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Program/Discipline/Service Name: Diving Business and Technology

Unit (if applicable):

Division: AS Degree

Report Prepared by: Robert Smith

Other Review Participants:

Hazel Hans, Bob Jason, and Mary Martin

___

Reviewed by Vice President/Dean: Maureen Crowley

Vice President’s/Dean’s Signature: Date:

Date submitted to Institutional Effectiveness Committee: 05/05/05

Please refer to Instructional Program Review Procedures, Guidelines, and Responsibilities for prompts and assistance in completing this Review

Diving Business and Technology Program Review 1

INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM REVIEW2004-2005

I. The Program Profile

A. The Purpose

UNIT PURPOSE STATEMENT: The Diving Business and Technology Services program serves the community by providing high quality training, education and credentialing for the workforce in the business of recreational diving, work diving technology and hyperbaric medical technology.

1. UNIT GOAL: To provide quality education

UNIT OBJECTIVES:1. Expand participation in the DBT degree programs2. Maintain the integrity of the contract work diving safety program3. Develop HMT Program4. Expand both the Diving Business and Technology (DBT) Program and the

Hyperbaric Medical Technology (HMT) Program.

B. The Faculty

Most of the key staff members have been involved in the past in the development of the original materials, revision of those materials and the actual conduct of the vast majority of the Diving Safety courses since the beginning of such training. These individuals are also involved in both course development and course implementation in other areas of diving safety, emergency medical education, and work diving operations. Their specific responsibilities and qualifications are as follows:

Robert W. Smith, Course Director

Mr. Smith, Director of the FKCC Dive Program, is the Course Director. He was a major architect in the original Diving Safety Course Syllabus and also directed the training requirements study that identified the need for these courses.

Mr. Smith holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and an M.A. in Educational Research. As a Senior Research Scientist with the American Institute for Research, he spent almost twenty years in the development of a wide variety of training and educational programs for business, industry and government--including the U.S. military.

Mr. Smith serves as the director of all underwater activities at FKCC. He has more than forty years of experience in diving operations and supervision and is one of the nation's leading experts in diving safety and emergency management. He was the founder and director of the Human Factors Research Diving Team for the American Institutes for Research. His work and research diving experience includes scuba and surface air


operations, saturation/habitat diving, search and recovery and light salvage in such environments as river locks and dams, the Great Lakes, all coastal areas of the U.S., the Caribbean and the Red Sea. A Reserve Lieutenant with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, he is an active law enforcement diver and instructor.

Mr. Smith is a certified Master Diver, Law Enforcement Diver, Diver Medic, NOAA Aquanaut (saturation diver), and Scuba Instructor. He created this country's first national training and certification program for Rescue Divers. He still teaches actively and is a consultant to the U.S. Army Special Forces Underwater Operations on the subject of diver stress, and is well published in this and other areas. His manual, Scuba Lifesaving and Accident Management (SLAM) is still widely used and he edited the most recent edition of New Science of Skin and Scuba Diving, the classic text used by over two million scuba students. He is co-author of a 1994 publication, O2 Use for Lifeguards, published by Ellis and Associates and in 2002 received an award for the training of more than 750 DAN O2 Providers. In 2003-04, Mr. Smith supervised the development and implementation of the Anti-Terrorism Underwater Port Security training program now utilized by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as part of Homeland Security.

Dick Geyer, SAS Specialist-I

Mr. Geyer, an FKCC consultant and former owner of Professional Diving Services Inc., has been associated with the Diving Safety courses since their inception in 1976. Mr. Geyer was a project associate on the training requirements study, which developed the original Diving Safety course.

He has since been a principal staff member on almost all of the Diving Safety Courses conducted for the Corps of Engineers and is responsible particularly for surface-air-supplied training and orientation to USACE diving procedures. Mr. Geyer began his diving career in the U.S. Navy in 1960. After leaving the Navy, Mr. Geyer formed his company, Professional Diving Services, Inc., in 1965. He served as Chief Diver/Supervisor and has actively worked in the field for more than forty years. Mr. Geyer has logged over 6000 working dives.

Mr. Geyer has been on continuous contract as consultant and diving contractor for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since 1967. His work encompasses all phases of construction and repair activity on USACE projects. Mr. Geyer has authored the curriculum for and taught Diving Tender Courses and Cutting/Welding Courses. Mr. Geyer was a major contributor to the original Diving Safety Course Syllabus, and much of his material is retained in the current course materials. He has developed training materials used in the National YMCA Scuba Manual as well as for PADI specialty courses at his training facility, and for a variety of diver training programs for the Army Corps of Engineers. As a Master Scuba Instructor and Instructor Trainer, he is highly experienced as a trainer of both recreational and working divers.


