Thinking Outside the Box: Automotive Educators Keep Pace with Industry Innovations
Published in AASP-MN News – Thomas Greco Publishing
There’s no denying that the skilled trades are in dire need of qualified talent to fill the void being left as baby boomers reach the age of retirement, but many tech school programs teach licensed industries that don’t change quickly – technology and techniques related to plumbing, cosmetology and most other “trades” remain fairly fixed year after year.
Automotive technology is a different beast altogether. “Very few technical programs are driven by such rapidly-changing technology and consumer demands,” AASP-MN Executive Director Linden Wicklund points out, acknowledging that shops often complain that schools are failing to keep up with these rapid changes. “Automotive programs require vehicles, parts, paint and materials, as well as tools and equipment to match the industry’s advances, yet the education system isn’t designed for this level of innovation; they’re used to dealing with a much more static infrastructure. Effectively preparing students for a career in the automotive industry presents many challenges for educators.”
Overcoming those obstacles necessitates creativity and a willingness to think outside the box. “Several schools in Minnesota are doing a phenomenal job of keeping pace with the industry and staying relevant by implementing unique approaches within their programs,” Wicklund adds.
Funding tends to be one of the largest barriers cited by automotive technology educators, so it seems counterintuitive for an autonomous program like Newgate School (Minneapolis) to offer “tuition-free, hands-on automotive training to underserved young adults,” yet that’s exactly what the program has done since it was founded over 40 years ago, according to Executive Director Christina Vang-Dixon. “Newgate School is a self-sufficient organization. We repair the donated vehicles we receive from the community through our automotive training program and then sell them at a dealer’s auction. The revenue from our vehicle sales supports our organization to continue providing tuition-free automotive training to young adults in our community.”
Students choose between an 18-month auto body program and a 14-month mechanical program, and the school admits up to 12 students in each program. By repairing and selling cars at auction, all students graduate without debt, and Newgate School even equips them with an entry-level toolbox to begin their careers before helping them find local employment.
One of the biggest challenges faced by the school’s instructors is “meeting our students where they’re at in terms of skills and length in the training programs. We don’t have a cohort of students; instead, each student has a different start date. They also each enter the program with a different skill set, so one student may have worked with tools and on cars since they were little, while another student may have never looked under the hood of a vehicle before.
“Additionally, our instructors are forced to base the students’ training on the vehicle donations we receive,” she continues. “Because we are hands-on and rely on vehicle donations, our instructors and students are faced with a new set of challenges as they pull in a vehicle for repair. What we teach at Newgate School is the foundation of auto body collision and auto mechanics, which allows our students to advance their skills after graduation.”
Vang-Dixon believes plenty of young people maintain an interest in entering the automotive industry, and the ongoing technician shortage creates a great opportunity for graduates to jumpstart their careers. Newgate School helps ensure students take advantage of those existing circumstances by aiding with job placement. “Once a student nears graduation, our instructors and operations manager will talk to the student to get an idea of where they are interested in working and where their skills would be most valuable. Then, students will interview with the potential employer and go through a typical hiring process.”
She encourages dealerships and local shops seeking employees to visit Newgate School to talk to students about possible openings. “This is a great opportunity for our students to hear directly from the shop about its opportunities and work culture. Anyone interested can get in contact with our operations manager.”
While helping graduates land a position in a shop is certainly commendable, Dakota County Technical College (Rosemount) requires students to engage with the industry much earlier. Anyone interested in enrolling in the automotive technology program must first secure an internship at a sponsoring repair facility before being allowed to register for classes.
Sponsoring employers are required to provide a fairly paid work experience, facilitated by an assigned journeyman technician, and they are also encouraged to maintain a working environment that will encourage the student to continue working at the shop after graduation. This strategy has proven effective in circumventing the common dilemma of students who never enter the industry after graduation since multiple studies indicate that internship programs result in high retention rates for those who invest the time and effort into supporting those students’ journeys.
An added bonus? Training students allows shops to provide guidance on the topics they learn, ensuring that these employees gain knowledge in current technology that will prove most useful to the employer once they come to work full-time.
But as every shop owner knows, finding the time to mentor an apprentice can present many challenges for a busy business that may not be able to remove a seasoned technician from production to train a potential employee, no matter what the future benefit may be. This is especially true when it comes to some of the more challenging tasks that even experienced workers may be struggling with as modern repairs require diagnostic expertise that necessitates an investment in regular training. Additionally, the increasing prevalence of electric and hybrid vehicles leaves many shops unable to accept these jobs since their technicians do not have the knowledge to safely repair these cars after an accident.
Fortunately, some schools are looking to the future and the rising need for technicians specializing in these areas. Stay tuned to next month’s AASP-MN News to learn more about several programs designed to specifically target the industry’s changing technological demands.
