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WESSON – Copiah-Lincoln Community College was one of four community colleges selected to participate in the Mississippi Apprenticeship Program (MAP).
Colleges across the country are joining the Registered Apprenticeship College Consortium (RACC) to facilitate the transfer of the U.S. Department of Labor’s rigorous Registered Apprenticeship completion certificate towards college credit among RACC members. Administered by the U.S. Department of Labor and Education, the RACC is a national network of postsecondary institutions, employers, unions, and associations working to create opportunities for apprentice graduates who may want to further enhance their skills by completing an Associate’s or Bachelor’s Degree.
“The apprenticeship program is an earn-and-learn model that allows us to immediately meet business and industry’s demand of employees while still maintaining an instructional component for students to earn their degree,” said Jackie Martin, Co-Lin’s Dean of Career, Technical, and Workforce Education.
The Mississippi Apprenticeship Program (MAP) will focus on two industry sectors, advanced manufacturing, and automotive. Co-Lin’s primary focus will be in the automotive sector. In collaboration with the Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES), the Mississippi Community College Board (MCCB), and the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA), MAP is positioning Registered Apprenticeship as a viable pathway that aligns across our workforce and educational systems, strengthens economic competiveness for our businesses, and makes good paying jobs more accessible.
Co-Lin will recruit partners for the automotive sector to participate in the MAP initiative. Having already created an automotive consortium, Co-Lin will be able to offer MAP as an employment resource. Automotive dealers in the Co-Lin district said that automotive technician and diesel positions are in high demand. Co-Lin will coordinate with the automotive and dealer schedules and training needs as MAP is implemented.
“Our division has been working with leaders in the automotive sector in the past year, contemplating ways to fill the gap of needed employees,” Martin said. “I think the Mississippi Apprenticeship Program (MAP) is a great, immediate solution.”
The goal is to have three to five students enrolled as Registered Apprentices in 2018. The college will receive $75,000-$100,000 to implement the MAP.
Anyone interested in the automotive technology program at Co-Lin should call Sonya Sims at 601.643.8324.
