KPC hosts VA and Alliance Member/Student match up

KPC hosts VA and Alliance Member/Student match up

The Kenai Peninsula College (KPC) Kenai River Campus has been host to several beneficial community gatherings recently. First was a visit from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs director Susan Yeager to explain new policies for veterans and discuss needs with local vets, “We’ve been enjoying the opportunity that these town hall type meetings provide. We are committed quarterly to go to all the sites where there are VA’s all the way from Fairbanks to Juneau and the benefits are two ways as it benefits the VA staff to hear firsthand from our customer the vet is experiencing with the VA and we hope to help the vet learn how to better navigate the VA system and its bureaucracy for healthcare, benefits and memorial affairs. We bring staff that can do one on one problem resolution with veterans. Our attitude these days now is to serve the customer, we’re here for the veterans and that is our mission,” said Yeager in an interview with the Dispatch. 40 some veterans turned out at the Kenai River Campus to do just that and Yeager encouraged vets that have had bad experiences in the past with the VA to give another try.

Friday, March 20th then KPC hosted the 2nd Member/Student match up presented by the Kenai Chapter of the Support Industry Alliance. The day included a luncheon with members and students and a tour of the Process Technology facilities at KPC. “We often find that our student population is inversely proportionate to the jobs available. When jobs are harder to find more often students decide to go back to school for additional skills. So with the slight down turn due to the price in oil we are expecting to see more students coming through our program,” explained Assistant Professor, Process Tech. Jeff Laube. According to the Process Tech program coordinator Sandie Gilliland who addressed the members and students the hire ratio for grads is still very high, “We see fewer large companies offering internships and actively recruiting students, but we now are seeing smaller companies and more of them coming to the campus. It ends up evening out and the hire ratio for our students who want to go to work is still very high following graduation,” he said. Gilliland attributed the selection of the Process Tech faculty and staff for the continued high ratings of KPC’s program. Gilliland also helps companies start and develop internships programs for Process Tech. and Instrumentation students.

KPC hosts VA and Alliance Member/Student match up
KPC hosts VA and Alliance Member/Student match up
KPC hosts VA and Alliance Member/Student match up

More in News

Kenai Middle School Principal Vaughn Dosko points out elements of a redesign plan for the front of the school on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Work soon to begin on Kenai Middle security upgrades

The security upgrades are among several key KPBSD maintenance projects included in a bond approved by borough voters in October 2022.

The Kenai Fire Department headquarters are photographed on Feb. 13, 2018, in Kenai, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Kenai adds funds, authorizes contract for study of emergency services facility

The building shared by Kenai’s police and fire departments hasn’t kept up with the needs of both departments, chief says.

Kenai Parks and Recreation Director Tyler Best shows off a new inclusive seesaw at Kenai Municipal Park in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai awards contract to develop Parks and Rec master plan

The document is expected to guide the next 20 years of outdoors and recreation development in the city.

Balancing Act’s homepage for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget. (Screenshot)
KPBSD launches ‘Balancing Act’ software, calls for public to balance $17 million deficit

The district and other education advocates have said that the base student allocation has failed to keep up with inflation.

Natural gas processing equipment is seen at Furie Operating Alaska’s central processing facility in Nikiski, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Harvest Alaska announces proposed redevelopment of Kenai LNG terminal

The project could deliver additional natural gas supplies to the Southcentral market as early as 2026, developers said.

A depth marker is almost entirely subsumed by the waters of the Kenai River in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
After delay, borough adopts updated flood insurance maps

The assembly had previously postponed the legislation amid outcry from the Kenai River Keys Property Owners Association.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche points to where the disconnected baler ram has bent piping at the Central Peninsula Landfill in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough approves federal request to fund recycling redesign

A large baler that was used for recycling was recently left inoperable by a catastrophic failure in its main ram.

A person is detained in Anchorage in recent days by officials from the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (FBI Anchorage Field Office photo)
Trump’s immigration raids arrive in Alaska, while Coast Guard in state help deportations at southern US border

Anchorage arrests touted by FBI, DEA; Coast Guard plane from Kodiak part of “alien expulsion flight operations.”

Jamiann S’eiltin Hasselquist asks participants to kneel as a gesture to “stay grounded in the community” during a protest in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday focused on President Donald Trump’s actions since the beginning of his second term. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Trump protest rally at Alaska State Capitol targets Nazi-like salutes, challenges to Native rights

More than 120 people show up as part of nationwide protest to actions during onset of Trump’s second term.

Most Read