Truckee Meadows Community College is beefing up its fire and emergency medical services programs with an expansion at south Reno’s Redfield Campus. The expansion was approved last week by the Board of Regents.
TMCC President Karin Hilgersom said the college’s existing programs aren’t meeting the demand for fire and EMS personnel in the region, especially with recent and projected growth in the community.
The Redfield Campus already houses TMCC’s EMS programs, including paramedic and EMT courses, fire academy workshops and some fire science courses. Fire Academy and wildland fire training drills are held at Carson City’s Fire Station #52, near the Carson Airport.
“This station is accommodating six academies and monthly fire department trainings, which has created logistical challenges for effectively training firefighters, which are in high demand in our region,” TMCC’s Gretchen Sawyer noted in a memo on the proposed expansion.
Sawyer also noted that the relocation would also make it easier for local agencies, including Sparks and Truckee Meadows fire departments, to train new and existing firefighters.
The expansion will include additional classroom and indoor learning space, an outdoor training site and equipment.
TMCC’s master plan includes a number of other projects to update the Redfield Campus. Projects include relocating several classrooms and services and expanding the health science center.
Grant, state funds additional workforce programs
TMCC Vice President of Academic Affairs Jeffrey Alexander said other programs at the college are expanding with more than $1.5 million in funding provided by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED).
Nearly half of the funds provided, $711,000, will go to the Advanced Manufacturing program, including hiring three skills boss trainers, temporary faculty, and a delivery van. Alexander said the grant will cover salaries through the spring 2025 semester, but the hope is that additional funding will be available to keep that staff on.
“Many of our employers are unable to send their students to the campus and cannot spare them for the time for travel or training on-site at our location,” he said. “Instead, we have now a delivery ability to bring some of these high-tech equipment, skill boss trainers and so forth to them so they can train on-site. We are already working with Manufature Nevada to deliver some of this training to one of our partners in Fernley.”
The new data science program has nine declared majors and $200,000 of the GOED grants will support a new faculty instructor who will begin teaching in spring 2024.
“Diesel technology is another big arena for us,” Alexander said, noting that TMCC received its first installment of equipment with new residential-scale heavy equipment. Additional funds were used to purchase equipment for the welding program and hire a temporary instructor for that program.
TMCC is also scaling up its logistics program, which Alexander said is much needed in the region, and hiring another instructor for the spring 2024 semester.
“All of these areas are in great need of additional workers in northern Nevada and we are aiming to deliver,” he said.
An additional 16 spaces in TMCC’s nursing program will be added over the next two years if the college can hire four more instructors. They’ll do so with appropriations from the legislature passed under Senate Bill 375 during the 2023 session. New equipment and computers are also planned.
Alexander said TMCC also received a $1.9 million Department of Labor grant to increase pathways to apprenticeships, and is a part of several lithium-related grants in partnership with University of Nevada, Reno and other community partners.
