South Campus landed its second partnership of the year with a major automobile manufacturer with the October announcement of a training agreement with Fiat Chrysler.
The Mopar Career Automotive Program, a specially designed web-based curriculum, will begin offering course work in the spring semester. Students completing 16 hours of the program’s modules will become candidates for employment as technicians at Fiat Chrysler dealerships. Mopar is the auto parts and customer service arm of Fiat Chrysler, which has numerous dealerships in the DFW Metroplex.
Last May, South Campus became a member of the Toyota Technician Training and Education Network, or T-TEN, providing a manufacturer-specific curriculum for Toyota.
The Mopar curriculum will be incorporated into TCC’s existing automotive course sequence. Scores of at least 85 percent on each module will be required for advancement in the program. Most of the students qualifying for employment will begin as Level 1 Lube Techs, but their training and experience should place them at or near the front of the line when dealerships hire higher grade technicians.
“Here at TCC, we are looking to provide opportunities to get individuals more and more into those high-demand careers,” President Peter Jordan told the TCC Collegian.
Announced at the same ceremony was a partnership with the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3). This nonprofit alliance of corporations is dedicated to training skilled workers of the future through stackable credentials, each coming with a recognized certificate with which to build a résumé.
“We are very excited to partner with TCC and give opportunities to students to grow and build their education,” said Kathryn Leiting, NC3 program manager.
Fiat Chrysler has promised to hire 5,000 technicians nationwide by the end of 2018.