Mike McGovern, SAS Specialist-II

Mr. McGovern, an FKCC consultant and former Owner/President of Midwest Marine Contracting, Inc., is a major content author of the Diving Safety course materials, and has served as an instructor in that course since 1979. Mr. McGovern is responsible for providing much of the classroom and field training in SAS diving techniques.

As one of the original founders of Midwest Marine Contracting, Inc., in 1973, Mr. McGovern has supervised and completed many underwater projects for the government, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, EPA, State DOT’s, TVA, and U.S. Coast Guard, as well as the private sector. These inland projects have involved underwater construction and maintenance of hydroelectric dams, intake structures, pipeline crossings, bridges, locks and dams, water and waste water facilities, outfalls, nuclear reactors, and spent fuel pools, underwater salvage and demolition. He is a top graduate of Commercial Diving Center, Wilmington, CA. He has over twenty five years experience of the inland commercial diving field including Sur-De-O2 chamber operations above sea level, altitude dives above 12,000 elevation, commercial Nitrox diving, certified underwater welding program, contamination diving in both the nuclear environment and waste/contaminated water. His company developed the Series Exhaust Valve in the 1980’s for nuclear diving which is a standard today for all major diving helmets. He standardized the use of an air manifold/rack box for air diving operations and implemented four-wire communication in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, respectively.

Mr. McGovern was heavily involved in recreational scuba instruction as a YMCA Scuba field representative for ten years. Midwest Marine Contracting, Inc., was an active member of the Association of Diving Contractors, Inc. (ADC). He served six years on the Board of Directors of the ADC and was chairman of the Underwater Bridge Inspection Committee. He was formerly responsible for in-house training of all employees of Midwest Marine Contracting, Inc. In that capacity he developed a complete in-house program with all supporting course materials, including a diving training facility. He has developed training manuals in the areas of underwater welding/cutting procedures, mobile decompression chamber treatment, diving in a nuclear environment, commercial diving safety, and underwater bridge inspection. He is acknowledged as a contributor in the “Bridge Inspector’s Training Manual/90” published by the Federal Highway Administration.

Eric Denhart, Equipment Officer

Mr. Eric Denhart, an FKCC consultant and commercial diving operator in Key West, Florida, maintains the diving equipment for all of the Diving Safety Courses. Mr. Denhart has served as the Equipment Officer for all but one of the Diving Safety courses conducted in Key West, Florida, since 1980. He was employed as Dive Locker Manager at the National YMCA Center for Underwater Activities from 1980-1986, and was certified as a YMCA scuba instructor in 1981. He now operates his own commercial diving firm in Key West, Florida, which uses the full range of diving equipment, both scuba and SAS, utilized by working divers and applied to these courses.


Richard Zahorniak, Equipment Specialist

Mr. Richard Zahorniak, an FKCC consultant, equipment specialist and owner of High-Tech Diving and Safety, Inc., has staffed almost all of the Diving Safety courses conducted for the Corps since 1984. With commercial diving experience since 1976, and as owner of High-Tech Diving and Safety, Inc., since 1986, he specializes in equipment suitable for diving in contaminated and cold-water environments. He has contributed to the development of the NOAA and EPA standards on diving in hazardous environments, and is currently working with numerous government agencies where thermal protection and protection from the environment are absolutely critical.

Mr. Zahorniak holds Assistant Instructor and Divemaster certifications through PADI. He is a graduate of the Commercial Diving Program at Coastal Diving Academy in Bayshore, New York, with a rating of Commercial Deep Sea Diver and has worked as a diver/tender for Undersea Systems, Inc., and New York Submarine. His commercial diver experience included construction, inspection, and laying of power cables, power plant maintenance and offshore hydrographic studies. He has also developed programs to assist police and fire departments involved in Surface Air Supply and/or contaminated water diving.

Robert S. Jason, Facilities Manager and Instructor

Mr. Jason, Work Diving Instructor, Hyperbaric Technology Instructor, and Dive Facilities Manager at FKCC, is a retired Navy Diving Instructor and Diving Supervisor. Chief Jason began diving in 1962, became a U.S. Navy Diver in 1968 and a Scuba Instructor in 1973. His work diving experience includes underwater construction, mixed gas use, welding and cutting, underwater blasting and salvage. His diving specialties include Dive Rescue, Ice Diving, Deep Diving, Underwater Search and Recovery, Underwater Photography, Research Diving, Nitrox Diving and Law Enforcement Diving. He is experienced with cold weather, river, and surf operations. Mr. Jason taught scuba diving at Trinity College, Central Connecticut State College and Choate Rosemary Hall before coming to FKCC in 1993, where, in addition to instructing, he has been responsible for development of advanced courses in Equipment Repair, Underwater Photography, and Diving Medical Technician. In 2003-04, he developed and implemented an Anti-Terrorism Underwater Port Security training program now utilized by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as part of Homeland Security. He has designed and installed the facilities air system, nitrox system and hyperbaric system as well as maintenance of the physical facilities utilized in this course.

