(ABILENE, Texas) – Texas State Technical College has scheduled several Workforce Training and Continuing Education classes for the spring semester.

Cindy Brunett, TSTC’s executive director of Workforce Training and Continuing Education, said the classes will offer students the opportunity to enter the workforce quickly.

“We are excited to be providing these opportunities to residents of West Texas,” she said. “There are a number of programs that will help you find a job immediately after completing the course.”

Brunett said one course will be held at the Brownwood campus. National Phlebotomy, which covers 84 hours, will help students develop skills needed to perform blood collection methods.

“We are pleased to be providing this course in Brownwood with the hopes to see it grow over the years,” she said.

Brunett said courses available for the spring semester at the Abilene campuses are Dental Assistant, Industrial Fundamentals, Industrial Systems certification, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10 credentialing, and the Professional Driving Academy’s commercial driver’s license class. Two FAST Trac programs will also be offered in Abilene: Airframe and Powerplant, and Welding.

Doug Jeter, TSTC’s project manager for Workforce Training and Continuing Education, described the college’s reasoning for providing these courses in West Texas.

“The Dental Assistant program will familiarize students with the administrative and clinical dental assistant areas of the job,” he said. “The class will focus on the responsibilities required to function as an assistant in a dental office.”

The Dental Assistant class will take 140 hours to complete, including 40 hours in a clinical setting, he said.

Industrial Fundamentals will provide students with an introduction to basic skills needed to work in maintenance of equipment in general industrial production. The course will be 40 hours in length.

“This hands-on course will provide instruction on troubleshooting and repairing hydraulic, pneumatic and mechanical systems, with an emphasis on safety,” Jeter said.

The Industrial Systems certification will be one of the longer courses at 120 hours, Jeter said. Smart Automation Certification Alliance (SACA) certifications included in the training will be Electrical Systems, Electric Motor Control Systems, Variable Frequency Drive Systems, Electrical System Installation, Programmable Logic Controller Systems, Pneumatic Systems and Mechanical Power Systems. The course will be available at the Brownwood campus.

OSHA 10 training will provide students with an entry-level construction worker’s general awareness of recognizing and preventing hazards on a construction site.

The four-week Professional Driving Academy course will provide students with the skills needed to operate a tractor-trailer. At the end of the course, students will be able to test for a Class A commercial driver’s license, Jeter said.

The 16-week Airframe and Powerplant training program will prepare students to become well-rounded aircraft maintenance technicians, Brunett said.

The FAST Trac Welding course will cover nine weeks, with 108 lab hours scheduled at the Abilene campus’ Industrial Technology Center.

“TSTC will teach the basics and intermediates of welding,” Jeter said. “Students will learn about safety, cutting, grinding, and how to weld in horizontal, vertical and overhead positions.”

For more information about these programs, including costs and starting dates, contact Jeter at [email protected].

 For more information about TSTC, visit tstc.edu.