08 Aug 2016 UACCM offers basic welding course during evenings

The University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton (UACCM), in conjunction with the Arkansas Sector Partnership National Emergency Grant (ASP Grant), will offer an eight-week, pre-employment basic welding training program beginning Monday, Aug. 22. The evening program will be held on the UACCM campus and will run from 6 to 9:30 p.m. every Monday through Friday from Aug. 22 through Oct. 14.

The course is designed to provide short-term training that prepares individuals to make a sustainable wage in the welding field. The training includes theory, manipulative skills, safety and related shop practices involving the use of oxyacetylene cutting, plasma cutting and gas metal arc welding. Students who successfully complete this course will be able to identify welding processes, techniques of fusion, brazing, soldering and arc welding. It is not part of the curriculum for students pursuing the college’s technical certificate and certificate of proficiency programs in welding. However, upon completion of the non-credit basic welding program, students may take a certification test that will make them eligible to apply for six hours of prior learning credit if they want to pursue the for-credit welding program.

Classes will include Blueprint Reading, Job Search/Resume, Soft Skills, Hand Tool Safety, General OSHA Safety, Gas Metal Arc Welding and OSHA 10-hour Certificate for General Industry. There are up to six-credit hours possible including Craft Skills (2 Cr), Understanding OSHA Basic (1 Cr) and Gas Metal Arc Welding or Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (3 Cr).

The program also addresses the employability habits and attitudes that industry representatives desire in employees, including punctuality and attendance, appropriate dress and personal equipment, safety practices and cooperative association with peers and instructors.

The ASP Grant offers a scholarship for participants who qualify. The scholarship covers tuition, fees and welding supplies. Participants must be dislocated workers or long-term unemployed (27-plus weeks) to qualify for the scholarships. The registration fee for students who don’t receive the scholarship grant will be $450, which covers tuition and all welding supplies.  

The registration deadline is Wednesday, Aug. 17.

For more information including scholarship applications and qualifications, contact Vicki Shadell, UACCM Director of Workforce Development, at 501.977.2132 or [email protected].