Hazel J. Hans, Business ManagerMrs. Hans, a Scuba Instructor and Coordinator of Diving Programs at FKCC, serves as the Business Manager for all of the Work Diving courses conducted at FKCC. She holds her Scuba Instructor certification through PADI and her O2 Instructor certification through DAN. She is also a certified Lifeguard and a Water Safety Instructor with the American Red Cross. She holds an A.S. Degree from FKCC in Diving Business Management and a B.A. in Business Administration.


Mrs. Hans has been diving since 1968. Her work diving experience encompasses marine and archeological research projects. She has served as both an instructor and an administrator on Army Corps and other diving courses at FKCC since 1992.

Kenny Lingle, Technical Diving Specialist

Mr. Lingle has been a diving instructor at FKCC since 1994, teaching both basic and advanced scuba as well as equipment repair, dive rescue and dive master courses. He now also serves as primary instructor for the college’s scuba instructor training courses. During this time he has also served regularly as a staff member on the college’s Work Diving Safety courses. Mr. Lingle holds AS degrees in Diving Business Technology and Business Administration, as well as an AA degree. His certifications include PADI Master Instructor, NAUI Instructor, EAN Instructor, 1st Aid/CPR Instructor, DAN O2 Instructor, EAN Gas Blender, Tri-Mix Gas Blender, and Technical Diver.

Mr. Lingle began diving in 1972. His diving history includes over 4,000 dives; with experience in salvage diving, search and recovery, zero visibility, and open ocean diving. He is qualified and experienced in decompression diving using both technical scuba (multi-gas) and surface-air supplied equipment.

Marshall L. Harris, Primary Scuba Instructor

Mr. Harris has served as an Adjunct Instructor for FKCC’s degree program in Diving Business and Technology as well as its Work Diving Safety program since 1996. He holds an AS degree in Diving Business and Technology and is certified as a Rescue Diver, Divemaster, Scuba Instructor, EMS First Responder and Firefighter III. He is a qualified hyperbaric chamber operator and holds his 100-ton Captain’s license.

Mr. Harris has been diving since 1962. He began working as a law enforcement diver in 1973, first with the Panama Canal Zone police and then with the US Customs Marine Enforcement Division. His other work diving experience includes surface-air-supplied decompression diving. Mr. Harris worked for the U.S. Marshal’s Service from 1989 until 2000. He also worked as a volunteer fire/rescue firefighter with the Sugarloaf Fire Department from 1990 until 2002.

Dr. Richard Guobaitis, Diving Medical Officer

Dr. Guobaitis joined FKCC as its Diving Medical Officer in 2002 and will serve in that capacity during this course. Dr Guobaitis earned his M.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1997 and completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at Boston City hospital in 1991. During ten years at the Medical University of South Carolina, Dr. Guobaitis served appointments as Attending Physician, Instructor, Emergency Medicine Advisor, Faculty Advisor and Education Director. During that same time, he served as Medical Director for several local dive operators. At the present time, Dr. Guobaitis is the Diving Medical Officer for the project raising the Civil War submarine H.L. Hunley several miles outside Charleston Harbor. He is responsible for the medical care of over fifty divers and has produced all safety and medical protocols used in that project.


Dr. Guobaitis relocated to Key West in 2001 as a Partner at the Truman Medical Center. He also serves as Preceptor for Third Year Medical Students for the University of Miami and Dartmouth Medical School, and as Medical consultant for Mel Fisher’s Salvage Management Co.

Claude (CJ) Behrens, Instructor

CJ Behrens is recently retired from over twenty years of service with the US Navy as a Chief Petty Officer and Chief Diver. His assignments included Leading Chief Petty Officer and Division/Detachment Officer at Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Detachment Eighteen as well as Safety Officer, Division Officer and Weapons Officer of Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two (MDSU 2). Both of these assignments involved mine search and recovery operations using hand held active sonar, Dukane sonar and Pinger receivers and Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs).

Chief Behrens was a diver and supervisor on the TWA-800 recovery and salvage operation that retrieved over 90% of the materials at depths greater than 100 ft. Following 9/11 he supervised and dived 2.5 days of around-the-clock mine search hull inspections on all naval vessels in the Port of Norfolk.

While Division Officer at MDSU 2, Chief Behrens brought on line a “pre-dive school” diver candidate training program that produced a 98% graduation rate against the 60% school average. He is currently certified as a NAUI Scuba Instructor and is completing requirements for his AS degree in Diving Business and Technology at Florida Keys Community College.

