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Workforce ("We Can't Do It Without You" continued from page 46) said Johnson. "They identify what the industry is looking for in the graduates that it hires." What emerged from the standards is the The AED Accreditation Program, and today The AED Foundation accredits colleges nationwide. Evaluation team leaders (ETLs), who are voluntary technical experts from the industry, provide technical advice to the schools as they are going through the accreditation process, and then eventually verify that the standards have been met by the schools. Everyone realizes that the program has value. For example, when colleges create their Representatives from North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton, programs around this standard, it assures N.D., John Deere and RDO Equipment Co. announced the addition of the John parents and students that, when the students Deere Construction and Forestry Tech initiative to the NDSCS Diesel Technolgraduate, they will be qualified to work in the ogy program following a demonstration of the technology and support systems involved in trouble-shooting John Deere heavy construction equipment. industry, because the industry is specifically Pictured left to right: Larry Ascheman - NDSCS Diesel Technology Associate looking for students with these qualifications. Professor; Jeff Kraft – Divison Manager, John Deere; Terry Marohl – NDSCS Currently, there are 39 separate degree Diesel Technology Department Chair; John Richman, Ph.D. – NDSCS President; Jean Zimmerman – Executive Vice President, RDO Equipment Co. programs that have been accredited at 28 colleges throughout the U.S. The first was accredited in 2000. The benefit to dealers and manufacturers, of course, is "The program has created a community-based, schoolthe creation of a "technician pipeline" that has been getting to-work partnership strategy," said Johnson. "All of the increasingly more difficult to fill with qualified people. manufacturers, dealers and colleges in a local area work together to address mutual needs related to recruiting students into the construction equipment industry. As "We consider AED accreditation to be very important," such, it doesn't just mean that accreditation has raised said John Richman, Ph.D., president of North Dakota the bar on the college program. These stakeholders work State College of Science (Wahpeton, N.D.). "It provides together to schedule recruitment events." verification that we are meeting industry standards and Students visit both dealers and manufacturers, and also helps us identify where we need to improve. It also industry representatives visit local high schools to talk to reassures parents and students that we are doing what students about college opportunities. Some dealers also we need to do." Garrett Hurt, division chair of the Engineering Technolprovide mentoring, internships, scholarships, and loans ogy Division at Central Arizona College (Coolidge, Ariz.) for students. and professor of Diesel Technology, agrees. "Accreditation is very important to us," he said. "It makes us more credible when prospective students come to visit and look at our program." In addition, Hurt says the accreditation helps the school to qualify for the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act grant, a federal grant administered by the state. "We got accredited last year, put in for the Carl Perkins grant, and got $60,000 this year," Hurt said. "We received Carl Perkins money in the past, but not nearly as much as we did this time." Gary Wenter, lead instructor in the Equipment Service Technician Program at Reedley College (Reedley, Calif.), says AED accreditation gives his program an edge. "Our administration finds it very attractive that we Students at the Oklahoma States University Institute of Technohave this accreditation," he said. It provides the program logy benefit from machinery donated by Kirby-Smith Machinery based in Oklahoma City. 48 | www.cedmag.com | Construction Equipment Distribution | December 2013