Two-Year Curriculum Trains Aviation Mechanics
Published Jul 08, 2008
In San Bernardino County, a strong partnership among business, education and local government leaders has propelled an aviation mechanics program at Victorville’s Southern California Logistics Airport.
In San Bernardino County, a strong partnership among business, education and local government leaders has propelled an aviation mechanics program at Victorville’s Southern California Logistics Airport.
Organizers designed the program to meet the complementary needs of area students and employers.
The partnership has substance: The county allocated $500,000 for the project; the San Bernardino County Workforce Investment Board approved a $75,000 contract and obtained $179,600 from the state. Meanwhile, the city donated a hangar, Federal Express donated a plane and Victor Valley College designed the curriculum.
In February 2007, the program began offering preliminary courses to help students with experience complete classroom requirements for a license. Formal coursework starts in summer 2008, pending Federal Aviation Administration approval. Graduates receive an FAA-issued license.
“This is hands-on experience,” says Jim Worsham, the airport’s director of aviation marketing and business development. The two-year, 2,000-hour program’s estimated $2,000 price tag is much lower than that of a private program, which could run as high as $40,000, Worsham says.
The area’s 25 aviation-oriented companies include Boeing Co., General Electric Co. and ConAgra Foods Inc. All told, the industry employs nearly 3,000 locally.
“We’re filling a need the companies have and providing programs for students who are not going to a four-year college,” Worsham says. “Programs like these will help students get a secure future.”
Increasingly, industry is driving community college curriculum, says Nick Parisi, Victor Valley College’s dean for career and technical education programs. “In the past, community colleges have said, ‘Come to us and we’ll train you,’ and businesses have said, ‘That’s not what we need.’ ”
As education and community leaders examined their interdependent relationship, Parisi says, collaborating was the logical next step. “These partnerships are happening more and more as we begin to understand the synergy that happens when we’re all at the table,” he says. “I couldn’t build an aviation program by myself. Neither could GE or the county or [the airport]. Each one had a vital role.”
Curt Hagman, chairman of the San Bernardino County Workforce Investment Board, says the area has been a longtime growth portion of the state. “In this particular region we see a lot of logistics and transportation, and there are a lot of spinoffs from there,” he says.
“We made a conscious effort to learn the needs of the community from a business aspect,” Hagman adds. “We don’t want to spend limited resources on training when we don’t have jobs available in those areas. We look at what will be growth sectors here five to 10 years from now.”
Story by Leanne Libby
Photo by Jeff Adkins
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