About a year ago, Education Credit Management Corp. Group (ECMC Group), a nonprofit organization, finalized its acquisition of more than 50 Everest and WyoTech campuses from the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges chain. To execute that transaction, ECMC Group launched a subsidiary, Zenith Education Group, which provides career school training. This acquisition created the largest nonprofit career college system in America.
Upon closing this deal, Zenith began implementing key improvements in program quality, affordability, completion and job placement rates, and accountability and transparency.
Among Zenith’s initiatives was its Campaign for Innovation, sponsored jointly by ECMC Foundation and ECMC Innovation Lab, to encourage creative, actionable, and measurable ideas from campus employees about promoting student success. Greg Schuman, an electrician instructor at Zenith’s Tampa, Fla., campus, submitted an idea for Zenith to partner with the National Center of Construction Education and Research (NCCER) to be able to offer students NCCER certification upon their completion of electrician, HVAC, carpentry, or plumbing training.
Zenith’s 20-hour-per-week, nine-month program will give students much of what they need to know in order to be workforce day-one ready. And with the certification from the industry recognized NCCER, Schuman believes students who complete this program should be able to skip entirely the classroom part of any apprenticeship.
The Foundation liked Schuman's idea, and gave him a $36,095 grant to get his proposal off the ground. Next month, 15 of Zenith’s instructors will convene in Tampa to start learning to become NCCER-certified trainers.
Tampa is one of the nine Zenith campuses with building-trade programs that will offer this certification. The others are in Orange Park, Fla.; South Plainfield, N.J.; Chesapeake, Va.; Southfield, Mich.; and the Texas campuses at San Antonio, Arlington, Austin, and Houston.
In an interview with BD+C, Schuman explained that traditional apprentice trade programs typically involve both in-classroom and in-field training that can take several years to complete. “What we’re doing is frontloading the technical instruction part so the students will already have the classroom training” when they get hired.
Zenith’s 20-hour-per-week, nine-month program will give students much of what they need to know in order to be workforce day-one ready. And with the certification from the industry recognized NCCER, Schuman believes students who complete this program should be able to skip entirely the classroom part of any apprenticeship.
A knowledgeable, trained student is a valuable asset to construction firms at a time when their industry is flourishing and qualified workers are in shorter supply.
The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) reported last week that the construction industry added 125,400 nonresidential jobs in 2015, a 3.2% increase over 2014.
“With the construction industry expanding at rates not seen since the downturn, public officials need to make sure we are encouraging and preparing students to consider high-paying careers in construction,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s CEO. “As our Outlook makes clear, the industry is likely to continue expanding this year, as long as there are enough workers available for firms to hire.”
A survey conducted by AGC and Sage Construction and Real Estate found that 71% of construction firms polled plan to expand their payrolls in 2016.
Schuman believes the certification program will give Zenith graduates a leg up at companies that hire them. Between 500 and 1,000 students will be involved in the program’s first year, and Schuman anticipates that several other Zenith campuses might begin offering building trade training if this program is successful.
Success will be measured primarily by placement rate, which now hovers around 60%. Zenith’s goal is 70%.
Related Stories
| May 22, 2012
O’Connell Robertson acquires Mitchell Design Consultancy
Mary Ann A. Mitchell, AIA, IIDA, MDC principal and founder, joins O’Connell Robertson as part of the acquisition.
| May 21, 2012
$61,000 awarded to students in Cleveland’s ACE Mentor Program
Mayor Frank G. Jackson gives keynote address at scholarship event for 80 Cleveland Metropolitan School District students involved in the ACE Mentor Program, which provides guidance and assistance for students interested in careers in the integrated construction industry.
| May 21, 2012
Wayne, Pa.'s Radnor Middle School wins national green award
Radnor Middle School among the most sustainable schools in the U.S.
| May 21, 2012
Winchester High School receives NuRoof system
Metal Roof Consultants attended a school board meeting and presented a sloped metal retrofit roof as an alternative to tearing off the existing roof and replacing it with another flat roof.
| May 17, 2012
EMerge Alliance forms new Campus Microgrid Technical Standards Committee
Intel leading the charge to connect multiple DC microgrids throughout commercial buildings; others invited to join effort.
| May 16, 2012
AIA issues guide to IGCC
Getting the IgCC adopted in all 50 states and in jurisdictions across the country is the primary mission of the ICC, which published the code in March.
| May 16, 2012
Architecture Billings Index reverts to negative territory
Decline is possibly a brief pause from unusually strong winter activity.
| May 16, 2012
AEG releases 3D video of L.A.'s Farmers Field
The Los Angeles Convention Center footage depicts the new convention center hall spaces, including a new lobby above Pico Boulevard, pre-function space, and what will be the largest multi-purpose ballroom in Los Angeles.
| May 16, 2012
Balfour Beatty Construction taps Kiger as VP of operations
Kiger will manage current relationships and pursue other strategic clients, including select healthcare clients and strategic project pursuits in the Central Tennessee region.
| May 15, 2012
One World Trade Center goes to new height of sustainability
One of the biggest challenges in developing this concrete mixture was meeting the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey’s strict requirement for the replacement of cement.
