BREAKING NEWS : The Department of Transportation will shut down the Global Maritime And Transportation School --- the Continuing Education Arm of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point --- effective July 2012 .
The U.S. Department of Transportation will be shutting down the Global Maritime and Transportation School (GMATS). Apparently, representatives from the U.S. Department of Transportation notified the school that as of July 2012, GMATS will be completely shut down.
Charter schools are great schools to get youngsters started right and also to suggest careers in maritime matters, BUT, with the Maritime Administration (MARAD) closing GMATS --- The Global Maritime and Transportation School, the continuing education branch of the U. S. Maritime Academy at Kings Point --- and transferring their school ship (which wasn't very up-to-date, in any case) to Texas for the use of training there, therefore not readily available or convenient as a national training modality, it leaves a large population unserved .
GMATS operates from offices on the campus of the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y., a Federal Service Academy . They constitute the continuing education function of Kings Point . We understand that they are a Non-Appropriated Fund organization, that is, that GMATS is entirely self-funded, using little or no taxpayer money . It is completely incomprehensible why they are shutting down the school . At next to no cost to taxpayers, GMATS offered a palette of courses that are of the highest value to the development of our country's maritime capacity and supremacy . Essentially every other major legitimate, accredited educational collegiate institution --- including Harvard --- maintains strong continuing education programs. In almost every state, attorneys-at-law, in practice and admitted to the Bar, must attend formal continuing education courses throughout their career in order to keep their Bar membership current. We are personally aware of Chief Operating Officers of Fortune 500 companies who proudly place their continuing education credentials at schools like Stanford on their Curriculum Vitae.
This also may mean that a significant number of GMATS' current employees, including a number of U.S. veterans, will be (we love this bureaucratic term) "transitioned" to other positions that may be open. Many bureaucrats don't seem to be aware of the importance and value of reputable accredited programs like those offered by GMATS.
Another major consideration is the rapid change that any technological field is constantly undergoing . It can be of critical importance for all active practitioners in those fields to be aware of and keep abreast of these changes and developments for reasons of safety, security, and business competition .
GMATS has been in existence since 1994, and has functioned as the official continuing education program of the Kings Point college since that time. These programs were initiated to meet the education and training needs of the transportation industry, needs that have dramatically expanded in size and scope since their founding, and has resulted in the parallel expansion of GMATS' courses and programs to meet those needs . If the school is --- indeed --- to be shut down, we believe that Kings Point may well be the only collegiate maritime academy without a continuing education program.
Maureen Knightly, Deputy Director for Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Transportation, has issued the following statement regarding this unfortunate decision : “The U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy are committed to creating and serving a maritime transportation system that addresses 21st century challenges. As part of this commitment and in response to specific recommendations from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Academy is taking steps to wind down the Global Maritime and Transportation School (GMATS) and determine the Academy’s role in continuing education.”
Determining the Academy's role in this kind of education is incredibly easy . All the professional maritime journals state unequivocally that the "21st century challenges" they mention clearly include a current and future shortage of personnel trained in the rapidly changing technologies of the maritime profession . It would appear that identifying and training those people must be included in the 21st century challenges mentioned. And now USDOT's commitment includes eliminating one of its most effective educational providers.
Deputy Director Knightly added that USMMA does offer an on-line MS degree program in Marine Engineering , which appears like the classic confusion of Apples and Oranges . We're concerned about non-degree education for non-matriculated students, many of whom are working members of a profession undergoing significant rapid change, trying desperately to maintain and expand their knowledge in an increasingly technological field whose reach and complexity are exploding in a changing world . GMATS had offered the ability to offer important plug-and-play courses, movable to other geographical areas, other locations. How can we sit back and listen to all the backscatter about the importance of our country's predominance in these fields, uttered in the same breath as recommending the closure of unequalled opportunities to maintain this predominance ?
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars has, to our astonishment , come to the same conclusion that this valuable educational resource should be shut down .
In addition, at the present time the Academy is losing its training ship, the KING’S POINTER . When a replacement will be obtained, if one ever is, is a matter of speculation. The United States has for many years evaded a commitment to the training of merchant mariners. We are told that budgets are tight, and the campus itself could be put to better use. Much of the problem seems to lie in the fact that maritime policy is framed by political appointees who have no previous experience or connection with seagoing commerce. If King’s Point disappears, it will have been a victim, along with many other maritime assets, of a political culture that has turned its back on the sea. Maritime awareness can be revived, but it will take leadership.]
It's hard to believe but, while China, India, and Brazil are cranking up their maritime powers, the U.S. appears to be going in the other direction. Very short-sighted ! Perhaps China or North Korea could utilize these highly trained and certified maritime professionals who are teaching or administering the courses, although we are certain that they will also be urged to look at on-line listings of U.S. Government jobs.
With GMATS closing, it appears that there will be a significant correlated loss in our country's training capabilities, maybe one that can --- and should be --- be filled by other maritime education programs .
It appears self-evident that here lies a unique opportunity for a bold organization to step in and begin serious technical training on a grand scale, and actually benefit the country, the maritime profession, and many professional mariners, by establishing a major educational program with a broad maritime curriculum and expansionist agenda. This is a case where the first person or group to establish a beachhead gains a major strategic and competitive advantage. The Business Model is obvious; the subject matter is well-defined; the unemployed looking for new horizons are looking in significant numbers; facilities are at their most available in decades; even the instructors should not be difficult to define, to fine, and to vet . Standards are also well-defined by the U.S. Coast Guard, Det Norske Veritas (DNV : the venerable Scandinavian maritime classification and standards group), and other Class organizations .
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