complete four or more years of college and must obtain marketable skills that allow him/her to furnish the essentials of life for themselves and their family, a liberal arts degree—especially a two year degree—is about as useful as teeth on a chicken. On the other hand, learning office skills, basic bookkeeping, business communications, business math, and application software used in business can help someone get a good office support position in relatively short period of time—two years or less. Likewise, learning a trade such as plumber, electrician, truck driver, hair dresser, carpenter, mason, welder, auto mechanic and any number of other blue collar jobs can provide an excellent salary and the ability to start one’s own business if one is so inclined. And it can also be done in two years or less for many of these trades—some of which will pay as much as $100 an hour even to newly minted professionals. Dan knew this because he had a cousin who today would have been diagnosed with ADD who struggled with truancy and serious behavioral issues throughout much of his school years and beyond, and, though he had poor reading and writing skills, he always made a good living thanks to his practical training that allowed him to have more work than he could ever manage as a private contractor working for himself. Dan wanted to give to others a similar opportunity at a good life of honest, well-paying work that could dramatically change lives for the better. And he was thrilled at the prospect of being in a position to facilitate that opportunity for others.