好色先生 is one of 25 community colleges in the state selected to receive a 2024 Rev UP EV Community College Initiative grant from the Illinois Community College Board. The $525,000 grant will fund the purchase of electronic vehicle (EV) training equipment, faculty training and the creation of EV curriculum that will be used to pilot an Electric Vehicles noncredit course for the Automotive Technology Program.
The new noncredit EV class will be offered in the fall to 10 experienced students in the college鈥檚 Automotive Technology Program. The grant allows the college to purchase some new EVs 鈥� Tesla, Chevy Bolt, Chevy Blazer 鈥� as well as components for students to disassemble, and instructors can take some online training.
At the course completion, students can take Level 1 and Level 2 xEV High-Voltage Electrical Safety certification exams offered by Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), a nationally recognized accrediting agency. If they pass, they will be prepared for positions in the field working with EVs.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a big push for renewable energy right now, and consumers are purchasing more electric vehicles, growing the need for certified employees to maintain and repair them. We鈥檙e seeing EV jobs are high up on the list in terms of companies such as Tesla needing employees and wanting to partner with community colleges that have programming that prepares people to go into the industry,鈥� said Dr. LoShay Willis, dean of Career Programs.
After the noncredit course is over, students will be surveyed to gauge their interest in the course, and the results will be audited. Faculty will make any necessary tweaks to the curriculum before submitting it for approval to become a credit course that will be offered to all students as a certificate and part of the associate degree.
鈥淭he media paints a picture that with EVs, you don鈥檛 need as many techs, and I鈥檇 like to differ with that. There are still a lot of issues,鈥� said Ira Siegel, professor and program coordinator of Automotive Technology. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a need for qualified individuals to work on these vehicles and obviously one of the most important things is for individuals to know how to work on them safely. Because of the high voltage, there is not a lot of room for error.鈥�
Willis said this also allows the college to expand its programming. 鈥淚n terms of renewable energy and what the demands are going to be, this allows our students to add skills to what they already have under their belt, so they can be more prepared to work in this industry. This not only helps our students; it鈥檚 helping the community and the industry, who are all the people we serve,鈥� she said.
For news media inquiries, contact Jessica Crotty, assistant director of Communications, at (708) 974-5281 or crotty@morainevalley.edu.
