June 16, 2010
HARRISBURG – Starting this fall, apprenticeship employees in the electric cooperative service industry in Pennsylvania and New Jersey can take advantage of a college degree pathway program at HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College.
An articulation agreement signed June 16 between HACC, Adams Electric Cooperative, Inc., and the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association will allow lineman apprentices to earn an associate in applied science degree in Technology Studies from HACC.
“This agreement is an example of how HACC responds to the needs of today’s workforce,” said HACC President Edna V. Baehre, Ph.D. “It fulfills HACC’s ongoing mission to provide a better educated workforce through partnerships with business and industry to meet the in-demand jobs in today’s economy,” she added.
“Electric cooperative line personnel from around the Commonwealth and New Jersey have a chance to take the skills they learn through the PREA Job Training & Safety program and apply that to a higher education opportunity,” said Frank M. Betley, president and CEO of PREA, the statewide service organization for the 14 member-owned electric cooperatives in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. “We are excited to partner with our member cooperatives from around Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and with HACC to offer this opportunity.”
Steve Rasmussen, CEO and general manager of Gettysburg-based Adams Electric Cooperative, Inc., said, “We are pleased to again partner with HACC in an effort that will help today’s workers better prepare for tomorrow’s workplace. Our organizations share similar goals of improving the quality of life in the south-central Pennsylvania communities we serve,” he added.
Once the requirements of the electric cooperative service industry have been met, the apprentice will receive 30 technology elective credits to fulfill program specific electives in the two-year associate in applied science degree in Technology Studies at HACC. The apprentice must successfully complete an additional 31 credits, including 22 credits in general education requirements and an additional nine credits in the major in order to receive a degree.
Electric cooperative apprentices must matriculate into the Technology Studies curriculum at HACC within four years of having successfully completed the PREA Job Training & Safety lineman training schools. Apprentices across Pennsylvania and New Jersey can complete the associate degree via online courses through HACC’s Virtual Campus, or attend any of the college’s five campuses in Gettysburg, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lebanon and York.
HACC has an enrollment of more than 21,000 students and approximately 50,000 noncredit and workforce development students at the college’s regional campuses in Gettysburg, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lebanon and York, as well as numerous community sites throughout the region. HACC serves an eight-county primary service area in Central Pennsylvania, providing affordable, quality education through its nearly 200 associate and transfer degrees, certificate and diploma programs and more than 2,000 workforce development and continuing education programs. HACC is the number one provider of adult and workforce training programs in the region. For more information, go to www.hacc.edu.
The Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association (PREA) is the unified voice for the 14 member-owned electric cooperatives in Pennsylvania and New Jersey which supply electricity to more than 230,000 rural households, businesses and industries, representing more than 600,000 consumers. The 13 cooperatives in Pennsylvania own and maintain about 12.5 percent of the electric distribution lines in the state, covering nearly one-third of the Commonwealth's land area in 41 counties. These lines, an essential component of rural business and industry, represent one of the Commonwealth's largest non-governmental investments in rural infrastructure. For more information, go to www.prea.com
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