Ronald K. Miller, Instructor

Ron Miller has been with the Fairfax County Police Department since 1976. Fairfax County is in the Northern Virginia area, which is located outside Washington, D.C. He is currently assigned to the Homicide Unit in the Criminal Investigation Bureau. He recently completed over five years in the Sexual Assault Unit. Since 1976 his assignments included Patrol, Narcotics, Child Services, Financial Crimes, Fugitive Unit and Flight Officer Medic on the Helicopter Unit with special responsibility for Aquatic Safety. He has been involved in Underwater Search and Recovery work since the early 1970's and is the leading Co-Founder/Instructor of Fairfax County's Underwater Search and Recovery Unit. He is currently an Instructor with the National Academy of Police Diving and holds several other key certifications.

Mr. Miller is a certified YMCA Gold Star Scuba Instructor who has been diving since 1969 and instructing since 1975. He holds Specialty Instructor certificates in Public Safety Diving, Search and Recovery, SLAM, and Ice Diving. He is also a certified Swift Water Rescue Technician and has developed training programs in these specialties. He is co-author of the YMCA Underwater Search and Recovery Manual. Mr. Miller has been the Course Director of the Scuba Lifesaving and Accident Management (SLAM) program in the northern Virginia area since 1984. His research and work diving experience includes search and recovery and light salvage in the eastern United States, including Key West


Harbor, and archeological research diving in the English Channel. He has served as a Lead Instructor for large cruise ship hull search training in the Port of Key West.

Mr. Miller holds a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s degree in Forensic Science/Special Studies from George Washington University (Washington, DC). He is certified as an instructor in Underwater Police Science and Technology and is a Virginia certified law enforcement instructor.

George E. Robb, Jr. Technology Specialist

George Robb, Jr. is the founder and President of RPM Nautical Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the detection, identification, recovery, study and preservation of underwater archeological and historic sites for scientific research and public education. After more than 25 years on Wall Street, Mr. Robb’s company, Robb Peck McCooey Financial Services Incorporated, was acquired by Labranche and Company, which allowed him to focus his full attention on RPM.

Mr. Robb is a certified Open Water and Nitrox diver, and has extensive experience in the use of remote sensing equipment for archeological dive operations. His field experience includes expeditions in France, Italy, Morocco, the Bahamas and the Florida Keys. Mr. Robb recently coordinated the application of his organization’s side-scan equipment to a major underwater search for a missing Special Forces soldier in the vicinity of Key West Harbor.

Howard Phoenix, Technology Specialist

Howard Phoenix, an FKCC Adjunct Instructor and Diving Safety Officer for RPM Nautical Foundation, is responsible for the safe field application of electronic systems including side-scan sonar, magnetometers and roves, to underwater search and recovery operations. In addition to his BS in Economics, he has an AS degree in Diving Business and Technology and is a graduate of the FDLE course in Underwater Police Science and Technology.

Howard is a PADI, NAUI, and IANTD Instructor, holds a USCG 100 ton Masters ticket including commercial assistance towing, and is qualified in both tethered scuba and surface-air-supplied work diving. His nautical archaeology field experience spans the Florida Key, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean Sea.

Craig Jones, Technology Specialist

Craig Jones is an archeological diver and specialist in the use of side scans and magnetometers for RPM Nautical Foundation. He is a PADI Divemaster with a BA degree in History. He has conducted archeological surveys on a worldwide basis and recently applied his expertise to a major underwater search and recovery operation for a missing soldier in the vicinity of Key West Harbor.


Dr. Denny Howley, Middle East Terrorist Specialist

Dr. Howley was introduced to the world of Unconventional Warfare and Islam in 1960, when he joined the US Army Special Forces at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and was subsequently sent to the US Army Language School in Monterey, California, to study Arabic. After a 15-month tour in Vietnam, where he commanded a Rifle Company, two Special Forces “A” Detachments and was a “B” Detachment Intelligence Officer, Dr. Howley returned to become an instructor at the US Army Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg. Following that assignment he applied and was accepted into the US Army Foreign Area Specialist (FAS) Program for the Middle East. This training included three additional years of Arabic language study and extensive travel in the Arab World, during which time he acquired a Master’s Degree in Middle East Studies from the American University of Beirut (AUB). Upon return to the US he was assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) as a Middle East Specialist with special focus on Terrorism in the Middle East and Palestinians worldwide. During that 20 years stint Dr. Howley completed a second Master’s Degree at American University in International Politics and a PhD in International Relations at George Washington University, both with an emphasis on the Middle East. In April 2002 he received his Associate Degree from the Florida Keys Community College (FKCC) in Diving Business and Technology. A certified scuba instructor and Florida private investigator, Dr. Howley serves as a staff associate for FKCC courses including the Science of Underwater Performance and Underwater Police Science and Technology.

