Jerry Clemons, ECTC Automotive and Diesel Programs Coordinator, will serve on the national panel for the Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Education Foundation to update the standard for diesel technology programs this October.
“For eight years now, I've served as an evaluation team leader for ASE, which means I go into schools, community colleges and universities to help certify their programs with the foundation,” said Clemons.
The ASE Education Foundation is a non-profit organization that evaluates and accredits entry level automotive and diesel education programs to bridge the gap between employers’ needs and how students are trained.
“The automotive and diesel industries are dynamic with constantly changing technologies,” said Clemons. “As school systems, we must be moving our curriculum forward to align with those changes or our students won’t be prepared and productive members of the workforce.”
Clemons served five years ago on the national panel to update the standard for Automotive education. Then, he was the only community college educator on the panel.
“I’m honored to be invited to the panel to get to be part of something at a national level to provide input and value and it gives me a sense that the work we’ve done here is being recognized,” said Clemons. “I’ve just been a member of a good team for a long time. People before me were doing it right and taught me how to do it right, and now I'm leading that team full of good people who care about our students.”
Clemons said new standards of automotive and diesel education add value to employers in the region because of the training students receive. Those employers are then invited to speak to students about the industry and recruit top hires from the program.
“ASE is why we have equipment and technology that meets industry standards; they want our students to be able to be productive employees quickly as soon as they get hired,” said Clemons.
“The students that make it through our program have valuable skills and have been challenged to be life-long learners and growers.”
As an educator and evaluator, Clemons has a unique perspective of automotive and diesel education.
“I’m on the receiving end, helping run this program making sure we have the right professional development, tools, testers and diagnostic machines in order to work on these intricate cars and trucks,” said Clemons. “It’s both challenging and rewarding to keep learning, growing and evolving.”
ECTC’s diesel program and others like it across the country will benefit from the service that Clemons and others on the panel will provide to keep standards up to date.
“I try to only speak when I have something to add that has value,” said Clemons. “I think that’s what a committee like this needs, someone who can process information and see how value can be added to move the topic along. I’m humbled and thankful to get to do that on this upcoming panel.”
Original source can be found here.
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