Schools
Dallas College: Automotive Technology Program At Dallas College Prepares Graduates To Work In Rapidly Changing Industry
If David McNabb could keep his phone's "merge calls" button on at all times, he would.
Jan. 27, 2022
(DALLAS) — If David McNabb could keep his phone’s “merge calls” button on at all times, he would. As Dallas College’s associate dean of advanced automotive technology, McNabb describes it like this: “I’ll have a prospective student on one line and an employer wanting to hire a student on the other. What I tell the potential student, after putting the employer on hold, is, ‘Hey, if you sign up for classes today, I’ve already got a job waiting for you.’”
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Such is the track record of 100% placement for McNabb and for Lead Ford Instructor Shane Baxter at Dallas College’s Brookhaven Campus, where both are based. Together they have been leading the Automotive Technology program at Brookhaven for the past 20-plus years, lining students up with rapidly evolving careers, often before graduation. In that time, the automotive industry has experienced monumental change, from the extensive computerization of today’s modern cars (the equivalent of “software on wheels”) to the arrival of electric vehicles that are beginning to render internal combustion engines obsolete.
To the benefit of the hundreds of students who pass through Dallas College’s automotive program every year, the program’s instructors have kept ahead of industry trends, churning out highly skilled graduates who’ve become invaluable to car dealerships, service centers, body shops and parts manufacturing facilities across North Texas.
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Fortunately for the regional economy, a commensurate number of employers rely on Dallas College’s steady pipeline of expert talent. One employer, Ford Motor Company, has reaped the benefits of hiring Dallas College graduates from its top-rated Automotive Student Service Education Training (ASSET) program at Brookhaven, which is industry recognized for its completion rate and for the placement success the program has enjoyed over the years.
The embedded nature and the rich history of the automotive program that started with the Dallas College Community College District are the main reasons the automotive program consistently enjoys 100 percent placement year after year, McNabb says.
This press release was produced by Dallas College. The views expressed here are the author’s own.