Dawn L. Cline, Divemaster and Repair Technician

Dawn Cline is a veteran of the United States Air Force, where she served as a Security Specialist certified in Anti-Terrorism and Heavy Weapons use. Following her Honorable Discharge after the Gulf War, Ms. Cline completed an FDLE Basic Law Enforcement Academy, certified as a K-9 Officer, and served as a Deputy with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office. She subsequently held undercover and uniformed security assignments until assuming a position as Head of Security for Headquarters Operations for the Bank of New York. Dawn now works in the recreational dive business in Key West, Florida, and as a Dive Technician at Florida Keys Community College.

Ms. Cline holds AS Degrees in Basic Law Enforcement, Diving Business and Technology, and Marine Environmental Technology. She is a Master Diver and Divemaster, with specialty certifications in Scuba Equipment Repair and Recompression Chamber Operations as well as Night, Wreck and Deep Diving, Underwater Photography, Dry Suit and Nitrox use, Surface-Supplied Air Diving, and Work Diving Technology. She has held a Captain’s License since 1998.

Lt. Michael Budde, Instructor

Michael Budde has been with the Key West Fire Department since 1990 serving as a Firefighter, EMT, and Fire Safety Inspector. He has extensive training in Hazardous Materials as a Technician and Incident Commander that include Chemical, Ordnance, Radiological, and Biological Agents. He started his Hazardous Materials training in 1998 and is currently on the HAZ MAT Team. He is the Assistant Dive Supervisor/Instructor and Incident Commander for the Underwater Search and Rescue Dive Team.


Lt. Budde’s diving experience began in 1977 with his Basic Open Water. From there he earned his Advanced, Rescue and finally NAUI Instructor Certification. He is currently a NAUI Nitrox, O2 Administration, Bloodborne Pathogens and CPR Instructor. His specialty certifications include Public Safety Diver, Police Diver, Nitrox Diver, Dry Suit Diver, Advanced Search and Recovery Diver, Wreck Diver, and Master Scuba Diver.

Lt. Budde serves as an Adjunct Instructor at the Florida Keys Community College where he teaches classes in Open Water and Advanced Scuba Diving, Scuba Rescue and Emergency Medicine, Public Safety Diving and Underwater Port Security.

C. The Students

This program has two types of students; individuals with an interest in diving and/or hyperbarics, and groups of employees or potential employees of organizations involved in diving and/or hyperbarics. The former enroll individually for courses offered in the traditional term-by-term basis, while the latter usually enroll in courses offered through an employer contract and presented on a condensed basis. Enrollment in traditional vs. contract course offerings during the past four years has been as follows:

Year Number of StudentsTraditional Contract

01-02 219 20402-03 226 20203-04 143 179

The average age of students enrolled in traditionally offered diving and hyperbarics courses are: <18=3.4%, 18-24=39.7%, 25-34=26.6%, 35-44=18.9%, 45+=11.5%

The number and percentage of students in traditionally offered courses who receive financial aid has been as follows:

Year # %01-02 50 22.802-03 38 16.804-05 36 25.2

A.S. Degrees in Diving Business and Technology have been awarded as follows:

Year Number of Students01-02 702-03 5


Students successfully completing courses in Diving and Hyperbarics each year are as follows:

Year # %01-02 190 8702-03 203 9003-04 124 87

National certifications in the related field have been awarded to over 90% of completers of traditionally offered courses, and 99% of contract course completers.

D. Diversity

The ethnicity of students enrolled in traditionally offered diving and hyperbarics courses has been as follows:

Year W A I B H X01-02 90.3% 0% .4% 1.8% 7.1% .4%02-03 93.2% 0% 0% .5% 6.4% 0%03-04 90.3% 0% .4% 1.8% 7.1% .4%

The gender of students enrolled in traditionally offered diving and hyperbarics courses has been as follows:

Year Male Female# % # %

01-02 137 62.6 82 37.402-03 164 72.6 62 27.403-04 96 67.1 47 32.9


E. Resources

Diving Program Five-Year Resource Comparison

AnnualDirect Indirect Total Program

Revenue $ Revenue $ RevenueAllocation

(Expenses)

OtherTraditional % Contract % Total Total Program % Program % Total % of

Personnel Expenses revenue

99-00 74,681 28% 188,655 72% 263,336 246,728 510,064 151,966 55% 122,831 45% 274,797 54%

00-01 60,036 23% 205,226 77% 265,262 246,991 512,253 185,799 66% 97,243 34% 283,042 55%

01-02 69,054 22% 238,654 78% 307,708 269,296 577,004 203,063 68% 94,674 32% 297,737 52%

02-03 61,570 23% 208,048 77% 269,618 213,274 482,892 248,646 73% 92,548 27% 341,194 71%

03-04 36,291 13% 252,829 87% 289,120 230,508 519,628 221,057 68% 103,437 32% 324,494 62%

*Based upon state funding estimate provided annually by Controller

PHYSICAL FACILITIES

Over the past fifteen years, Florida Keys Community College has constructed and developed superb physical facilities designed to accommodate the program needs. Specifically, these facilities include:

Classrooms and Office Space

A new Public Safety building contains office space for both full time and adjunct/visiting dive program staff. A dedicated dive program classroom can comfortably seat more than forty students. This classroom contains computers for student reference, as well as audiovisual systems including power point presentation capability. Several additional classrooms are available for break out sessions consistent with dive training schedules. A larger room is available to accommodate floor exercises such as emergency medical training. Personal lockers and showers also are located within this building.

