The Flathead Valley Community College Board of Trustees voted Monday to drop its plumbing certificate, add back an updated administrative assistant program with a new name and expand its medical coding certificate to become an associate’s degree.

College President Jane Karas said that interest, along with community support, had subsided in the plumbing certificate. Trustees unanimously approved dropping the plumbing program.

Board members also voted to lift a moratorium on the administrative assistant program and give it a new title: support professional. The updated curriculum now includes courses on social networking and writing for the Web.

In a third program-related vote, trustees voted to change the medical coding certificate to a two-year associate’s degree. Karas said the program was intensive enough that it had required just a few more courses to qualify for the degree.

Karas said the changes in the plumbing and medical coding programs would next go before the Montana Board of Regents. The three program changes were reviewed and recommended by a curriculum committee at the college prior to board action.

In other business, trustees voted to give tenure to David Smith, an art instructor who specializes in ceramics. Karas described Smith as a great asset to the college who is able to engage at the national level.

Also Monday, the board received an update on the college’s poplar and experimental farm area from professor emeritus Tom Jay. He told trustees the poplar planting near the logger sports arena was completed three years ago as one of 114 test sites in the United States and the only one in Montana.

Performed in conjunction with GreenWood Resources, the experimental planting started with 1,200 seedlings to determine which variety would do the best in this climate. Challenges included the early frost of 2009 and flooding in  spring 2011.

“Some froze to death and were not suitable for this climate,” he said.

Additional projects took advantage of the space with an experimental garden and vineyard planted between the rows of trees. Vegetables were donated to the food bank.

Students in work studies, VISTA and other organizations participated in the various projects.

“Upward Bound students spent some time on the business end of a hoe,” Jay said.

He showed photos of students from Creston Elementary School visiting the plantings and learning about the goals. Jay called the project an agricultural and educational success.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.