Contact: Melissa Reifert
July 6, 2007

Electro-Mechanical Students Finish First Year at MECC, Begin Internships with Eastman

Five students at Mountain Empire Community College are proving that through education, a little practice, and plenty of hard work, one can still achieve a set goal. The wheels were put into motion for these students in spring 2006 when Eastman Chemical Company (ECC) and MECC announced the development and implementation of an Associate of Applied Science degree program in Manufacturing with a specialization in Electro-Mechanical Technology. This particular degree specialization gives students the opportunity to pursue internships at ECC while receiving their education at the college.

Now, a little more than a year later, students Zachary Berry, Matthew Dotson, Brent Maness, Andrew Williams, and Jesse Wilson have completed a year of studies in the program at MECC and received internships at Eastman, each beginning their jobs on June 4.

All internship applicants were first required to take and pass WorkKeys, a jobs skills assessment system comprised of English, mathematics, information retrieval, and technology tests. Berry, Dotson, Maness, Williams, and Wilson passed the tests with flying colors.

“We are ecstatic with our students’ results on the test,” says Dr. Wendell Fowler, MECC Professor of Manufacturing. “Our students performed extremely well on WorkKeys.”

All of these individuals also successfully interviewed with ECC representatives before receiving internship offers. Fowler says the students worked with Dr. Jessica Genco, MECC Director of Career Services, beforehand, practicing interview techniques and working on resumes.

The Associate of Applied Science degree program in Electro-Mechanical Technology was put into place after Eastman contacted MECC in 2005. ECC had projected that they would need to hire more than 2,000 people from 2006 through 2010 due to the impending retirements of numerous current employees.

However, the individuals they would need to hire to replace the retiring employees would need at least a two-year degree. The two organizations began working together to develop the program, and in fall 2006 the idea and work behind it became fully realized when the college offered Manufacturing with an Electro-Mechanical specialization for the first time.

Fowler says that the program is set up so that students may take courses at MECC during the first year, intern with ECC for the second year, and then return to MECC to finish the associate degree after the internship. Upon receiving a degree, students will have the opportunity to enter into apprenticeships at Eastman.

Another option is for second-year students to take night classes at MECC while working in their internships. With this option, a student may complete an internship at Eastman and obtain a degree from MECC during the same year.

MECC faculty members have worked closely with Manufacturing faculty from Northeast State Technical Community College, which serves the Tri-Cities area and has a similar two-year Electro-Mechanical program.

“This has been a cooperative effort, across state lines,” states Fowler. Like MECC, Northeast State is working to provide Eastman and other local industries with skilled workers including machinists, metal fabricators, field mechanics with mechanical and pipefitting skills, and maintenance mechanics who can perform mechanical, electrical, and instrument repairs.

For more information about MECC’s Electro-Mechanical Technology specialization, contact Dr. Ross Santell, Dean of Health Science and Industrial Technology, at (276) 523-7465, rsantell@me.vccs.edu or Dr. Fowler at wfowler@me.vccs.edu.

Jesse Wilson is one of five MECC Electro-Mechanical students who recently began an internship with Eastman Chemical Company. The internships are part of MECC’s Associate of Applied Science degree program in Manufacturing with a specialization in Electro-Mechanical Technology. Wilson, along with Zachary Berry, Matthew Dotson, Brent Maness, and Andrew Williams, completed a year of studies in the program at MECC, passed a jobs skills assessment test, and interviewed successfully with Eastman before beginning the internship on June 4.

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