(WACO, Texas) – As the sun sets, the work will just be getting started.
Texas State Technical College’s Waco campus will expand HVAC classes into the evenings starting this fall at the Construction Technologies Center. Classes will start with a first-semester cohort and progress together through the program.
Jamie Brannen, program team lead of the HVAC program in Waco, said evening classes could be good for prospective students who want to work as they attend TSTC or future non-traditional students who yearn for a career change. Evening classes will be offered Monday through Thursday.
Dolores Cheek, executive director of the Texas Air Conditioning Contractors Association in Austin, said people who sign up for night classes are of a different caliber of applicant, since many have been in the workforce and want to do better in their chosen profession.
“We as owners, managers and supervisors must make ourselves available to meet with these classes to explain how we can help them as soon as they complete the classes and get their certifications,” she said.
The Texas Workforce Commission’s Texas Wages and Employment Projections predict more than 3,350 openings for heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and installers yearly through 2034.
TSTC’s HVAC program offers an associate degree and two certificates of completion at the Waco campus.
Registration continues for the fall semester at TSTC. The fall semester starts Tuesday, Sept. 8. For more information, go to tstc.edu.