[Adobe Acrobat required]
Wm. S. Hart Union High School District What's Good &
School Board Roundup
College of the Canyons
Breaking News Bottom Line
Newhall School District NSD Today
Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center
The Mighty Oak
Samuel Dixon Family Health Centers Inc. Health Matters
Santa Clarita Valley
Historical Society
Heritage Junction Dispatch
Organization: College of the Canyons
Date: June 29, 2009
College of the Canyons Auto-Tech Program Receives Industry Certification
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — The College of the Canyons Automotive Technology program has achieved National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certification — ensuring that the college's automotive training programs meet or exceed industry-recognized, uniform standards of excellence.
Specifically, the college's program received ASE certification in the areas of brakes, electrical/electronic systems, engine performance, and suspension and steering.
"The NATEF certification ensures that our curriculum and the students who complete our Automotive Technology program meet the nationally recognized automotive industry standards of excellence," said Audrey Green, associate vice president of academic affairs at the college. "This will allow our students to be highly competitive in the job market, while assuring potential employers that they have received the proper training and instruction."
Automotive programs earn ASE certification upon the recommendation of the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF). NATEF was founded in 1983 as an independent, non-profit organization with a mission to develop, encourage and improve automotive technician education.
The purpose of the automotive technician training certification program is to improve the quality of training offered at secondary and post-secondary, public and proprietary schools.
NATEF examines the structure and resources of training programs and evaluates them against nationally accepted standards of quality. NATEF's precise national standards reflect the skills that automotive students must master.
As a result of the certification, automotive technology students at College of the Canyons will be assured that the training they receive is current, complete and industry applicable. Likewise, potential employers throughout the automotive industry can continually look to the college to produce a pool of well-trained entry-level technicians.
"The opportunity to receive training in an ASE-certified program will be a major asset to our students as they begin looking for jobs throughout the automotive industry," said Gary Sornborger, Automotive Technology department chair at the college. "This certification puts the college's Automotive Technology curriculum on the map as a nationally recognized training center. We're all proud of this accomplishment here at College of the Canyons."
The Automotive Technology program at College of the Canyons is a comprehensive two-year program designed to prepare students with the industry-defined, entry-level skills needed for an automotive technician position in a variety of settings including dealerships, independent automotive repair facilities and city/county agencies.
Students may opt to complete an associate in science degree or a certificate of achievement in Automotive Technology. The program provides in-depth training with extensive hands-on experience.
In the classroom, students learn the theoretical aspects of automotive diagnosis, repair and service. In the automotive laboratory setting, students practice applying the theory learned in the classroom to real hardware.
Upon completion of the course work required for the certificate or major, students achieve competencies in the areas of brakes, suspension, electrical components and wiring, transmissions, engine diagnosis and drivability.
