SpaceTEC, as a National Aerospace Resource Center, has created an infrastructure for a nationally-recognized performance-based certification process for aerospace and aviation technicians. With industry and government support, the knowledge and skill sets are developed on which the certification exams are based. Professional development is provided for examiners and college faculty. Two four-day professional development workshops are offered each year, and articulation agreements will be coordinated. The certifications also provide information to college faculty about the competencies the industry requires of technicians so that the college courses and curricula can be modified. Heretofore industry has asked for a "supertech" that understands both electrical and mechanical aspects of the position. At industry request, the certificate examinations are revised to cover less content and to be stackable. The Center also expands its repository of materials to include NASA education and training materials and names of industry subject matter experts and increases services to veterans and under-employed technicians. In new certificate programs, offered at ten partner colleges, SpaceTEC addresses key workforce issues by matching educational needs with qualified providers. Most activities will be moved to fee-based over the period of the grant.
The evaluation effort focuses on metrics to assess the impact of the Center certification program and the effectiveness and the use of these metrics to continuously improve programs. The evaluation tools developed in the core certification program are used to measure the effectiveness of the adaptations to the existing SpaceTEC core curriculum and certification programs to assist veterans and other special needs groups. Measures of success are the rate of special needs candidates who pass the credentialing exam, the benefits of taking the readiness courses on improving pass rate, and especially job placement rate and success in the workplace. Pre- and post-surveys are used to measure participant learning in the professional development workshops. Follow-up surveys with college faculty assess improvements made in existing college courses and labs, with particular attention to their impact on student learning outcomes.
Industry driven performance-based certifications provide industry the information needed to make good hiring decisions. The industry-recognized stackable certificates provide newly educated technicians, veterans and under-employed technicians a pathway to employment. The feedback on the success of the certificate holders is an efficient mechanism for the Center to influence courses and curricula at community colleges nationwide. Each partner college adapts its curricula to meet those core standards required in the workplace. The SpaceTEC certification process and exams measure student learning outcomes. Feedback is provided to both students and college faculty on individual strengths and weaknesses and also on deficiencies in a particular technology area so that a college can work to strengthen individual aerospace courses.
