Colleges awarded training grant

LAFAYETTE — Training for information technology jobs in the growing fields of health informatics and cybersecurity will be available in the spring at South Louisiana Community College as part of an $886,000 federal workforce grant, the college announced.

The training is designed to offset the 21 percent drop in manufacturing jobs in the state between 2000 and 2010 and meet the growing demand for information sector jobs, SLCC Chancellor Natalie Harder said in an email response. Information technology sector jobs are expected to grow by 9 percent in Louisiana by 2020, she added.

“The grant is addressing this manufacturing loss and will help get residents here in Acadiana back to work with new job skills for occupations that can sustain and improve their family lives,” Harder stated in a news release.

The training will prepare workers for jobs as a network specialist, national security specialist, medical coder, medical records clerk and health information technician with various levels of certifications offered, she said.

The college plans to work with representatives of local business, economic development and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to develop the training courses, Harder said. The core curriculum and specialty courses will be transferable to two- or four-year degree programs.

The grant is a portion of $14.7 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training initiative to a consortium of nine Louisiana and Mississippi community colleges, called the “Retraining the Gulf Coast Workforce Through IT Pathways Consortium.”

South Louisiana Community College’s portion of the grant will provide hardware, software and other needed equipment. Courses are expected to begin mid-spring 2013.

Consortium members also include Bossier Parish Community College, Delgado Community College and Northeast Louisiana Technical College in Louisiana and Copiah-Lincoln Community College, Meridian Community College, Mississippi Delta Community College, Northeast Mississippi Community College and Pearl River Community College in Mississippi.