Abstract:
Two-year colleges in Alabama, in the curricular area of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) serve an important role in providing local HVAC industries with service technicians. Today, along with many other industries, the HVAC industry relies largely upon community colleges for formally training and educating individuals who choose to pursue technical degrees. Through this study, the researcher gives a clearer understanding of HVAC programs throughout Alabama, explores the distribution of awards across all award types, discusses the numerous changes that HVAC programs have encountered across the state, and examines the way in which these changes have affected degree production of HVAC programs. Additionally, mergers of Alabama technical colleges and community colleges and licensure certification policies and procedures for Alabama HVAC technicians are included within the study. Data is provided regarding degree production at two-year colleges in Alabama, in the curricular area of HVAC by gender and race/ethnicity from 1994 to 2008. Findings and conclusions are presented along with recommendations for policy, practice and future research.
