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    Dec 10, 2024  
2024-2025 Catalog and Student Handbook 
    
2024-2025 Catalog and Student Handbook

Community Partnerships and Programs



Workforce Development and Corporate Partnerships - Kern Center

Terra State Community College supports business and industry by providing quality training programs and certifications for our region’s workforce. The Kern Center provides the following workforce development programs:

Apprenticeship Training

Customized Workforce Training

Industrial & IT Certifications

Professional & Industrial Workforce Courses

Apprenticeship Training

Terra State provides related apprenticeship training for area companies and their employees. Our programs are designed to meet employer and employee needs in manufacturing and industrial trades and are in cooperation with the State of Ohio Apprenticeship Council and the US Department of Labor. Courses taken can be used as a pathway to a certificate and/or a degree program. In addition, some of our partner companies use our academic degrees as the basis for their academic apprentice programs. Please contact local employers directly to inquire about entering their apprenticeship programs.

Custom Concentrations:
  • Electrician 
  • HVAC-R
  • Machinist
  • Maintenance Mechanic
  • Mechanic
  • Moldmaker
  • Multi-Craft
  • Precision Machinist
  • Press & Weldset
  • Tool & Die Maker
  • Welding

For questions regarding apprenticeship programs, please contact Lori Schultze atlschult01@terra.edu  or 419.559.2391.  

Assessment testing is also available to help a company determine an individual’s abilities prior to hiring or qualifying as an apprentice.  Please contact the Kern Center at 419-559-2464 for assessment testing information. 

Customized Workforce Training

The Kern Center is a leader in providing fast, flexible, high-quality training. A specialty of the Kern Center at Terra State Community College is its excellence in high-quality customized training.

Our instructors are adept at modifying courses to meet your organizational needs and presenting them to your employees at your location or on campus, at your preferred time. From Animation to Welding, the Kern Center has training that meets your business needs.

When do you need Customized Workforce Training?

  • You have new employees to who need to be oriented and trained to do their jobs
  • You have promoted employees to first-level supervisory positions, and they have little or no supervisory management experience
  • You have upgraded your technology or are planning to do so
  • Your company needs to assess and improve cybersecurity practices
  • You have had a visit from the OSHA inspectors
  • There is a significant amount of conflict in your organization that impedes progress and performance
  • You are an effective, efficient organization and you want to stay that way

Contact the Kern Center (kern@terra.edu • 419.559.2464) to discuss how your company can benefit from Customized Training.

Industrial and IT Certifications

North American Technician Excellence (NATE) Testing

Workforce Development and Corporate Partnerships - Kern Center offers NATE testing for companies, contractors, educators, and individuals. NATE candidates may earn Installation and/or Service certification in one or more specialty areas, including:

  • Air Conditioning
  • Air Distribution
  • Heat Pumps
  • Gas Furnaces
  • Oil Furnaces
  • Hydronics Gas
  • Hydronics Oil
  • Light Commercial Refrigeration
  • Commercial Refrigeration
  • Ground Source Heat Pump Loop

For more information regarding NATE testing at the Kern Center, please call 419-559-2464 or email kern@terra.edu.

EPA Testing

Terra State is approved as a proctor for the EPA refrigerants exam. EPA Section 608 of the US Federal Clean Air Act requires all persons who work with or handle regulated refrigerants to be certified. This national test is also recognized by the industry with the aptitude and skill level of the workers in the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Industry. There are four different levels of examination: Core, Type I, Type II, and Type III. The exam is provided by the Esco Institute Corporation which is affiliated with the HVAC Excellence Program. For more information, please call 419.559.2464 or email kern@terra.edu.

Welding Qualification and Certification Testing

Terra State Community College is approved by the State of Ohio Division of Pressure Piping to provide Procedure and Welder Qualification Testing. All the major codes are supported, including American National Standards Institute (ANSI), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), American Welding Society (AWS) and the American Petroleum Institute (API).

Welding qualification and certification testing is for companies, contractors, individuals, and/or welding students in accordance with the codes or the standard listed below:

  • • ANSI/AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code - Steel
    • ANSI/AWS D1.2 Structural Welding Code - Aluminum
    • ANSI/AWS D1.3 Structural Welding Code -Sheet Metal
    • ANSI/AASHTO/AWS D1.5 Bridge Welding Code
    • ANSI/AWS D1.6 Structural Welding Code - Stainless Steel
    • ANSI/AWS D15,1 Railroad Welding Specification for Cars & Locomotives
    • ANSI/ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code, Section IX
    • API Standard 1104 Welding of Pipelines & Related Facilities

For more information, please call 419.559.2464 or email kern@terra.edu.

Brazing Qualification and Certification Testing

Workforce Development and Corporate Partnerships - Kern Center at Terra State Community College also offers brazing qualification and certification testing for HVAC contractors and contractors’ employees in accordance with the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section IX.

For more information, please call 419.559.2464 or email kern@terra.edu.