Training Pool

A heated pool over eight feet deep is available for both surface and underwater dive training. The pool is large enough to accommodate at least 30 scuba divers in training and four surface-air-supplied stations. Breathing air is plumbed to four separate locations poolside.


Dive Locker

An environmentally - controlled (temperature and humidity) hanging locker adjacent to the pool and underwater training area contains sufficient scuba equipment (suits, BCs, regulators, etc.) to equip 30 divers. Additional space is available to hang personal gear for overnight drying. An adjacent tank room contains over 80 scuba cylinders. Another storage area contains masks, hats, and communications equipment for tethered scuba and surface-air-supplied diving. A multi-station equipment rinse area is located adjacent to the equipment areas. A dive equipment workshop is separately located within the same building. Umbilical lines for six surface-air-supplied operations and additional tethers are stored in another building.

Underwater Training Area (UTA)

The FKCC campus contains a five-acre underwater training area ideally suited for open water training in a sheltered environment. This area is bordered on three sides by landmass and on the fourth by several miles of sheltered bay. Two underwater work areas over 120 meters long and 25 meters wide reach a depth of almost 40 feet. A heavy silt bottom beneath otherwise clear water presents an ideal environment for safe low-visibility work diver training. Water temperature remains between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. A variety of underwater training aids are located within the UTA to accommodate simulated and actual work diving scenarios. Access to the UTA is via barge and/or four docks supported by sheltered platforms. Breathing air and air for pneumatic tools is plumbed directly to these four platforms, along with water and electricity. Shoreline access to the UTA also is available if desired for training purposes.

Air Package

Air for breathing, tools, chamber operations and aeration of the UTA when necessary is provided by an air package consisting of two low-pressure and two high-pressure compressors and a 30,000 cubic foot air storage system. This system is capable of filling 80 empty 80 cubic foot scuba cylinders in an hour or less, or supplying at least six surface-air-supplied stations to depths of at least 40 feet.

Hyperbaric Chambers

A fully operational double lock hyperbaric chamber capable of simultaneously compressing eight divers to an equivalent depth of over 132 feet is located in the Public Safety building. An additional, currently unplumbed chamber is available for simulations and other training.


II. Program Content

A. Definition of program

The Diving Business and Technology Program is intended to prepare completers to work in the business of recreational diving and/or serve as diving technicians for underwater work in research, education, public safety, maintenance, etc. This program meets several important needs, including supporting the integrity and safety of the large recreational diving industry in the Florida Keys and elsewhere, and upgrading the safety and effectiveness of working divers serving government and industry nationwide. The unique characteristics of this program, including the need for a high quality, year- round, virtually all weather underwater educational environment, make this program particularly appropriate for FKCC.

The general growth and stability of both the recreational diving business and work diving industry provide career opportunities that produce a long-term demand for this program. An example of the important short-term demand for this program is the recent sudden national need for underwater port security personnel due to the 9-11 crisis. FKCC has exhibited national leadership in meeting this need.

For the most part, students must be physically capable of working underwater to participate in this program. However, the program does include educational opportunities such as Diving Safety Inspector and Equipment Maintenance Technician that do not present this prerequisite.

B. Curriculum or coursework

The Diving Business and Technology Program offers an A.S. Degree by that name that includes two tracks; the Business of Recreational Diving and Diving Technology. Both tracks require 15 General Education credits, 15 credits common to FKCC’s Marine Technology programs, 25 Diving Core credits, and 6 credits chosen from 17 other available diving courses.

Diving Business and Technology is also characterized by a large number of stand-alone programs that include credit, and sometimes, non-credit courses combined to meet the need of particular agencies or industries. General program areas include Work Diving Safety, Public Safety Diving, Scientific Diving, and Hyperbaric Medical Technology. Certificates of Completion in these areas are awarded by FKCC, and often also by the sponsoring organization or employer of the successful completers.

In addition, over 80% of the 25 individual program-specific courses offered in Diving Business and Technology qualify successful completers for certification in that particular subject by national certification agencies. (See next section).


