Madison College degree powers interest in high-demand career field
KIMBERLY WETHAL
Updated
A new, one-year technical degree program at Madison Area Technical College is intended to teach students the fundamentals of electricity, before they've ever attempted to wire an outlet or install a light fixture, a step toward a career as an electrician or related profession.
Madison Area Technical College students, from left, Oscar Cuatlacuatl, Kate Lane and Stephen Lee, install pipe and a junction box as part of a new, one-year degree program meant to teach students the basics of electricity without having to be enrolled in an electrician apprenticeship first.
Student Lori Jean Wilson, left, and instructor Brett Jensen unroll wire that students then practiced hooking up to circuits on the wall in the electrical conduit lab.
Madison College student Lori Jean Wilson unwinds wire in the electric conduit lab. One of eight enrolled in the new one-year electricity degree program, she'll only finish one semester, after which she'll jump right to an apprenticeship. That's the goal for the class: to give students a launching pad into an apprenticeship or to go elsewhere in the industry.
AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Instructor Brett Jensen looks on as students install pipe and a junction box in the lab. The new electricity program, which enrolled eight students after less than two months of recruiting, is more diverse than Madison College's traditional electrician apprenticeship program, in which 90% of students are white men.
AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Students, from left, Oscar Cuatlacuatl, Kate Lane and Stephen Lee install a junction box as they work in the lab. Lane travels three hours round-trip for the class, three days a week, from Mauston, because she had limited opportunities for an apprenticeship where she lives.
Madison Area Technical College students, from left, Oscar Cuatlacuatl, Kate Lane and Stephen Lee, install pipe and a junction box as part of a new, one-year degree program meant to teach students the basics of electricity without having to be enrolled in an electrician apprenticeship first.
Madison College student Lori Jean Wilson unwinds wire in the electric conduit lab. One of eight enrolled in the new one-year electricity degree program, she'll only finish one semester, after which she'll jump right to an apprenticeship. That's the goal for the class: to give students a launching pad into an apprenticeship or to go elsewhere in the industry.
Students, from left, Oscar Cuatlacuatl, Kate Lane and Stephen Lee install a junction box as they work in the lab. Lane travels three hours round-trip for the class, three days a week, from Mauston, because she had limited opportunities for an apprenticeship where she lives.
Student Lori Jean Wilson, left, and instructor Brett Jensen unroll wire that students then practiced hooking up to circuits on the wall in the electrical conduit lab.
Instructor Brett Jensen looks on as students install pipe and a junction box in the lab. The new electricity program, which enrolled eight students after less than two months of recruiting, is more diverse than Madison College's traditional electrician apprenticeship program, in which 90% of students are white men.
