Vincennes University helps fill skills gap in Ind.

VINCENNES, Ind. (AP) - A strong emphasis on vocational education could prove financially beneficial to Vincennes University graduates.

"We have a number of programs, particularly those that relate to manufacturing, which is our state's strongest need right now," VU president Dick Helton told the Vincennes Sun-Commercial . "We are in intensive labor needs because we are a significant labor state, and many, many of our programs, specifically the advanced manufacturing, satisfy that.

"The students coming out of VU routinely get jobs in their chosen fields, and there are more jobs that need to be filled in those areas than there are people to fill them," he said. "Our VU grads get jobs with regularity in manufacturing, and I think that will continue to be the case for a long time to come.

"It is a skill set that is greatly, greatly needed in our state and VU is doing it's part to fill that void."

News that a parts supplier for Toyota is expanding in Gibson County may just be the first of many such announcements coming in the near future — announcements that in part can be traced back to VU.

"It's not uncommon for manufacturing plants and suppliers to want to be located close to a higher education institution," Helton said. "Many times, not only will there be a need for those with a two-year associate degree, which of course we've seen is significant in our region, but they often like to send their workers for ongoing training, and that's another thing we are able to provide."

The university has training centers here and in Gibson County with another soon to open at its Jasper campus, all providing opportunities for those looking to learn a new skill or just brush up on their existing expertise.

But VU's influence can be seen statewide, Helton said.

"We get about 40 percent of our students from a contiguous county," he explained "We know, particularly on the career and technical side, between 90 and 95 percent of our students get jobs in Indiana.

"And from that, about 90 percent of those students return to their home areas," Helton said. "So, typically, 'brain drain,' would not be an issue for the students we see graduating from the career and technical related programs. They're just continuing to build our economy and satisfy the needs of more and more manufacturers that move in to the state."

Locally, having so many students on campus is a considerable economic boost.

"We have about 5,000 students, including those who are commuters and those who live on campus," Helton explained, adding that the financial impact of those students totals about $17 million.

"Many of students rent local housing, and they're buying their food, clothes, gas and supplies locally," Helton said. "They're paying for entertainment in the community, so the area is benefiting from the fact that we have so many students putting those dollars right back into our economy."

The university, he said, is vital to the well-being of the local economy.

"With the dollars we're spending on capital projects, we're taking care of the local trade skills people, and we're buying a lot of the supplies from local vendors," Helton said. "And that doesn't even count the ongoing repair and renovation work, most all of those expenditures are done by local suppliers and contractors."