Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 24, 1993 TAG: 9301260422
SECTION: NEW RIVER VALLEY ECONOMY PAGE: 36 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
COUNSELING CENTER KEEPS PLENTY BUSY
The line at New River Community College's counseling center is long these days.The first week in January, it could have been a line for concert tickets. Or food.
And in a way, it may be. Because for some in this valley, with its saturated job market, retraining is the only path that will lead to employment, money and dinner.
"People are just pouring in," said Rita Dixon, director for student development at the college.
Many of them are from the Radford Army Ammunition Plant.
More than 700 workers were laid off this month - with the possibility of several hundred more later this year.
New River expects 300 of those workers to enroll at the college, either for a two-year associate's degree or for a shorter certification program.
Others who are using money from the Trade Readjustment Act are in programs at Radford University or Virginia Tech.
And others are looking for work.
"We're trying not to label them as they come in; to us they are just students," Dixon said. "But things are so hectic here right now, we know something's different."
In fact, even more arsenal workers are expected to enroll at New River than the number of displaced AT&T workers who enrolled two years ago.
When the Fairlawn AT&T plant closed, New River was the largest TRA center in the state, said Joe Sheffey, who works in the financial aid office. This year, the college could hold that title again.
The holidays probably spurred the newly unemployed to enroll at New River, Sheffey said.
Some finally had the time to visit the campus; others may have looked for jobs over the holidays and found a saturated market.
More than 100 arsenal workers showed up at a financial aid information session in mid-January, Sheffey said, and 250 workers had been certified by the Virginia Employment Commission for retraining at the college. That figure was expected to grow.
Dixon said she's seeing a lot of upbeat students from the arsenal. "They want to take a bad situation and make it into something good," she said.
But they are troubled, too. "It's hard to make a whole new life," Dixon said.
Some of the workers who come to the counseling office to talk about the future can't help talking about the past - old jobs and old friends, Dixon said.
But the students will be in their classes with some of the people they had worked with for years.
Classes at New River started Jan. 11, before the workers actually were laid off. But professors in many programs tried to ease the students' late transition to the classroom, Dixon said.
At Radford University, students from the arsenal likely won't show up in an adult degree or undergraduate program until summer of fall, said Peter Balsamo, head of continuing education.
The semester started in Radford more than a week before the arsenal workers were laid off.
But Radford admissions officers did provide information to arsenal workers, and some were expected to start in programs to earn graduate degrees or teaching certificates.
Balsamo has not talked directly with many arsenal workers, and doesn't fancy himself an expert. But he said he thinks many workers could still be in a state of shock and will need time to decide what they want to do. "It's hard to make decisions right way," he said. "They'll have to talk it over with their families."
Adlyn Hicks, coordinator for adult learning services, said more than 200 arsenal workers had picked up applications, but that few had enrolled.
But she agreed that next semester, or during the summer, there may be more.