Engineering Technology Instrumentation Project

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Employers in the Texas Upper Gulf Coast region, like many areas of the United States, need highly qualified advanced technology employees to meet current and future workforce demand; however, they often find it difficult to find and hire sufficient number of engineering technology graduates technicians to meet their growing needs. This project at Galveston College (GC), a two-year Hispanic-serving community and technical college, is designed to advance desired societal outcomes through increased gainful employment for graduates and economic growth of employers. The goal is to revamp the existing Electrical and Electronics (E/E) Program into an advanced E/E and Instrumentation Program (INT) that will produce highly qualified technicians able to meet current and future workforce demands while substantially increasing the employability of technical graduates from the college program. The disciplinary focus of the project is Engineering Technology with an emphasis on Electronics Technology. Project partners are members of the college Industry and Business Implementation Team (IBIT) and include government agencies, businesses, and industries such as Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Landrys Corporation, Pyramid Instrumentation, SpawGlass, City Electric, Economic Development Division of County of Galveston, and Galveston Independent School District. These partners typify stakeholders providing almost 3000 new E/E & INT job opportunities within the next few years. The project will broaden opportunities for GC technician students, the majority who are from groups typically underrepresented in STEM technician fields, by supporting the social and financial investment needed to stimulate industry-academic partnerships and develop curriculum based on documented workforce needs. The project will advance knowledge and understanding within community colleges of technician education by developing a revised Integrated Curriculum Framework for Technician Education (ICF-TE). The ICF-TE, adaptable to other technician education programs, will build industry-academic partnerships that result in increased interactions between students and employers, increased employability, and improvements in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) technician teaching and learning. It will adapt known strategies to support recruitment, retention, and completion of students; and create articulation agreements with area secondary schools. Critical components of the ICF-TE were established in coordination with the IBIT who will continue to assist with implementation and outreach. These critical components of the ICF-TE include: (1) industry recognized stacked certifications, (2) problem-based teaching and learning, (3) advanced technician skills training through progressive (stacked) modules, (4) work ethics curriculum, and (5) practical training with real-world work experiences. IBIT members will interact directly with students by providing opportunities for employment, supervision, mentoring, and instruction. The primary project focus is on the E/E Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree and certificate students and associated faculty and administration. Secondary audiences are future STEM technician students recruited from area high schools and current workers seeking to advance their technician skills. The college will expand successful practices and instructional strategies learned from this project to the other STEM technical programs. An evaluation is designed to determine best practices in technician education to meet workforce needs.