Five ABC chapters—Northern California, Southern California, Central California, San Diego and LA/Ventura—are joining forces to implement a statewide electrical training virtual program (ETVP). The interactive online program is based on a state-approved NCCER curriculum and has required a significant amount of administrative coordination to ensure consistency of enrollment, attendance, grading and certification.

“Contractors do a lot of jobs out of town and shifts outside of normal hours—things that prevent students from coming and sitting in a class twice a week in the evening,” says Nicole Lieu Mai, executive assistant and office manager at the ABC San Diego Chapter. “This is a live class with an instructor that students can remote into. And contractors can move those workers anywhere and still participate; same with employees who want to be with family in the evenings.”

The ABC San Diego Chapter, which had online training experience, was best positioned to pilot the program. It installed its first virtual classroom for sheet metal in the spring of 2016 and over time added two more classrooms. With the support of a TCEF grant, San Diego added two more virtual craft training classrooms outfitted with smart projectors—and each of the other ABC California chapters is doing the same. Having 10 classrooms will provide the scheduling flexibility and technical and mechanical redundancy necessary to guarantee continuous coverage across eight concurrent semesters (for the four-year program).

Twenty-five electrical trainees enrolled in the pilot ETVP in the fall of 2017. The ABC San Diego Chapter then put together manuals containing processes and best practices for all the other chapters, which launched their programs in August.

“We want people to be on the same track whether they sign up with us or any other ABC California chapter,” Mai says. “Figuring out the curriculum was easy because we all use the same one. It was trickier to make sure the lab work required in addition to the online training was uniform. We need to make sure students are attending the same class remotely and then scheduling lab work on the weekends.”

While some contractors still cling to the need for in-person coursework, the students who piloted the ETVP loved it and shared that feedback with their employers.

“We fully expect members to continue to gain interest, participation and commitment as they talk amongst themselves,” says Kevin Garrett, president and CEO of the ABC Southern California Chapter. “The flexibility seems to be of real interest, and the visual impact and efficiency of the instructors is amazing.”
Looking ahead, Garrett would like to roll out virtual training for journeymen and management continuing education.

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