Quinsig spearheads electrifying degree
Colleges team up with National Grid for worker training
Two years ago, after analyzing its resources, National Grid U.S. realized it was headed for a shortage in the next decade. But the shortage wasn’t in power supplies. Like the rest of America, many of National Grid’s 9,000 workers are going gray and nearing retirement. And since the electric utility industry isn’t one that college graduates gravitate towards or are particularly well trained for, prospects for young recruits looked glum.
But a program slated to be launched by Quinsigamond, North Shore and Middlesex community colleges hopes to change that. The three schools have partnered with National Grid to create an Energy Utility Technology program that will welcome its first class of students this fall. In the first year, it will offer an Energy Utility Technology certificate. In 2008, it will expand to a full associate’s degree in that field.
The effort was spearheaded by Pamela Arons, organizational development consultant for National Grid, in the wake of her company’s workforce analysis. Arons says she first reached out to area vocational schools to explore the future pool of workers but soon found that such students often want to go on to get a college degree. When she discovered that the nearest college programs offering skills in energy utility technology were in New Jersey and Oklahoma, Arons contacted Quinsigamond Community College and eventually its sister schools.
Shortly after that, the colleges and Arons learned of a U.S. Department of Labor Workforce Development Grant being offered. Considering it a long shot, they applied as a group and won a three-year, $1.9 million grant. The grant will be shared by all three colleges, which are in putting the finishing touches on program curriculum with the help of National Grid.
Kathy Rentsch, Quinsigamond Community College dean for business and technology, says the program is currently looking to hire faculty and a program manager, which will be based at Middlesex Community College. She is hoping to enroll at least 12 students at each college for the initial certificate program. By fall of 2008, the program will offer an associate’s degree, which Rentsch says is seeking to enroll eight students per college.
The focus of the courses includes energy technology, DC currents and controls, power generation and management and utility safety. The colleges are also working to set up internships, which will include other area companies as well as National Grid. Rentsch says the program is unique because it is collaboration between three community colleges as well as a corporation. What’s more, she says, Quinsigamond hasn’t previously offered training in utility technology, though it does have electronics programs.
National Grid donated funds to help set up laboratories for the program and will be on hand for an open house on April 5 at Quinsigamond.
Arons says National Grid’s workforce needs are centered on its field force, which includes everyone from line workers to meter readers to construction workers. The company expects to add at least 200 works a year over the next decade, she says. "Our hope is obviously that these graduates will come to work for us," she says.
Arons says that since National Grid’s workforce has been so stable, it hasn’t reached out to let young people know the potential career opportunities it provides. "And shame on us," she says. We’re an essential service that everyone depends on, but you don’t necessarily think, ‘Oh, I want to go and work for the electric utility."
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