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Since 2008, Yavapai College Foundation has supported CTEC with much-needed funding, including the purchase of the College’s first Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine as well as establishing the Jim Horton Endowed Scholarship to support students seeking careers in technical fields.
Students in the lineworker program learn the ups and downs of the job at the lineworker pole field lab on the College’s Chino Valley campus.
Tech Ed Powers the Future
Yavapai College offers the most extensive selection
of career and technical education courses in northern Arizona. Emphasizing hands-on skills, the YC Career and Technical Education Center (CTEC) is a state-of- the-art facility located near the Prescott airport housing courses designed to confer certificates and AAS degrees in 12 different job-training areas.
The key element for CTEC is specialization, with intensive lab courses designed to help students gain the necessary skills for them to advance, change careers
or re-enter the workforce. One of the newest tech ed offerings at YC is the lineworkers program.
Yavapai College’s New Electrical Utility Technology Program
Over half of the existing energy workforce is reaching retirement eligibility over the next few years. Employers will need skilled workers for traditional and future energy positions due to the employment change and increased public investment in clean and renewable energy.
Through efforts of the Yavapai College Foundation
and Yavapai College Grant Office directed by Marcia Jacobson, YC is part of a 5-community college consortium in Arizona that received a $13 million
grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to provide accelerated training as part of a coordinated effort to address the state’s energy industry workforce needs. The project was designed with the input of the state’s major electricity providers: APS, SRP and Tucson Electric Power (TEP).
Yavapai College has used its funds to strengthen its existing electrical instrumentation, electronics and pre-engineering programs, as well as to add electrical utility lineworker training. Teaching labs—including a
new electrical lab at the Career and Technical Education Center (CTEC) near the Prescott airport and a new lineworker and pole field lab at the Chino Valley Center— have been built to provide students with opportunities to put concepts learned in the classroom into practice.
Currently there are 41 students enrolled in the new Electrical Utility Technology program. Students will
be trained in power-line installation and maintenance, overhead and underground distribution, pole climbing and tool, truck and equipment operation. The one-year Electrical Utility Technology Certificate prepares students for apprentice-level lineworker positions. Additional education and experience can lead to employment as technicians, plant operators, and skilled craftspeople.
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