Enhancing performance through partnerships

First in the Nation: Electrical Union and CCAC Partner for Success

CCAC and IBEW Local No. 5

Take the skills training provided to electrical union apprentices.  Add the academic coursework taught in associate degree programs. The result is a well-rounded professional equipped to compete in today’s challenging job environments.

This extra educational dimension is the reason officials of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 5 decided to team up with CCAC and require associate degrees for its journeyman electricians.

“An associate degree equips IBEW Local 5 members not only with the technical skills, but also the academic credentials to create, analyze and transform information,” said John Chalovich, IBEW Local 5 business manager.

The five-year Electrical Construction Technology Apprenticeship Program is a 64-credit curriculum developed jointly by CCAC and the IBEW Local 5.  Through the union-sponsored program, students obtain classroom, hands-on, and on-the-job experiences in journeyman wireman electrical work.

IBEW Local 5 instructors and CCAC faculty team up to teach the occupational classes and academic courses in topics such as Electrical Construction Technology, English composition, algebra, introduction to computers, and others.

About 600 students have enrolled in the innovative program since 2000, and it has attracted national and international attention from other educational institutions and unions.