By Martin Ramirez/ south news editor
Bogdan Sierra Miranda/The Collegian
South students can get their hands busy with the new industrial maintenance technician degree program starting this fall.
The new program will give students an in-depth look into various fields, such as electricity, welding, refrigeration technology and advanced hydraulics. The program consists of 12 concurrent courses that will be taken in six eight-week sessions.
Interim business and technology dean Thomas Ford said he began planning for the program about a year and a half ago, obtaining approval in late January.
He said he was influenced by various surrounding companies looking for a program that created workers with an education and ready to work.
“We’ve had a number of companies come to us over the last 2-3 years,” he said. “Twenty, 30 years ago, we taught all this stuff in high school. We’ve gotten away from that.”
Courses will be relatively fast and will sync to provide full education. Every session will consist of a different area being taught. Some sessions may explain what industrial maintenance is, cover various technology fields or even teach English.
“If you started this program in the spring semester in January, 48 weeks later you would graduate with your degree and one certificate and ready to go to work with someone,” Ford said.
The program will partner with Hydradyne LLC based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The company is one of North America’s largest motion control repair, service and distribution companies. The company is seeking interns and will even help students in the interview process. Other area companies that have expressed interest include Coca-Cola and Texas Instruments.
Ford predicts about 20 students enrolling in the first session. Though no age group has been targeted, he said some students would probably be more interested than others.
“Initially, I look for this to be for the older students that have been laid off or something: job reacting or training,” he said. “For a person right out of high school, this would be an excellent way for them to get into a career field, do it quickly and begin making a livable income.”
Many of the courses for the program will be in the new SETC building. For more information about the program, contact Ford at 817-515-4772 or thomas.ford@tccd.edu.
