College Of The Desert Recognized As 'School On The Rise'

Press release from College of the Desert:

Sept. 24, 2020

College of the Desert was selected as a National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3) School on the Rise for Career and Technical Education (CTE) during this year’s NC3 Virtual Leadership Summit.

This award recognizes the hard work and dedication within the Automotive Technology Program at the College and establishes the College as a leader in the NC3 network of 900+ institutions across the country. In addition, this award celebrates schools that have shown consistent growth in issued certifications since joining the NC3 network.

“The growth of their CTE program in the two short years since joining the NC3 Network exhibits the motivation and innovation crucial to their students’ success,” said Erika Staackmann, NC3 Customer Success Coordinator. “Through their partnership with NC3, College of the Desert is able to provide students with the opportunity to jumpstart successful careers in the technical fields.”

NC3 was established to help build a workforce prepared to meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s industries by connecting employers and educational institutions in collaborative partnerships. This collaboration fosters effective training, elevation of skilled careers and employment opportunities for students.

“On average, College of the Desert enrolls 1,000 students in the Automotive Technology Program each year, and since 2018, the College has increased the number of issued NC3 certifications by a staggering 625 percent,” said Douglas Benoit, College of the Desert Dean of Applied Sciences and Business. “NC3 certifications offer critical and fundamental skills that can be applied across all CTE programs. These certifications can be easily applied into classroom trainings, providing students with a foundational skillset.”

Through NC3 industry-recognized certifications such as Snap-on, students gain experience and knowledge using relevant, state of the art industry tools in the classroom, leading them to acquire real-world skills that can be applied to jobs. Students enrolled in the NC3 system must attend certificate training sessions and must successfully complete the certificate test for that course.

Those who are successful at earning NC3 certificates have a greater opportunity at getting hired in the automotive field, as these credentials indicate that a student has received training beyond the basics. To date, the College’s Automotive Technology Program has issued 378 Snap-on NC3 certificates.

This press release was produced by the College of the Desert. The views expressed here are the author's own.