Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Ingalls Shipbuilding are expanding educational opportunities at the Haley Reeves Barbour Maritime Training Center in Pascagoula through competency-based education offerings in as many as 13 skills areas.

While more than 330 apprentices were awarded credit based on assessments this past spring, the addition of new apprentice program offerings will allow the college to administer assessments to more than 600 students this fall.

“By awarding competency-based credit to students in the Ingalls Apprenticeship Program, we are encouraging them to pursue their associate degree,” said John Shows, associate vice president of Community Campus and Career-Technical Education at MGCCC. “This type of credit, based on competency demonstration, is something we have embraced to meet the challenges set forth for us by Ingalls and other industry partners to better prepare workers for advancement.”

Only two apprentice program offerings were approved by the Mississippi Community College Board when the program began in fall 2014.  This year, 11 more apprentice program offerings have been added, encompassing a variety of different apprenticeship areas, including carpentry, coatings, inside machinist, joiner, outside machinist, pipe fitter, pipe welder, rigger, sheet metal, shipfitter, welder and electrical. Students who opt to complete the Associate of Applied Science degree in Maritime Technology will have an emphasis in one of those areas.

Mark Scott, manager of Resource Development for Training at Ingalls Shipbuilding, said the number of competency areas represent most any general maritime environment. “Across the industry, you see the same training areas, so this is not just specific training to Ingalls,” he said. “By continuing their education through MGCCC, our apprentices have begun a career track that gives them the opportunity for upward mobility. Thus finding a career track through educational attainment so they can move ahead is our goal for all Ingalls employees.”

Competency-based education allows students to earn credit toward their degree by demonstrating specific knowledge and skills related to a program of study. At MGCCC’s Maritime Training Center, students must demonstrate knowledge and skills gained through their apprenticeship work at Ingalls for some of their credits but are also required to take traditional classroom subjects to complete their degree. Progress in the competency areas is measured by demonstrating achievement of specific learning outcomes using direct assessments instead of by completing a set number of clock hours of instruction.

Competency-based education is not new to higher education. However, there has been a recent resurgence of interest. The growth has been driven primarily by efforts to redefine the awarding of credit for demonstration of student learning in higher education.

“Because Ingalls already has very rigorous training in place through its apprenticeship program, we knew that this was a good place to start our foray into competency-based education,” Shows said. “This is a great opportunity to explore new educational avenues for the college, and it is an even greater opportunity for Ingalls employees to gain a college degree.”