MARQUETTE -- The industrial maintenance and welding program at Northern Michigan University features classroom instruction and hands-on preparing students for labor-intensive jobs.
"Away from the welding and the cutting and the safety aspects that go along with the trade, blueprint reading, we do some rigging, scaffolding, equipment operation," explains Assistant Professor Carl Peterson.
Michigan has experienced severe job losses throughout the state, but this is one field that doesn't appear to be suffering. Instead, Northern has expanded their class offerings to accommodate the high demand of students.
"We offer a lot of evening courses for students that already have day jobs, and we're also just recently and partially, due to demand, we're operating more labs and things of that nature throughout the entire day," says Department Head Daryl Kobie.
Most students go through a two-year program to get an associate's degree, but a welding certificate is available after just two semesters of classes. And the students enrolled feel confident that they have the skills employers are looking for.
"Because learning with books, you just don't seem like you're getting enough knowledge in," says student Chelicea Just. "When you're doing hands-on learning, you're getting a lot more useful knowledge and you're retaining it longer."
Which is good news for employers such as the Oldenburg group and Boss Snowplow who are looking to expand.
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