But the news coming from Steve Ford, a collision repair instructor at South Seattle Community College, is decidedly different: full enrollment with a waiting list for the past seven years; good support from the school's administration and from area shops, vendors, and insurers; and the completion of a $1.7 million expansion and remodel of the program's main building.

"I visit a lot of schools because I do evaluations for NATEF," Ford said, referring the branch of ASE that certifies automotive training programs. "That's helped me really appreciate the fabulous level of support our college's president, Dr. Jill Wakefield, and the upper administration are giving vocational programs."

During the complete remodeling and expansion of the 30-year-old building that served as the program's main training area, classes were conducted for its 38 students in a 4,000-square-foot building next door that houses a 55-foot downdraft booth (which can be divided in two), and a Blackhawk frame rack.

Teaching in those cramped quarters for a while was clearly worthwhile when work on the main building (now 9,000 square feet) was completed, Ford said.

He starts most tours of the facility from the new lobby area that has been designed to look and function like a professional collision repair shop.

"In here, we're going to teach customer relations, estimating, job costing, and job tracking," Ford said, pointing out the two work stations equipped with Mitchell International's estimating system. "In the past, we might spend three weeks teaching estimating, and they wouldn't do it again during the program. Now students will work out here for two days on a rotating basis, but then they can go back to their other tasks. It helps keep it fresh."

Stepping through another set of glass doors into the "production area," Ford points out the program's tool and supply room, where again students work on a rotating basis.

"In here, my objective is to get across maintenance of shop tools: The DA doesn't work; can we repair it?" Ford said. "Also, in here they're handling consumable materials, so they can job cost: What does a sheet of sandpaper cost? What do body fillers cost?"

Next to the instructors' offices is a classroom much larger than any previous one in the program. Four more estimating terminals are available for students to use once they have completed training through Mitchell's online "university." Ford said the classroom is equipped with Internet access, allowing him to pull up and display on a screen training information via I-CAR or other sources.

The two-year collision repair program has earned all of the NATEF certifications available, including being certified for structural and nonstructural analysis and damage repair, mechanical and electrical components, and refinishing. Ford said many of the students complete not only the collision program but the academic requirements to earn an associate's degree.

"I try to teach them that five or 10 years from today, they may want to do something different other than working on the line," he said. "The degree will help open the door to that opportunity, whether it's in shop management, insurance, or as a manufacturers' rep. I like to give them the big picture."

While larger repair work is handled in the older building, the new facility is designed to allow what the program primarily focuses on: lighter hits and more "cosmetic" damage that give students the core skills they need to start a career: dent repair, removal and reassembly of parts, light pulling, and prepping for paint.

"The program includes learning how to load and unload the frame rack, and using the tram gauges and the Shark measuring system, but we focus most on the smaller jobs that give them repetitive use of the basic skills," Ford said.

Perhaps the centerpiece of the program's new facility is the expanded refinishing area, which includes a new AFC booth, side-by-side downdraft heated prep stations, and a mixing room.

"I'm really pleased with AFC; they really came through for us," Ford said. "PPG Industries also has come through with Gemeroy's Auto Paint Specialty to basically donate all the mixing-room equipment and computer system."

Students have a chance to try two paint lines: PPG's Deltron and ICI Autocolor. The new facility also is ready for a shift to waterborne paint products when the time comes.

"We're tried to look forward to see what's coming and get it in place here," Ford said.

The new building also has both men's and women's locker rooms for students, Ford said, a plus as more women--three this year--enroll in the program.

In addition to the college-level program, which runs from 7 a.m. to noon on weekdays, the facility also runs a program for Seattle-area public high school students in the afternoons. That program averages 16 students who can earn one quarter of a college credit by successfully completing the program. Ford said about one-third of them end up enrolling in the two-year college program.

"It's a good recruiting tool, and the students that do that, by the time they're 22 or 23, they're really doing well in the industry," he said.

Like most successful collision repair training programs, the South Seattle Community College program depends on input and support from the industry. Among the area shops that Ford cites for serving on the program's advisory council or hiring many of the program's graduates are Aki's Body Shop, J&J Collision, Huddleson's Auto Color World, and Thoroughbred Collision Centers.

Ford said he welcomes calls from other shop owners who are interested in joining the advisory committee or getting involved with the program.

"We have a lot of partners out there," he said. "Wesco Auto Paints has been very, very helpful. The DuPont and Meguiar's reps have been very supportive of the program and really quite helpful. Seattle Tool has put together a beautiful set of quality affordable tools with a box they sell to students."

Ford and fellow Instructor Erik Smock also are graduates of the program: Ford in the 1970s, Smock in the late 1990s as part of a retraining after working as an electrician at Boeing. The year he graduated, Smock became the first and only student in an automotive program ever to win one of the college's two President's Awards given annually, Ford said.

"His true asset is how well he works with the students," he said of Smock. "I'm a little older than he is, so I don't relate quite as well, but I have the technical skills and processes. We're a good team that way."