Glen Paine, Executive Director of the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) and Pacific Northwest Maritime Institute, has announced that the Institute has entered into a formal agreement with the National Weather Service's (NWS) Marine Prediction Center (MPC) located in Camp Springs, Maryland. Mr. Paine and Dr. James E. Hoke, MPC Director, signed the agreement on September 5, 2001. The agreement states MPC will provide weather instruction, as time and resources permit, in MITAGS' Heavy Weather Avoidance course, Marine Weather course, Master Mates and Operator course and other licensing courses requiring weather skills.