C. External accreditation

The extensive certification network of which the Diving Business and Technology Program is a part involves compliance with requirements of a myriad by national certification organizations and government agencies. Optional certification for successful completion of individual courses requires instructor membership with the certifying agency and compliance with certain curriculum requirements. Certifying agencies with which FKCC instructors are commonly associated include the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI), and the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). Federal or State government agencies that sponsor certain dive programs at FKCC also may require specific instructor credentialing and curriculum requirements. Examples of such agencies with whom FKCC currently is involved are the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).

D. Innovations, new programs, new courses, state-wide or national efforts, diversity applied to curriculum

FKCC is constantly developing its curriculum and resources in Diving Business and Technology and Hyperbarics to meet changing needs and advancing technology. The Hyperbaric Medical Technology Program recently added a new Diving Medical Technician course to its curriculum. In 2004, the FKCC Public Safety Diving Program created an innovative course in Underwater Port Security that was immediately fully funded for State officers by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). A Federal funding initiative is now underway to meet this critical national need.

E. Testing and remedial coursework

Testing for core courses within the Diving Business and Technology Program usually includes the evaluation of hands-on, underwater skills as well as written exams. Both written and practical evaluations frequently include standardized items provided by a particular certifying agency. Practical evaluations generally progress from the evaluation of individual skills to complex field exercises involving student teamwork. In work diving courses these evaluations may be conducted in the actual working environment, and can involve interaction with the working community.

Remedial coursework can be particularly challenging when diving or hyperbaric operations are involved, and program instructors, including Adjuncts, take pride in their ability to provide this support to their students. A written statement of the program’s policy and procedures in this regard is provided to students at the beginning of each course.

F. Distance education offerings and use of technology (include evaluation of efforts)

The Diving Business and Technology Program has the technology to transmit live video signals and both transmit and receive audio signals from its on-campus Underwater Training Area (UTA) directly to surface classrooms, and onto the Web. This technology is


being explored for its potential to make FKCC a source, as well as a recipient of significant Distance Learning programs.

G. Funding for curricular changes or offerings

Funds for curricular changes or offerings in Diving Business and Technology and Hyperbarics are received, usually through tuition and lab or special fees, from two basic sources; 1) individual student payment or 2) via contracting organizations. At the present time, this program is supported more by contracts than by individual students. Notable contract arrangements for 2004 have included the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Additional funding is provided to the program from State allocations based upon enrollment.


III. Student Performance Outcomes

A. Process of identifying outcomes Sometimes the program staff is able to conduct a Training Requirements study that identifies task and/or job requirements that are then translated into student performance objectives. In the case of Diving Business and Technology and Hyperbarics, certification requirements stated in terms of performance objectives often are available. In other cases, authorities in the field, both employers and employees, offer or are asked to identify job performance requirements that can be converted into desired student outcomes. Advisory committees are a valuable source of such data. Occasionally, a new Job Description is analyzed to develop training requirements stated in terms of student outcomes.

B. Administrative ObjectivesThe Program constantly pursues administrative objectives such as the procurement of training aids and new course development to support student performance outcomes. Objectives during the past year have been construction and installation of hydrostatic pressure head differential simulators and presentation of a Diving Medical Technician course.

C. Student Performance Outcomes: (Student Outcomes Assessment Report format at end of template)

D. Follow-up of students we serveAll completers are initially assessed by final written exams, frequently as compared to pre-tests. Most completers also are evaluated and numerically graded on performance, usually in terms of both individual skills as well as scenario or even field-based behavior. Individual courses as well as programs are formally evaluated by students in terms of curriculum relevance and quality, instructor performance, and the available physical resources. Employers of successful completers are surveyed with regard to their satisfaction with student performance on the job and suggested course/program modifications.

E. Results of Administrative Objectives and Outcome Measurement

During 2004, two hydrostatic head pressure differential simulators were designed, constructed and installed in the Underwater Training Area. These simulators are now used regularly in work diving safety courses. A Diving Medical Technician course has been scheduled for February 2005.


F. Enhanced Accountability Measure for which our unit is responsible Over 90% of successful program completers meet established certification

requirements. Approximately 75% of developmental students pass program courses. 322 students were enrolled in Diving Business and Technology and Hyperbarics

courses during the 2003-2004. Over 90% of student completers are completely satisfied with the quality of the

college’s programs and services. Over 90% of Diving business and Technology and Hyperbarics students meet their

goals in attending FKCC. In 2003-2004,118 students completed a Diving Business and Technology curriculum

program with a certificate. In response to an employer survey conducted in 2004, 87% of employers reported that

employee training contributed significantly to their ability to perform related assignments. The remaining 13% reported somewhat of a contribution. 73% of responding employers could not suggest any skill or knowledge requirement that needed to be added to their employee’s customized training at FKCC.


