Thanks to support from its advisory board, ASE, and the leadership of an automotive instructor, El Camino College recently received National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF) accreditation — a process that normally takes five years — in just two years.
The student outcomes that the accreditation will bring make all the hard work well worth the effort. Students can now become certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), which signals to employers that their skills are on par with industry standards.
“When you talk to any other school out there, NATEF is the baseline to get anyone from the industry to speak with you about developing any kind of plans or partnership,” said automotive instructor Ed Matykiewicz, who coordinated the accreditation at El Camino College. “It says a lot about the program about the outreach they do and shows what level of academics they have.”
Matykiewicz said accreditation had been on the radar for several years and kicked into high gear last year after the college obtained a Strong Workforce grant to complete the accreditation process, which includes an extensive self-evaluation and an on-site evaluation.
Receiving the grant allowed Matykiewicz and the other instructors to approach the automotive advisory board for help revamping the curriculum to meet NATEF’s eight standards for accreditation.
“Our accreditation team included an advisory board member from industry who belonged to a big manufacturer and another member from a small independent repair facility,” Matykiewicz said. “Their job was to ensure that shop was on par with standard industry practices.”
Now that the accreditation is in place, Matykiewicz plans to focus on strengthening partnerships with local high schools to improve the pathways to certificates and associate degrees.
“Accreditation is key for giving students a reason to be here. They know that they’ll be able to find employment to get themselves to higher levels within the industry,” Matykiewicz said.
