There is a better way to learn at Northwest State Community College. Hybrid classes deliver training to employees in a way that keeps them on the job as they learn. Traditional models require students to leave work or family and to spend hours in a classroom listening to instructors discuss bookwork and worksheets. Northwest State Community College has created an intensive hybrid model that allows students to access learning materials, including labs, 24/7 over the internet. Students complete the knowledge assessments at home, then come into our flexible lab space to test their ability one-on-one with an instructor.
This model has had immediate results! Students are able to learn 10% more material in half the time because classes have moved from 16-week to 8-week modules. Students complete courses at their own speed without being allowed to fall behind. They come to campus less, but are learning more. Equipment and instructors are available based on student need, not college restrictions. In the first year graduation rates increased by 58%!
Today’s manufacturers are looking for certified maintenance personnel to fill the vacancies of those who are retiring and they are looking for candidates with credentials! The intensive hybrid model accelerates learning and completion. 70 of these students have been placed in internships. Northwest State Community College has developed new business relationships in the region, and has become the go-to when recruiting employees. Many employers contact us before they post an opening anywhere else.
“I participated in the first Industrial Automation Maintenance (IAMs) program offered by Northwest State Community College with grant funding by WSOS. My education and hands-on-skills obtained from the IAMs certification program is being applied directly to my work today – electronics and industrial circuits, Allen-Bradley programming, FANUC robotics programming, electric motors and variable frequency drives, machine repair, and electro-pneumatics.”
Douglas Krouse
