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Cherokee Nation reports Job Corps staffing change, Surg Tech move and training upgrades
Summary
At the council meeting, Diane Kelly detailed a recent resignation at the Talking Leaves Job Corps center, interim leadership, pending federal approvals for a new center director, a summer move of the surgical technology program, and a new fiber/alignment training structure behind the training center.
Diane Kelly, executive director for vocational programs at Cherokee Nation, told the council the Talking Leaves Job Corps center received a resignation about three weeks ago and is operating under interim leadership while the tribe awaits federal sign-off on a permanent replacement.
"It's always an honor to get to showcase some of our outstanding students," Kelly said, introducing highlights from the vocational programs report.
Kelly said Deborah Lack resigned as center director for Talking Leaves and Brett Hamby is serving as interim director with Daryl Hamby named as backup. Brett Hamby is the center standards officer and Daryl Hamby is the counseling manager, Kelly told the council. She said the tribe has been courting an experienced center director and Cherokee Nation has approved the hire; the appointment now requires sign-off by the U.S. Department of Labor contracting officer (identified in the meeting as Miss Daniels). Kelly said she expects a center director on board in June if the federal contracting officer signs off.
Kelly also updated the council on program operations: surg tech (surgical technology) will move to a new location near the dental area at the old Hastings Hospital sometime this summer, said Kelly, so the program can work closer to hospital lab facilities. She pointed the council to a diagram in the report showing a new training structure behind the training center intended for the fiber and alignment program; the building contains poles for trainees to practice climbing during inclement weather.
Kelly told the council the Job Corps program must submit about nine staff positions to the U.S. Department of Labor for approval; the department sometimes rejects positions if candidates lack Job Corps experience or required safety/security backgrounds, she said. Kelly said the program continues outreach across the Nation and expects to fill slots from across the tribe's 14-county service area.
The council did not take formal action on the Job Corps items; Kelly said next steps are federal sign-off and administrative onboarding once the Department of Labor contracting officer approves the hire.
