Apprenticeships:

U-M Skilled Trades Apprenticeship Program

Currently, the UM offers apprenticeships for the following skilled trades groups: Air Conditioning/Refrigeration Mechanic, Cabinet Maker, Carpenter, Electrician, Elevator Mechanic, Industrial Electrician, Pipecoverer, Plasterer, Plumber, Sheet Metal Worker, Steamfitter, Telecommunications Specialist, and Welder.

We have recently brought seven new apprentices on board, and expect to fill one more position by the end of February 2003. These new additions will bring our total of active apprentices to 18. The apprentices support a wide range of departments and locations throughout the University, from the Central Power Plant, Construction Services, Facilities Maintenance, University Hospital Maintenance Services, Utilities & Plant Engineering, to ITCom.

We have an apprenticeship program for two reasons - career development and the demographics of the organization.

First, the program provides a great opportunity for career advancement for U-M employees. The positions go exclusively to internal University candidates, rewarding highly-motivated employees who have taken the initiative for their own education and advancement, and who have demonstrated excellent work habits. Apprentices have come from custodial, EWOCs, clerical, and Maintenance Mechanic positions. Several graduates of the apprenticeship program have even gone on to become shop foremen. The program also gives Plant Operations an opportunity to promote equally qualified women and minorities into trades positions which have been historically dominated by white males, and enables our department to become a little more representative of the general population.

Second, our skilled trades workers as a group are aging, with an increasing amount eligible for retirement each year; fully twenty percent will be eligible to retire on January 1, 2004. Having appren-tices work with experienced journey-persons will provide them not only with the technical knowledge and skills of their particular trades, but also invaluable knowledge of University systems gained by many years of experience. The passing on of this knowledge to the next generation of trades persons can clearly be of great benefit to the University.

The Joint Apprenticeship Committee, which consists of elected Skilled Trades representatives and management representatives oversees the program. The committee has recently changed the term length for new apprentices from 4 years to a minimum of 8000 hours of actual time spent on the job. This change, which will affect those apprentices who started in August 2002 and after, is expected to allow for more specialized training in the individual crafts, give the apprentices greater flexibility and opportunity to complete the Associates’ Degree concurrently with their required curriculum, and allow apprentices to prepare for their licensing examination in the trades which require them (electrical and plumbing).

To get an apprenticeship position, employees must complete a computerized aptitude test, and be interviewed by the Joint Apprenticeship Committee, who narrow down the pool of applicants and recommend a group of finalists to the hiring foreman. The foreman makes the final selection after another interview with the foreman’s selection panel. As you may imagine, the apprentice vacancies are highly sought-after, and the competition for them is becoming increasingly intense.

We require apprentices to complete a curriculum at Washtenaw Community College in addition to getting their on-the-job training. They must get a “B” grade or better in all their classes to remain in their apprenticeship. On the job, all apprentices are partnered with different trades persons throughout their apprenticeship. This is where we believe the most important learning takes place.

Our apprenticeship program has been certified by the US Department of Labor, so the people who have completed it are officially recognized everywhere as a journeyperson in their trade.

~Tom Sullivan
Facilities Maintenance