IV. Opportunities and Challenges

A. Strengths identified by external sources Instructor credentials and performance in and beyond the classroomCurriculum relevance and comprehensivenessGeneral learning environment and hands-on learning opportunities Extraordinary physical facilities (i.e., pool, dive locker, underwater classroom)

B. Weaknesses identified by external sources and studentsClassroom teaching aids

C. Program’s impact on other programs within the CollegeProvides resources for and promotes interest in other marine programsProvides significant curriculum units for EMS and public safety programsProvides a major health and recreational opportunity for FKCC studentsEnhances enrollment in general education courses

D. Programs relationship with the college, community, county The dive program, its staff and facilities, and its revenue have become a significant aspect of college operations. The program is highly active and highly visible in the community county wide through its relationship with diving businesses and involvement in public safety. The program serves a major vocational education need of the community and also brings students into the community for the unique educational opportunities that it provides.

E. Recommendations by program staff to improve the programImprove the quality of the classroom experience by upgrading teaching aids

Consolidate the physical resources of the new Underwater Port Security course

Broaden course and program marketing

F. Strategies for change (based on student/employer follow-up)Develop Power Point presentations for well-established classroom lectures. Consolidate what are now degree course offerings into certificate programs offered on a concentrated basis.Look at the national market for unique FKCC course such as Underwater Port Security and Diving Medical Technician.Expand program marketing in terms of both its scope and its technology.Pursue federal funding


G. Incorporation of strategies for change into the annual unit plans over the next three years – closing the loop (list the goals and objectives that you identified for inclusion into your Annual Plans over the next several years) Implementation of the improvements and strategies identified above should directly address the Unit Goal of Expanding both the Diving Business and Technology Program (DBT) and the Hyperbaric Medical Technology Program (HMT) by pursuing the Unit Objectives of:1. Expanding participation in the DBT degree program2. Maintaining the integrity of contract work diving safety courses3. Developing the HMT Program, and 4. Providing quality education


V. Future Issues - Resources needed for future efforts

A. Anticipated future curricular changes and needs (based on market trends)

The Program anticipates the development of two Certificate Programs in response to the needs of the recreational diving industry; one in Diving Technology and the other in Diving Business. The Program also anticipates expansion of its curriculum in Hyperbaric Medical Technology in response to the need for continuing education in that subject within the medical community. It also is anticipated that the new thrust in Underwater Port Security will require changes in its curriculum in response to developing technology and the possible conversion of the current non-credit course to a credit course. Finally, the Program is developing a new Diving Safety Inspector course for U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Diving Coordinators and Safety Office Representatives.

B. Market trends within the program area

Local (service area) competition for the certification of recreational Diving Instructors is increasing. Also, students in that area tend to go to work prior to completing their degree.There is an increasing call in the work diving industry for the kind of training provided by FKCC rather than the full-fledged commercial diver training generally offered by private diving schools. FKCC’s problem is visibility on a national basis. 9-11 has produced a large national market for the Program’s new course in Underwater Port Security. FKCC is in a unique position to meet this need, but presently has no national visibility.

C. Equipment, space and faculty needs for future growth or continuation

If Underwater Port Security takes hold, it will need additional boats and underwater scanning equipment to replace items that were borrowed to jump-start the program, as well as to provide the redundancy to support intense and sustained training operations. Program revenue should eventually reimburse such an investment. The Underwater training Area (UTA), which is vital to the operation of the Diving Program, needs some structural modification in order to maintain its environmental integrity. The Program is in urgent need of dormitory housing for visiting students, which now doubles the cost of our course offerings. The program already needs additional personnel support, preferably full-time, to reduce the present overburden on full-time and adjunct employees. Program expansion will make this a necessity that should be supported by additional program revenue.


D. Future plans – some future resources may be included as goals and objectives in the unit’s annual plan

Future plans include Certificates in Diving Technology and Recreational Diving Business to increase enrollment in and completion of those traditional programs.Aggressive marketing of the Diving Medical Technician (DMT) course is planned to attract a national audience. A federal funding initiative will hopefully produce the same success with the new Underwater Port Security course that it experienced State wide in 2004. Plans call for expansion of the current five year U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contract to include a new eight -day course to be included in each year’s schedule.


Student Performance Outcome

Assessment Criteria and Evaluation Method

Assessment Results (use of actual data to describe

performance)

Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program

Student will demonstrate a working knowledge of:

Diving physics and physiology, buoyancy control, decompression and navigation

Diving technology as applied to the tasks related to their particular vocation, i.e., recreational diving management, work diving, research diving , public safety diving or hyperbaric medical technology

1. Enrollment beyond refund2. Course completers3. Grades4. Certifications5. Graduate accident reports

Diving Business and Technology Program Review

Instructional Program Review Student Outcomes Assessment Report

Division:_Dive & Hypebarics______________Degree Level:AS_________________________

Assessment Period Covered:_____________Date Submitted:5/05__________________

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