While remote meetings, diagnostics and other tasks multiplied in recent years, many plant-floor and trade jobs must be done onsite—so teaching and learning the skills they require must also be done face-to-face.
“You can’t teach welding and heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) remotely. That’s why we really didn’t slow down during the COVID-19 pandemic, and grew our skilled trades and transportation enrollment by 30% this year, following steady enrollment increases over the past five years,” says Brian Lucas, associate dean for skilled trades at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, N.C. “We also have a waiting list for next semester, and are hiring faculty for nine programs to meet the needs of our partner companies.”
To satisfy demand for in-person instruction, Central Piedmont focuses on creating laboratories that can serve as counterparts to the actual settings where its students will eventually work. “Our skilled-trades division is notable for collaborating internally and with partners to run programs that basically function as large job sites, which can do the best job of preparing students for real-world environments,” explains Lucas. “These laboratories also combine to offer students actual, on-the-job training in conjunction with the college’s 43 hiring partners at the Skilled Connect events we offer each semester.”
Clue in and collect companies
Just as it reaches out to inform students about industries and careers they likely didn’t know about before, Central Piedmont also contacts and engages with companies and subject matter experts (SME) to show what the college can do for them. These activities include:
- Work-based learning options, available for each of its technical programs.
- Setting up an
- d registering participants in formal apprenticeships, which includes co-investing in hiring and sending staff to the college for education and/or training.
- Career services, such as Central Piedmont‘s Handshake program, which lets partners post jobs, and visit and talk to students.
- Advisory committees for each technical program, which consist of industry experts, who contribute to curriculums, interact with students, suggest equipment, and check the relevance of each program’s content.
Get your subscription to Control's tri-weekly newsletter.
“We’ve got 23,000 employers just in Mecklenburg County, including Westinghouse, Siemens and many others,“ says Brett Fansler, executive corporate engagement director at Central Piedmont. “However, it’s still difficult for companies and organizations to reach out to others that they don’t know about. This is where we can help. However, it’s also the reason that, even though there are close to 1,500 community colleges in the U.S,, they’re "still typically the best kept secret in their communities.”
Lucas reports that Central Piedmont also asks employers what skills they’re seeking, which are usually covered by six or seven of the college’s certificate programs. These typically progress from initial introductions about broad technical areas to more advanced and specialized classes, which often meld the college’s degrees and certificates with industry-based certificates or licensing programs.
“Because our technical programs are building blocks to degrees, we also offer a state-funded Career and College Promise (CCP) program for high school juniors, which lets them take our classes and earn credit free of charge,” explains Fansler. “This enables them to progress to other programs, such as Rebuild Opportunities in Construction (ROC) that lets them learn HVAC, electrical, construction and other skills, and get halfway through our degree program by the time they finish high school. Likewise, instructors in our ROC Direct program go directly to three or four local high schools, teach our classes there, and let students earn industry credentials, so they can go directly into internships and jobs.”
Lucas adds, “In past years, many high school students missed opportunities to explore hands-on, career-connected learning. Today, our CCP and ROC programs are helping to reignite that spark, reintroducing students to the real-world power of vocational pathways and advanced technologies. What begins as curiosity, like a student saying, ‘I want to be a welder,’ quickly grows into respect for the skills and knowledge required. They discover it’s not just about tools, but about mastering math, precision and problem-solving. That’s the turning point, when minds light up. We fill that moment with possibility, immersing students in learning. This builds confidence, competence and a clear path forward, preparing them not only to be great technical professionals but also for leadership, citizenship and lifelong growth.”