This April, recent Columbia-Greene Community College graduate Timothy Hempel (pictured, right) of Tivoli, N.Y., took on one of his professors at the 2019 New York International Auto Show in the Spark Plug Challenge.
Marc Gilbert (pictured, left), Assistant Professor of Automotive Technology at C-GCC, completed the task in one minute, 23 seconds – but Hempel ultimately triumphed at one minute, 22 seconds. It was a contest Gilbert says he was happy to lose, and also one of many victories C-GCC’s Automotive Technology program has celebrated in the last year.
Things first revved up for the program during the Fall 2018 semester with the arrival of Subaru University, a Subaru Technician certification option for enrolled automotive technology degree students. It offers Level 1 and Level 2 Subaru technical training courses that, once completed, qualify students for employment at any Subaru dealership in the country.
Not long after, C-GCC’s parking lot got a little more packed – in support of Subaru-U, Colonial Subaru of Kingston, N.Y., handed over the keys to a donated 2004 Subaru Forester and a late-model Subaru engine for student lab practice. In addition, the college purchased a 2009 Subaru Legacy and a 2012 Subaru Impreza Sport from Colonial, using monies from the JK Winters Automotive Fund, administered by the Columbia-Greene Community Foundation.
As the Spring semester drew to a close, the program finished strong, deemed one of the best Automotive Schools in the Northeast by Trade School Future.
The honor was based on criteria including graduation rates, tuition fees, student debt, and salaries offered to candidates after graduation, and C-GCC was listed among only five institutions, joining Lancaster County Career and Technology Center in Willow Street, Pa., Rosedale Technical College in Pittsburgh, Pa., SUNY College of Technology at Alfred, N.Y., and Vermont Technical College of Randolph, Vt.
Taught by Master Technicians certified by the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), C-GCC’s Automotive Technology program offers several options for study in addition to the Subaru University program, including:
- A one-year certificate program that provides comprehensive training for entry-level employment at a dealership- or repair-shop-technician;
- An applied science degree (A.A.S.), which includes both technical and general studies, and two paid summer internships;
- An associate degree in occupational studies (A.O.S.), which also includes two paid summer work experiences, and prepares students to be automotive technicians, component rebuilders, and parts department managers, or
- An A.O.S. degree offered through the Toyota Technical Education Network (T-TEN) program, which includes direct paid internship employment within a Toyota or Lexus dealership.
For more information, visit SUNYcgcc.edu, or call (518) 828-4181, ext. 3241.
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