USU Eastern professors recently met with members of the Business Expansion and Retention (BEAR) program to explain the heavy equipment, trucking and automotive technology programs offered at the university and their economic role in the community.
Associate professor Leon McElprang heads the heavy equipment and trucking programs at the university. The heavy equipment and trucking programs are hands-on training programs that allow students to become certified while receiving college credit. Students may start training at any time and continue until they master the skills necessary to begin their careers.
“Our drivers come out of there knowing how to do their job,” McElprang said. “If you can run equipment and drive a truck, wow.”
The trucking program offers a 14-week program for the low price of $3,700.
McElprang stated that 95% of the students who participate in the two programs now have a job. “Trucking isn’t going away,” he said. “It can’t go away, it’s a guarantee.”
For more information on the heavy equipment and trucking programs at USU Eastern, contact McElprang at (435) 637-2201 or leon.mcelprang@usu.edu.
Stan Martineau, associate professor of automotive technology, then took time to speak to BEAR members. The automotive course teaches students the ins and outs of automotive technology through course work, problem solving and hands-on practice.
“We are trying to train people to go work in the industry,” Martineau explained. “You’re not going to hire my students because they do well on a test, you’re going to hire them because they can do something.”
Students are taught following a national standard of automotive technology. The high standard for all students has produced a variety of careers for those who complete the course.
“They’re good and I attribute that to the students, students that want to learn and are willing to put in the time,” Martineau said.
For more information on the automotive technology program at USU Eastern, contact Martineau at (435) 613-5221 or stan.martineau@usu.edu.