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Drawing Card for Enrollment
By Marty Baker
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few years ago, as enrollment dropped for the Vantage
Career Center welding program, instructors Dennis C.
Koester and Kevin L. Langdon CWI/CWE began seeking ways to
entice students to consider welding as a viable career option.
Denny, the senior class instructor has been with the program for
27 years and Kevin, the junior class instructor, for 26 years.
They knew about the American
Welding Society’s Accredited
Welder Testing Facility (AWS-ATF) program on the
post-secondary level, such as Hobart Institute of Welding
Technology (HIWT), and believed that if their school would
become accredited under this same program, industry would take
notice, making it easier to place their graduates and better
serve the local industries.
“We initially did it as a
drawing card for enrollment,” says Denny. “Many told us it
would never happen, but we persistently worked with the American
Welding Society (AWS) until it became a reality for us. Since
the Vantage welding program has become an AWS-ATF and an AWS
Level II Training Facility, our program has been awarded
national and state recognition. The welding program won the 2001
National Exemplary Career-Technical Program award and
Ohio’s “Best of the Best Program” award,
recognizing the Vantage welding program as one of the top
programs in the nation on the secondary level.”
Accreditation
for test facilities is not an easy achievement. Test facilities,
their personnel and equipment must meet all of the guidelines
and criteria set forth in the AWS Q4 Standards for
Accreditation of Test Facilities for AWS Certified Welder
Program and must also conform to ANSI/AWS
Z49.1 Safety for Welding and Cutting.
The
accreditation and recognition achieved the intended results at
Vantage. Today there are 15 seniors and 19 juniors (including 6
females) enrolled in the Vantage Welding Technology Fabrication
program. Along with student job searches there is now active
recruiting by many companies, local and regional.
The
Vantage welding program focuses on the AWS D1.1 Structural
Building Code. It’s
a heavy metal program using shielded metal arc welding (stick
electrode), gas metal arc welding (wire/MIG), flux cored arc
welding, gas tungsten arc welding (TIG) and other welding
processes including submerged arc welding. Training in blueprint
reading, symbols for welding and mathematics are enhanced
through projects and customer service. Kevin states that,
“Much of the training materials produced and published by the
HIWT are utilized in our welding program, including Hobart’s
entire video library.”
“We
stress the importance of attendance, positive attitude and work
ethics,” says Denny. “The American Welding Society
structural certifications in plate and pipe, along with 15
college credits through a “dual credit” agreement with IVY
Technical College of Fort Wayne, Indiana, give our
successful graduates the credentials to enter the workforce
immediately or go on to college. Enough college credit is
offered at Vantage
to complete a student’s first term at the college level with
the training to test out of even more.
Students
graduating from this program, and other welding programs across
the country, who decide to further their welding education at
Hobart Institute also have the option to perform prerequisite
testing in order to by-pass up to five of the basic courses at
HIWT. This puts students on a fast track toward completion of
their training and out into the workforce where they may pursue
their dreams and goals.
“Placement
has been good in our area,” explains Denny. “But the few
plant closings and downsizing due to the economy will make it
more challenging this year in our section of Ohio.
But
the corporations in the Van Wert area need to realize that the
instructors at Vantage never back away from a challenge! And
their persistence and patience provides time-tested results!
“We
are the best kept secret in Van Wert,” says Kevin.
“Please, visit our web site at vantagecareercenter.com
to discover the other great programs that are offered at
Vantage Career Center”.
For
further information, contact:
Vantage
Career Center: http://www.vantagecareercenter.com
Hobart Institute of Welding Technology: http://www.welding.org
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