VGCC Welding program expands this fall
Welding students at Vance-Granville Community College will have more educational options when the fall semester begins on Aug. 17. The college is adding an Associate in Applied Science Degree program in Welding Technology, which students can generally complete in five semesters. VGCC has offered a three-semester diploma program in the trade for more than 40 years.
The expanded curriculum will provide additional instruction for entry-level technicians in the welding and metalworking industries. Welding graduates holding an associate degree will be eligible for jobs in construction, manufacturing, fabrication, sales and quality control.
“If you have an associate degree, it will help you with finding employment, and help you advance more quickly in your career to become a shop foreman or take on other leadership positions,” said Rusty Pace, the head of VGCC’s Welding Technology program and a graduate of the program. “You will also get more practical experience welding through the advanced classes such as Fabrication II and Inspection & Testing, and you will take some more general education courses that can make you a more valuable employee.”
Kyle Vipperman of Raleigh will be among the first students in the degree program, after graduating with his diploma this summer. “I decided to continue because it seemed like a good opportunity for this industry and a good tool to advance to a supervisory position,” he said. Vipperman already had some of the required general education credits from another community college he attended, putting him closer to completion.
Vipperman first enrolled at VGCC in the fall 2014 semester and hopes to graduate in the spring of 2016 as one of the college’s first Welding degree graduates. He has praise for the positive educational experience he has had at VGCC. “My instructors really know the subject, and teach from their own experience,” Vipperman noted. “It’s a hands-on program, which is what I prefer.”
To earn the degree, Vipperman and students like him will have to complete a minimum of 66 credit hours. VGCC will continue to offer the 38-credit-hour diploma program on both a day and an evening schedule. Some Welding classes are offered at both the Main Campus in Vance County and the Franklin County Campus, located just outside Louisburg. The Welding classes that students will take in the second year of the associate degree are currently scheduled to be offered at the Main Campus only.
Earlier this year, VGCC’s Welding program gained another advantage when it became registered with the “Schools Excelling through National Skills Education” (SENSE) program, which involves adhering to a set of specifications and guidelines from the American Welding Society. According to Pace, SENSE is recognized nationwide and helps ensure that students are gaining the skills deemed essential by the industry. Students who complete VGCC’s Welding program are eligible to receive a SENSE certificate from AWS.
The addition of the AAS degree program was a requirement of VGCC’s acceptance of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant, awarded in September 2013. With the help of the $1.75 million grant, the largest single competitive grant in VGCC history, the college is developing and enhancing innovative training programs for advanced manufacturing careers. The TAACCCT grants are part of a nearly $2 billion initiative of the U.S. Department of Labor to expand targeted training programs for unemployed workers, especially those impacted by foreign trade. For more information on TAACCCT, call (252) 738-3342.
New students can start the Welding degree program from the beginning, while students who have already completed the diploma program in the past can also return to VGCC to pick up where they left off and complete the degree. Orientation and advising of students is taking place throughout the summer. For more information on the Welding program, call Pace at (252) 738-3375.
Above: VGCC Welding student Kyle Vipperman (left) talks about a project with his instructor, program head Rusty Pace, on the college’s Main Campus. Vipperman intends to complete the new associate degree program in Welding. (VGCC photo)
