Building Trades Advisory Meeting Minutes

Building Trades Advisory Meeting Minutes

Business & Industry Members Present

Industry Guests Present

District and School-Based Support Staff

Meeting Notes/Minutes

Welcome and Introductions:

Members completed the sign in sheet, minutes of the March 28, 2008 meeting were distributed, and introductions were made.

Call Meeting to Order:

Bob Usefof called the meeting to order at 3:35 p. m.

Action Items Approved

Minutes of the March 28, 2008 meeting were approved with minor corrections. Corrected minutes will be posted to

Old Business - Updates

Academy of Building Trades and Construction Design Technology:

Anthony Minimi was introduced as the new Academy teacher at Atlantic Technical Center. Atlantic currently has eleven students enrolled in the program in one three hour block. The goal is to enroll forty or more students in two three hour blocks by the 2009-10 school year.

Bob Usefof reported that Revit software has been ordered for all three Academy programs and that teacher training is being scheduled through the vendor. John Siegle stated that Building Information Modeling (BIM) will be discussed at a Construction Association of South Florida event November 21, 2008 and that the teachers are welcome to attend. John will forward the details to Bob Usefof who will forward the information to teachers.

Architecture Construction Engineering (ACE) Mentor Program:

Chares Reid provided information regarding the ACE Mentor program that has now been established for each of the Academy programs. This national program serves approximately 37,000 students. Approximately 120 South Florida students have registered to participate in the program. Twenty students from McArthur High School, twenty from Plantation High School, and eleven from Atlantic Technical High School are participating in the program. Mentors meet with students for about two hours every two weeks to work directly with students. Several field trips have also been proposed to bring students into the workplace to see first hand what careers in the construction industry really look like.

In addition, the students are working on a project that will be judged by a panel of industry experts at the end of the 2008-09 school year. The project requires students to design a site layout of affordable housing for teachers using a school board owned property for the design. Each team project will be judged on how well the design matches the criteria provided, originality of design and realistic expectations for construction within an established budget.

A/C Program Accreditation:

Brian Youngblood described the steps Atlantic and Sheridan Technical Center are taking to achieve program accreditation through the Partnership for Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Associates (PAHRA). This accreditation is similar to NATEF accreditation for automotive programs. PAHRA provides the program accreditation based upon evidence that schools are meeting their industry standards. Students may earn a credential by passing the ICE exam. Both the ICE exam and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exams have been submitted to the state as nationally recognized credentialing exams. If approved by the state, these exams may be used by adult students in lieu of passing the minimum basic skills exam currently required to receive their program completion certificate.

Teacher Training:

Anthony Minimi and Anthony Petosa will receive National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) teacher credential training November 5 and 6, 2008. Upon successfully completing the training, the teachers will be certified to deliver the NCCER curriculum and enter student module completions into the NCCER database.

Revit software training is being scheduled for all of the Academy teachers. It is hoped that the eighteen to twenty one hours of training will be provided by the time schools take their winter break. Charles Reid stated that Current Builders can provide Revit projects for classroom use.

New Business

Completion of Advisory Committee Update Form:

Charles Reid of Current Builders and Chair of the South Florida ACE Mentor Program was nominated and accepted to the Building Trades Advisory Committee.

Brad Rawlins of Premier Mechanical Systems was nominated and accepted to the Building Trades Advisory Committee.

Completion of Employer Verification Form:

Members of the committee completed Employer Verification Forms for the Air Conditioning and Electricity programs. Copies of the forms will be provided to Atlantic and Sheridan Technical Centers and posted in the CTACE database.

Review Curriculum Frameworks:

The Academy of Building Trades and Construction Design Technology; Air conditioning, Refrigeration and Heating Technology and Electrical Trades Curriculum Frameworks were provided to members for review and comment. All frameworks were approved for program content, length, and objectives. No changes were recommended at present. Brian Youngblood informed the committee that he is on a Department of Education Work Group for the Architecture and Construction Career Cluster. This work group is proposing changes to the Air Conditioning frameworks. Brian will provide information for advisory committee review and comment as the process moves forward.

Adjournment and Date/Time of Next Scheduled Meeting

The meeting adjourned at 4:30 p.m. The next meeting will be scheduled for a Wednesday in March 2009, location to be determined.

Formatted. 6.13.2007 ~ lb