Wayne Community College will be the site of training next month that only a few schools nationally can host.
More than four dozen instructors from as far away as Wyoming and California have signed up for the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3) Train-The-Trainer Conference set for Oct.9-13 at the college. They will be led by national trainers from other member institutions and industry partners.
“We have instructors from across the nation coming to get certified to teach NC3 certification courses to their students,” said Craig Foucht, the Wayne Business and Industry Center executive director who, until recently, was the chair of the college’s Transportation Department and a NC3 train-the-trainer instructor.
“They are eager to be able to do this for their students, to bring new training to their schools. Everyone involved with NC3 has a common goal of reducing the skills gap,” Foucht said.
Hosting the conference is an honor for the college, Foucht said. This is the third year that a conference has been scheduled at WCC. It was set for one so last year but had to cancel it due to Hurricane Matthew.
The training includes 10 in-depth and hands-on courses that last 8 a.m.-5 p.m. for one to five days. Participants will be trained to conduct courses that will lead to industry-designed and approved certifications for their students.
Courses offered include Automotive Diagnostic Scanner, Advanced Diagnostics, Mechanical and Electronic Torque Instruments, Precision Measuring Instruments, Multimeter, Wheel Service and Alignment, Pro-Cut Rotor Matching On-Car Brake Lathe, Dremel 3D Idea Builder Printer, Battery Starting and Charging, and Greenlee Certifications.
There are just 11 locations in the country that host NC3 Train-the-Trainer national conferences. WCC Transportation Department Chair Kevin Jordan is a member of the elite cadre of NC3 Train-the-Trainer instructors that teach at those events.
NC3’s industry partners include Snap-on, Starrett, Greenlee, Dremel, Daniels Manufacturing Corporation, Trane, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Test Products International, Skidmore-Wilhelm, and Festo.
NC3 at WCC
WCC is one of four member schools in North Carolina. The college offers 28 different NC3 certifications in its Automotive, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Systems, Computer-Integrated Machining, and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning programs and has plans to add new ones this year.
“The NC3 certifications earned by our students give them a competitive edge in the job market,” explained Foucht. “These certifications attest to the programs’ quality over a comparable program at other institutions by showing employers our students were trained on and can properly operate high-quality equipment from industry partners such as Snap-on and Starrett.”
“Anything that gets our students hired over the competition is worth pursing, which is why we are a part of NC3,” he said.
WCC was ninth in the NC3 national ranking of educational institutions based on the number of certifications their students earned in 2016.
The college has finished in the “Top 10” every year since 2014 when NC3 first started tracking certification numbers. Each year it has topped the previous year, starting with 373, improving to 480 in 2015, and jumping to 641 in 2016.
As of Aug. 31, WCC is in 10th place in the nation with 366 certifications earned for the year.
NC3 is a network of education providers and corporations that supports, advances and validates new and emerging technology skills in the transportation, aviation and energy industry sectors. It was established to address the need for strong industry partnerships with educational institutions in order to develop, implement, and sustain industry-recognized portable certifications that have strong validation and assessment standards.
Wayne Community College is a public, learning-centered institution with an open-door admission policy located in Goldsboro, N.C. As it works to develop a highly skilled and competitive workforce, the college serves 14,000 individuals annually as well as businesses, industry, and community organizations with high quality, affordable, accessible learning opportunities, including more than 70 college credit programs. WCC’s mission is to meet the educational, training, and cultural needs of the communities it serves.