JOHNSTOWN - With $200,000 in funding making its way to Fulton-Montgomery Community College, officials there are establishing a new concentration of study focused on technology and engineering.

The funding is moving through the Senate with the help of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. It has been approved by a Senate subcommittee and now must be approved by the full Senate and the president.

FMCC Chief Advancement Officer William Easterly said the college will use the funding, as well as other funding secured earlier, to create a set of classes focused on engineering, technology and similar fields. Funding also will be used to create a "clean room" at the college and to purchase technologically modern equipment to aid in student learning.

"We're adding a few courses and really creating something that fits the concentration of what's going on in the area and the country in general, this focus on high tech and engineering," Easterly said.

The college anticipates adding several more courses, rounding out the college's engineering curriculum and hiring one or two new staff members, including one new instructor. An additional support staff position may be created, he said.

If it is approved, the funding will be included in the 2010 fiscal year budget, Easterly said. The college expects to be ready to offer the full program to students by fall 2010, he said.

Local employers have expressed a desire for qualified engineers and technicians, Easterly said. Students have also expressed a keen interest in the program, he said.

"There are a lot of possibilities for students, especially with a place like AMD," Easterly said, referring to Malta chip manufacturing plant currently in the works. "When they graduate, our students will be fully qualified for a job there."

Easterly said the funding from Schumer is on top of $435,000 already secured by U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam. Students who graduate from the new concentration will have an associate degree in engineering science or electrical technology, among others.

"We're thrilled for [Schumer's] support," he said. "It's a huge endorsement."