Because of the success of apprenticeship programs at Santiago Canyon College, Rancho Santiago Community College District Chancellor Marvin Martinez has been selected to take the lead on the formation of a master plan to establish and expand apprenticeship opportunities at other community colleges in the state.
Chancellor Martinez was appointed by California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian to take the lead on the Apprenticeship Pathway Demonstration Project, which aims to create a roadmap for colleges to expand apprenticeships and give college credits for classroom instruction and on-the-job training in the curriculum.
Plans are to implement the program in a cohort of 25 of the existing 116 community colleges within the system.
“We’re going to help those colleges develop their organization so they can create more apprenticeships,” Martinez said. “If you’re an apprentice, you get two big things. One is you get to be an apprentice and complete the hours, and so forth. But the other thing is that we can convert all of the hours that you’re generating as an apprentice into college credits.”
SCC currently offers 10 apprenticeships that serve about 5,400 students in fields that include carpentry, mechanics, surveying, cosmetology and construction.
Working closely with Chancellor Martinez on the project is Elizabeth Arteaga, dean of Apprenticeship Programs and former associate dean of Business and Career Technical Education.
“It’s helping the colleges with the traditional and nontraditional apprenticeship programs and how to start them,” Arteaga said. “Because some community colleges have no idea about apprenticeship programs, about this initiative, about the funding that’s available for them — because there are millions of dollars available for the colleges, up and down the state, that they’re just not taking advantage of right now.”
California currently serves roughly 100,000 apprentices.
Funding for apprenticeship…
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