Transportation Academy Program
to Travel Beyond WV Borders through
BSC/CART’s Course Management System  

( Bluefield)—The innovative Transportation Academy at Fairmont State University could soon help highway technicians beyond West Virginia’s borders through the reach of the Course Management System (CMS) at the Center for Applied Research and Technology (CART) at Bluefield State College.

Ted Stilgenbauer, Director of FSU’s Transportation Academy, noted that enrollment growth in the program could soon open the door for CART’s CMS to deliver the competency-based highway technician certification program to adjacent states. “At this time, about 730 highway technicians in West Virginia have been certified through the program, and approximately 100 are currently enrolled,” Stilgenbauer observed. “Once enrollment numbers increase, there will be a need for greater reach and support so that the program can train more technicians from other states. Right now, we’re looking at border states, and CART is set up for providing this training in an online environment.”

The “Course Management System (CMS),” reached another “user milestone” this year, topping 2000 class registrations at Bluefield State College, New River Community and Technical College, and Nashville State Community College.  “The beauty of this system rests in its simplicity,” noted Bruce Mutter, CART Director. “Faculty can utilize CMS without having to be an ‘html’ programmer, and through our CART CMS, course materials, assignments, and information can be edited easily and promptly.  We look forward to the opportunity to work with the Transportation Academy.”

The Transportation Academy was established six years ago at Fairmont State University. “We are primarily concerned with the education and training of highway technicians, as well as their professional development,” Professor Stilgenbauer explained. “Our goal was to develop and deliver a certification process to replace one that permitted individuals to retake examinations until they passed them. Our model requires that highway technicians demonstrate competency at one of five levels for which strict criteria have been established.”

In some states, including West Virginia, a significant number of highway transportation technicians are approaching retirement age, Stilgenbauer added. “The Transportation Academy is helping the technicians augment their competency so they will be ready to replace those technicians who will be retiring in the next few years. We’re looking forward to the next step in the Transportation Academy’s evolution, and we are confident that CART’s Course Management System and Bluefield State College will be instrumental in delivering appropriate training across the country.”

May 1, 2006