The UB Sculpture Department and Technical Skills Institute, Inc., recently terminated the on-campus partnership they have shared for the past four years.
TSI, which has used North Campus facilities to teach various welding techniques to UB students as well as commercial clients, will vacate its location in the basement of the Center for the Arts within the next few weeks.
"Our priorities are always to serve the students pedagogically," said Reinhard Reitzenstein, assistant professor of art. "If we can't physically accommodate Technical Skills Institute, then it's going to be difficult, and we have to make a decision based on pedagogical advantages and disadvantages."
Originally, UB offered teaching space to TSI in return for equipment and services. Mills Welding Supply, Inc, the umbrella organization for TSI, provided eight state-of-the-art welding stations and necessary welding gasses to the university, along with the installation of a new air exhaust system.
UB students attended the same classes as paying clients receiving professional training for the welding industry. Now that the partnership has been terminated, students studying in fields where welding training may be beneficial - such as sculpture, engineering and architecture - may no longer take TSI's six-week long, one-credit courses at UB.
While some students may be upset about the welding institute's departure, Reitzenstein said, he wants students to understand that the agreement was mutual.
"I think (the decision was) done with a tremendous amount of respect," he said.
Contrarily, Wayne Bacon, president of Mills Welding Supply, Inc., said that while TSI was not given the option of staying, relocating is the best choice.
"It wasn't our decision to leave," Bacon said. "But we're all big boys and girls here. We know what makes sense. If it doesn't make sense for either party then you have to do something else."
Reitzenstein said that there are difficulties in working with a professional company in a university setting. Because the welding institute was located inside UB, students enrolled in its classes were required to pay a $75 lab fee, which was not a substantial profit for TSI.
"Teaching UB students is something we're happy to do, but we're probably at a loss doing it," Bacon said. "There is really no commercial reason to be (at UB)."
In addition, there was difficulty in scheduling class times that were convenient for both groups. UB classes are held primarily during the day, a time when outsiders training for professional industry positions are normally at work.
"We prefer to work in day hours," Reitzenstein said. "Therefore, fitting into our schedule was more and more difficult for Technical Skills."
Bacon agreed. "Initially, there was a fair amount of time to bring in commercial clients. Gradually less and less time became available."
Besides scheduling issues, Reitzenstein said the sculpture department no longer has the room to accommodate TSI in the CFA's basement.
"We desperately need space downstairs," Reitzenstein said. "The logical place to look was to see if indeed we needed to have eight welding stations."
Although TSI is moving out of UB, Reitzenstein said they will leave four welding stations.
UB and TSI are currently working on plans for students to continue to receive training, according to both Reitzenstein and Bacon. These may include students commuting to the Buffalo location of Mills Welding or having a portable trailer from TSI come to UB to teach once or twice per semester.
"(UB) didn't lose here," Reitzenstein said. "We simply lost their presence on-site, but we haven't lost their services or their willingness to work with our students, which is great."
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
