BHCC Launches New Gas Utility Technology Degree Option Program
BOSTON, MA – Bunker Hill Community College’s (BHCC) Computer Information Technology Department will offer a Gas Utility Technology degree option program to students beginning fall 2015. Part of the Charlestown, MA-based college’s effort to identify and close workforce gaps, the program will help produce qualified individuals to replace aging baby boomers scheduled to retire from the utility industry. Nearly 40 percent of the utility industry workforce will be eligible to retire in the next five years, while significant growth is forecasted for the Northeast's natural gas infrastructure construction sector.
The college created the GUT program with industry collaborator Feeney Brothers Excavation, LLC, of Dorchester, MA. BHCC's Curriculum Committee and the College Forum approved the program on May 5, 2015. Students will be accepted into the program each fall and trained for employment in the gas utility industry.
The 62-credit, two-year program requires a minimum of four semesters to complete. It will prepare students through lectures, hands-on laboratory studies, paid winter intersession work experience, an eight-week paid summer internship and proctored testing by the Northeast Gas Association. Five of the six concentration courses will be offered at Feeney Brothers' state-of-the-art, 13,000-square-foot training facility in Fields Corner, Dorchester. Students will earn $16 per hour during the winter intersession and summer internship, sufficient to cover tuition.
For more information go to bhcc.mass.edu and see Gas Utility Technology Degree Option.
Upon successful completion of this degree option, students will receive an associate in science degree and have the experience and qualifications required to launch a career in gas utility construction. Graduates of the program will have the opportunity to work at Feeney Brothers and begin careers with the chance of rapid advancement.
Established in 1988, Feeney Brothers is a diversified utility contractor with more than 450 employees operating throughout the Northeast. For more information go to feeneybrothers.com.
Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts. The college enrolls more than 14,000 students on two campuses and at three satellite locations. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Sixty-seven percent of the students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The college also enrolls more than 850 international students who come from approximately 100 countries and speak more than 75 languages.