Lifelong learner: Ivy Tech chancellor Dean McCurdy works toward technical automotive certificate on campus | Information

By working day, Dean McCurdy functions as the chancellor of Ivy Tech Group School Kokomo Area, but, by night, he gets a student at the faculty he operates.

McCurdy is pursuing a technological certificate in automotive provider technological know-how at the higher education. He’s at present having his 3rd study course, driveline, and he’s presently enrolled in the brakes study course for the drop semester. Given that starting to be chancellor at the close of 2017, McCurdy has aimed to teach or take a program each and every semester, and once he acquired began having the automotive lessons, he was hooked.

“I adore tinkering close to with cars and trucks and matters like that, so I’ve done that for decades. But this is just good. You get to understand from other college students. You get to obtain out what it is like to do the job in the market ideal now,” McCurdy mentioned.

When he begun in the automotive program, he only imagined he’d be getting just one class, but he claimed he quickly grew to become portion of the cohort and felt a bit of “peer pressure” to end out the certification with his peers.

The chancellor pressured that he gets no special therapy in his lessons he’s envisioned to do the operate just like any college student.

“I’m not disruptive. I’m an attentive college student, but I’m not taking part in the chancellor card. I transform into my denims and my operate outfit and blend in a tiny bit. So it is not undercover boss necessarily, but they know I’m there,” he said.

So, two evenings a 7 days, McCurdy swaps his govt attire for operate outfits to get his fingers dirty in the college’s automotive lab. The new lab came as section of Ivy Tech’s $43 million transformation, and it is a large up grade from the previous lab that was transformed warehouse space.

The new lab has been designed with input from business professionals and mimics what pupils will see in the marketplace. It features distinct lifts mounted at diverse angles to give students knowledge with numerous setups and a resource place with specialty instruments.

While McCurdy does not program to ever make a profession switch to working in the automotive market, he explained the competencies and information will be effective as he continues to work on cars as a pastime.

Starting to be a correct Ivy Tech college student also permitted McCurdy to audit the total registration method, in a perception, as he registered just as any pupil would, filling out paperwork and assembly with an advisor. He was ready to see what challenges learners might confront and what methods could possibly be puzzling to them.

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He’s also capable to understand about what the faculty get pleasure from about the new constructing or what sort of devices they want to obtain in the potential.

McCurdy’s teacher, David Lingle, claimed the chancellor has been a constructive addition to his class.

“In actuality, he’s an additional university student. He’s a tough worker. He seriously is. He’s incredibly proficient, does a excellent position. He understands the things seriously properly,” Lingle claimed. “He does nicely with about almost everything. If he were looking for a task in the sector, I actually never assume he’d have a trouble discovering 1. I know that’s not the direction he’s seeking to go at all, but he’s incredibly determined.”

Even with McCurdy not arranging to go into a occupation in the automotive industry, Lingle claimed the vehicle plan teaches college students competencies that are beneficial in a wide variety of areas.

“I believe it’s a great plan (to get the course) no subject what you’re carrying out in everyday living,” he stated. “There’s a whole lot of the things that we use listed here that are not just capabilities for the automotive trade … If you can recognize the idea of electrical energy, it can assist you diagnose factors non-car or truck similar. Portion of the matters that we do are really plumbing-connected, a smaller component of it. Which is the exact issue. If another person owns a dwelling, it can help them understand, ‘If I were hoping to fix this, how would I go about doing it?’ So this ties a lot of techniques in from other industries.”

Currently being a a lot more educated or better educated shopper, Lingle mentioned, also aids when it will come to buying automobiles and remaining aware of probable challenges with them.

James Robins is the lab technician in McCurdy’s driveline class, and Robins said it was refreshing and unique to interact with his manager in this way.

“It’s variety of like doing the job for a corporate organization. You usually really do not see the bigger-up man. He ordinarily does not occur down to the decrease-stop people, and Dean talks to you and will make you really feel like, ‘Hey, he’s just a ordinary dude,’” claimed Robins. “That’s the matter I regard about Dean is I could really communicate to him and not really feel intimidated by him because he’s the head honcho around listed here. That’s what I like about him simply because, again, I can have a cool conversation with him speaking about vehicles and not at the time experience like, ‘Wow, he’s my manager.’”

Kyle Estes is just one of McCurdy’s classmates, and he stated he located out McCurdy truly was the campus’ chancellor for the duration of their 1st semester alongside one another. But it didn’t improve substantially.

“He’s like any other standard scholar, go-getter. He likes to perform on automobiles. He’s constantly eager to master about things. He’s usually supplied to assistance with both schoolwork or outside of faculty work on supporting us to get the scheduling finished on our next semester lessons,” Estes reported.

In accordance to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Data, the median yearly wage for automotive professionals and mechanics was $44,050 in May well 2020. For much more info on Ivy Tech’s plan, stop by www.ivytech.edu/automotive-technological innovation.