The long-standing partnership between the Harrisburg Area Community College and the Adams Electric Cooperative may raise some eyebrows among potential job seekers. As many trades dont require a full college education, tradesmen can elect to skip the college experience all together and get right to work on their career. But as trade careers become more technical, an associates degree can help to ensure future advancement. In fact, according to a study released last week by Georgetown University, U.S. employers will need 22 million new workers with associate’s degrees or higher to fill open positions–about 3 million more than the U.S. is expected to produce.
So perhaps the most recent joint venture between these two central PA institutions is arriving just in time. This week, HACC announced a partnership with state electronic cooperatives to roll existing training hours into credits that students can add towards their associates degree. School administrators hope the program will create a more educated workforce for rural Pennsylvania.
Our campus has been reaching out to our local business and industry on ways that we can be a resource for them, says HACC Campus Development Officer Judy Alder. Adams Electric Cooperative, which is in our service area, has been a strong partner of our campus for many years. So when we sat down and asked for ways that we could support their employees through training, this is what we came to.
The program is modeled after a similar, more comprehensive program at Reading Area Community College, which sought to train green technicians for First Energy. But by targeting only rural electric cooperatives in Pennsylvania, HACC ensures that their tech graduates wont migrate out of state for work.
Once the electric cooperative service industry requirements are met, students can enroll into HACCs technology studies curriculum any time within four years. With 13 Pennsylvania co-ops (and one from New Jersey) involved in the program, this unlikely partnership has never made more sense.
Now that the agreements have been signed, we will be working on some marketing materials so we can get information into the hands of all the co-ops, says Alder. With many courses being online, its really just a matter of the student registering, having their apprenticeship information articulated through the system and they are on their way through the associates degree program.
Source: Judy Alder, Harrisburg Area Community College
Writer: John Steele