UA Pulaski Tech Get Graduates’ Careers Moving

University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College has always been known as a leader in skilled professions training, providing the kind of education and training that moves graduates from the classroom to the skilled workforce quickly. The college’s transportation programs are the latest in this long line of cutting-edge coursework, preparing students for high-paying careers in high demand.

From training to be a professional over-the-road truck driver to automotive technology and collision repair to diesel engine technology, UA Pulaski Technical College graduates are at the forefront of what moves people and products from one end of the nation to the other. More critical now than ever during the supply chain problems brought on by global COVID, transportation technology professionals command top dollar throughout the state and across the nation.

According to the Department of Labor, there were nearly 38,000 truck-driving jobs in Arkansas (paying a median annual salary of $44,000), many of which are unfilled due to the retirement of older drivers and a lack of new ones coming up. Keeping all of those rigs on the road were nearly 4,000 diesel mechanic jobs in the state (paying a median annual salary of $41,000).

Equally important are auto mechanics and collision repair specialists, both of which are capably trained through UA Pulaski Technical College’s state-of-the-art facilities and instruction. Arkansas has nearly 7,000 auto mechanic jobs and almost 1,800 collision repair jobs, per the Department of Labor, both of which are expected to grow faster than the national average over the next decade. Median annual salaries in these fields are $38,000 and $40,000, respectively, and are trade skills that offer excellent opportunities for opening one’s own business.

Each of UA Pulaski Technical College’s educational programs is recognized and/or certified by leading industry training groups and kept current by regular consultation with area businesses to ensure skills are marketable and of the highest academic rigor. Classes are held at the college’s sprawling Transportation Technology Center on UA Pulaski Technical College’s south campus, between Little Rock and Alexander.

ELECTRICIAN • Highly versatile career that’s always in demand in multiple industries. • Demand for electricians predicted to grow by double digits in Arkansas. • Journeyman electricians earn good wages; master electricians earn more and start their own company. • Study in the classroom or on the job through apprenticeships. INTERESTED? See Page 39 for more.

Manufacturing is another area of emphasis, as UA Pulaski Technical College prepares future workers to meet the rapidly changing demands of today’s industrial workplace. Welding, machine tool and HVACR courses have been the bedrock of instruction at the college for generations, but UA Pulaski Technical College is equally robust in programs that look to the future of the skilled professions. Two programs — automated manufacturing systems and computer numerical control (CNC) — are in particularly high demand.

The automated manufacturing systems program teaches students the latest high-tech control systems and automated machinery, including industrial electronics service, industrial controls programming, manufacturing equipment repair, machinery installation and robotics service.

The college’s CNC instruction is within the drafting and design program, a broad-based degree and certificate program, integrating technical and general education courses applicable in architectural, electrical, HVACR, plumbing and structural industries.

Both of these skilled career programs are offered in an associate of applied science degree program as well as a technical certificate and are stackable and transferable with other degree programs throughout the University of Arkansas system for those students wishing to attain higher degree completion in any number of exciting and in-demand construction specialties and fields.

All instruction for these industrial and manufacturing degrees is delivered via a combination of in-depth classroom work and UA Pulaski Tech’s state-of-the-art labs, featuring the latest equipment and workplace technology.

For more information on these and UA Pulaski Technical College’s other high-quality educational programs, please visit uaptc.edu. TINA ROACH-LOVE

AGE: 45 EDUCATION: Arkansas Northeastern College construction program SNAPSHOT: A major life change put Roach-Love at a career crossroads. She decided to take hold of her future and train for a career that made her happy.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR CAREER SO FAR? Before I enrolled, I was a janitor at Arkansas Northeastern College for five years and I’ve worked in factories before. When my husband and I separated, I just could not see myself going back behind a cash register in a store for eight hours. That’s just not me. I started doing construction, like helping remodel and paint. I just love working with my hands, and I’ve been doing carpentry design for about 10 years now.

GIVEN THAT EXPERIENCE, WHY GO BACK TO SCHOOL VERSUS LEARNING ON THE JOB? Considering that I’m going into construction, which is a man’s world, and I’m only 4 feet 11-some inches tall, people look at me when I tell them that I can do this and I can do that, and I get that eye like, “Yeah, OK.” So, going back to school gave me the paper so I can say, “I’ve got the paperwork to prove that I can do this.”

WHAT DID YOUR COURSEWORK INCLUDE? We poured concrete. We built a wall, like a regular wall. And then we had to frame in a window, frame in a door, build an archway. We did a gable roof, we did a hip roof, all on a small scale. We did one of those tables with the epoxy and the resin and it went for $3,000 at auction. I was quite impressed with it, myself.

We learned when you’re building a house how to build the perimeter around the footings and all that. Just the basics of building a house, the sheetrock and stuff like that that you have to know.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? Right now, I’m going to rebuild my house. I’m replacing windows and sheetrock and just slowly putting myself back together. It’s like therapy to me. I also start my HVAC class soon. Not only will that teach me the heat-and-air side, but it teaches you somewhat about electricity.

There is always a demand for this. There is always money to be made. They told us a first-year graduate of the program can start at $57,000 a year. I don’t know how people would not know that these positions are available, because you go by areas and houses aren’t being built. They don’t have the workers to build them.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR A YOUNG PERSON CHOOSING A CAREER OR AN ADULT FACING A BIG LIFE CHANGE? Don’t let your gender hold you back. Don’t always depend on what you have planned because God has other plans for you. Do what makes you happy, that’s the main thing. Find something that makes you happy and go for it.