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Program lets apprentices earn degrees

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By Quad-City Times | Friday, June 20, 2008 |

Black Hawk College and the Quad-City Electrical Training Center have created a new program that allows electrical apprentices to simultaneously earn an associate degree or certificate from the college.

The new Black Hawk College Apprenticeship Electrical Construction Journeyman Associate in Applied Science Degree and Certificate Program is designed for those who have been accepted into the NECA-IBEW Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee program at the Quad-City Electrical Training Center.

NECA is the National Electrical Contractors Association and IBEW is the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

The five-year NECA-IBEW program trains apprentices to be journeymen electricians and includes more than 8,000 hours of on-the-job electrical trades training plus 1,000 classroom hours. By completing the program, apprentices will earn 45 credit hours from Black Hawk and receive the new certificate. Electricians who have completed the apprenticeship program in the last five years also can apply to Black Hawk for credit for their past training.

Apprentices also can simultaneously take additional courses at the college and earn an associate degree. Apprentices can earn the new degree by taking an additional 15 credit hours of computer science or math, speech, composition or technical writing, and psychology or sociology courses through Black Hawk. These courses are offered during the day, evening and online.

Scott Verschoore, business manager for IBEW Local 145, said the new program gives members another opportunity to further their education. “This is definitely a win-win situation for not only our members, but for our contractors whose services they provide to their customers,” he said.

More information is available by contacting Mike Ellison at the Quad-City Electrical Training Center at (309) 762-3270, ext. 138, or Darcie Stearns, coordinator of advisement services at Black Hawk College, at (309) 796-5163.