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NSCA Update

Wilson Appointed Consortium President.

NSCA Update

Mar 1, 2001 12:00 PM

New Goals Include Establishing Apprenticeship Program andOccupational Classification for ESTs

New goals and a new president were put in place during a meetingof the Consortium for Electronic Systems Technician Training lastmonth. Chuck Wilson, NSCA executive director and longtimeconsortium member, was appointed president of the group. He willserve a 1-year term. Under Wilson’s leadership, new goals have beenset for the group of associations that comprise the consortium,including more emphasis on establishing an electronic systemstechnician apprenticeship program, which is already written andawaiting approval from the U. S. Department of Labor.

Over the last couple of years, the Consortium focused itsefforts on developing a curriculum for training electronic systemstechnicians, ESTs, at the college level, said Wilson. With awritten curriculum now in place and actively promoted to vocationalschools across the country, we felt it was time to set some newgoals, and that includes an apprenticeship program and a newoccupational classification for our industry.

New standard occupational classification in the works. Lastfall, the NSCA developed national guideline standards for ESTs andsubmitted them to the Department of Labor’s Bureau ofApprenticeship Training. Now awaiting approval, the consortium willhelp speed up the process. Once approved, the guidelines will bemade available to contracting companies interested in implementingan in-house apprenticeship program. Secondly, the consortium willsupport NSCA’s efforts to develop a standard occupationalclassification for systems technicians, to compliment theapprenticeship program.

Establishing a separate SOC for systems technicians will helpfurther enhance our ability to get people in our industryrecognized with proper workers’ comp insurance, said Wilson.Securing an SOC was recommended by the bureau of apprenticeshiptraining, as the federal government likes to see an apprenticeshipprogram with an SOC attached.

To realize its goals, the consortium also decided to devote moreindividual organization’s staff time to the efforts. Several of theassociations volunteered government-relations experts to aid in theBAT approval effort. Approved guidelines and a new SOC are expectedlater this year.

The Consortium for Electronic Systems Technician Training is a501(c)(6) not-for-profit corporation, incorporated in theCommonwealth of Virginia. Regular membership is confined tonot-for-profit associations and business leagues whose members arecompanies that manufacture or install electronic systems.

The following organizations are 2001 members of the Consortium:Associated Locksmiths of America, Automatic Fire Alarm Association,Building Industry Consulting Services International, Canadian AlarmSecurity Association, Consumer Electronics Association, ContinentalAutomated Buildings Association, Custom Electronic Design andInstallation Association, Home Automation and NetworkingAssociation, International Communications Industries Association,National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association, National SystemsContractors Association, National Joint Apprenticeship and TrainingCommittee for the Electrical Industry and Security IndustryAssociation. For more information, visit www.hightechjobs.org or call 703/998-0936.

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