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Creation of a Multi-Skill Manufacturing Apprenticeship Program with Articulated Pathways into Engineering Technology

Abstract

In alignment with the creation of a unified educational pathway for Florida’s manufacturing workforce, Polk State College (PSC), the Employ Florida Banner Center for Manufacturing, The Mosaic Company (Mosaic), Rockwell Automation, and RWD Technologies have created an apprenticeship program that aligns with national certifications, corporate training of the incumbent workforce, and articulated credit into an Associate in Science (A.S.) degree in Engineering Technology with an Advanced Manufacturing specialization. This reform has resulted in a program that prepares the skilled craft workforce while providing academic credit and pathways into the statewide A.S. degree in Engineering Technology.

To address the current skills shortage, an immediate need for new multi-skill maintenance personnel, concerns about the impending retirements, and small pool of talent in the pipeline experienced by the local manufacturing community - PSC Corporate College has partnered with the Banner Center for Manufacturing, training partners and Mosaic to create and offer structured competency-based apprenticeship training. This program includes apprenticeship training for both Electrical Instrumentation & Automation Technicians (EIA) and Mechanical/Millwright Craft. The program was created to align with the Department of Education’s Journeyman requirements and consists of 1152 hours classroom instruction combined with on the job training (OJT). Specifically the program consists of the following instruction: The Banner Center’s “Manufacturing Essentials” curriculum aligned with the MSSC CPT national certification – 5 Weeks; Industrial skills fundamentals curriculum – 18 Weeks; Trade-specific skills curriculum – 12 to 18 Months; Advanced standing for current incumbents to meet program requirements; Employer provided hands-on OJT.

Upon completion of the apprenticeship program the participants are elevated to full journeyman status at Mosaic and obtain a pathway into PSC’s Engineering Technology degree program. Due to the inclusion of the MSSC CPT certification into the program, participants who successfully earn their CPT are offered 15 credit hours towards the technical core of the degree based on a statewide articulation pathway already established in Florida. Then, based on the rigor of the technical training in the apprenticeship program, an additional 16 credit hours are articulated through internal articulation agreements between the corporate college and the academic department. These 31 credit hours build a strong pathway to a degree designed to meet Florida’s need for a highly skilled, well-trained, and technically competent workforce in manufacturing helping to meet the challenges of ever changing and increasingly complex manufacturing processes. The degree program provides the fundamentals of production processes, the maintenance of those processes, quality assurance, and safety; followed by more in-depth study of automation and instrumentation, metrology, process improvements, total predictive maintenance, technical management competencies, as well as quality work practices utilizing Lean and Six Sigma principles.

Presented herein is the curricula map of the apprenticeship program, alignment with national certifications, articulation for the engineering technology core courses and specialization technical

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Roe, E., & Helms, E., & Lachford, B., & Johnson, R. (2010, June), Creation Of A Multi Skill Manufacturing Apprenticeship Program With Articulated Pathways Into Engineering Technology Paper presented at 2010 Annual Conference & Exposition, Louisville, Kentucky. 10.18260/1-2--16858