CPCT (Certified Premises Cabling Technician)

Terra State Community College is a certified Fiber Optic Training Facility. For this certification, you learn about copper and fiber cabling. You also learn about wireless networks and how to put them together. Labs include building copper cable, punching down copper cable into 66 and 110 punchdown blocks, wireless setup, and designing a network. This course is a hybrid course - half online with the labs and exam taken on campus. For more information, please call 419.559.2464 or email kern@terra.edu.

CFOT (Certified Fiber Optic Technician)

Terra State Community College is a certified Fiber Optic Training Facility. For this certification, you learn specifically about fiber optic cabling. Labs include terminating and splicing fiber optic cabling. You will also learn how to use an OTDR to test fiber optic cabling. This course is a hybrid course - half online with the labs and exam taken on campus. For more information, please call 419.559.2464 or email kern@terra.edu.

CCNA (Cisco Certified Networking Associate)

Routing and Switching certification. Terra State Community College is a Cisco Networking Academy. Routing and Switching Modules can be completed to help you prepare for the CCNA certification. On campus labs are available with current equipment. For more information, please call 419.559.2464 or email kern@terra.edu.

 

Professional & Industrial Workforce Courses

Workforce Development and Corporate Partnerships - Kern Center offers a number of non-credit professional and industrial courses for adult learners who want to improve their skills and enhance their knowledge base. These classes are taught by experienced instructors and are suitable for learners who need to upgrade the skills required for their present position and for job seekers or career changers who need to obtain more marketable skills.

Classes are offered at a variety of times including days, evenings, and weekends at Terra State Community College. Many industrial and professional development classes are able to be taken entirely online. The Kern Center also offers approved seminars and classes that fulfill continuing education requirements for various professionals. Courses include:

  • Electrical, PLC, Reading Schematics and Prints, Robotics Training, Hydraulics, and Pneumatics
  • First Aid and CPR BLS Certification
  • Industrial Safety and Food Safety Training
  • Microsoft Office Applications
  • Business and Life Skills Trainings
  • STNA Training (State Tested Nurse Aide)
  • Supervisory and Leadership Development Courses

The latest course schedule can be viewed or downloaded on the Kern Center website: terra.edu/Kern.

Online Courses

The Kern Center offers a wide range of online learning options:

  • Career training programs that offer online open enrollment programs designed to provide the skills necessary to acquire professional-level positions for many in-demand occupations
  • Professional development courses through our online learning center in a wide range of highly interactive courses that you can take entirely over the Internet. They are affordable, fun, fast, convenient, and geared directly to what you want to learn
  • Ohio Real Estate Licensing - online courses required to obtain your Ohio Real Estate License; also continuing education, broker, and appraiser courses
  • Professional Analytic Linguistic Certificate I

See all the online education options at http://terra.edu/kern_center/index.php. Call 419.559.2464 for more information.

Community Education

Non-credit Education Opportunities for All Ages

The Community Education program is part of the non-credit education department of the College, offering affordable opportunities for community members of all ages to nurture one’s career goals, personal health initiatives, or continue their interests in expanding their scholarship of life, the world, and beyond. Through practical self-enrichment and career development experiences, Community Education offers numerous opportunities for individuals to engage in volunteerism, participate in various educational events and campus programs, explore art and music activities, and enjoy programming for kids, tweens, teens, and adults.

Community Education at Terra State Community College includes the following areas:

  • Lifelong Learning
  • KidsCollege
  • Life Scholars
  • Music & Fine Arts Academy
  • Terra State Gracious Givers Volunteer Program

To inquire about a program in Community Education, call 419.559.2255 or visit terra.edu/LifelongLearning.

Lifelong Learning

The Lifelong Learning program’s non-credit classes offer adults the chance to try new things, learn more about their hobbies, and meet new people. Instructors and classes vary each season, so there is always something new.

The latest course schedule can be viewed or downloaded at https://terra.edu/LifelongLearning.

KidsCollege

KidsCollege, founded in the summer of 1993, brings academic enrichment to first through eighth graders. The curriculum varies from year to year. Past offerings include computers, art, cooking, science, math, photography, fitness, and creative writing.

Students register for the classes of their choice and pay a fee for each class. Terra State offers discounts for families with multiple students and for students who want to take multiple classes.

KidsCollege sessions are announced through area newspapers and grade schools. Class sizes are limited. KidsCollege schedules are available in April. Interested individuals may contact Lifelong Learning at 419.559.2255 or visit https://terra.edu/LifelongLearning.

Life Scholars

The Life Scholars program is for adults, age 50 and beyond, who share a common desire to learn. Life Scholars is an organization for active adults, regardless of their educational background. There are no tests or grades-it is learning for the joy of learning. In addition to classes, the Life Scholars program also presents educational trips and travel destinations that enhance one’s knowledge or history or geography. Life Scholars is a peer-led group serving mature learners by broadening intellectual interests, physical activity, and social interaction; creating a climate that fosters interest and stimulates the thrill of lifelong learning. To become a member or enroll in a Life Scholar course, call Lifelong Learning at 419.559.2255 or visit https://terra.edu/LifelongLearning.

Terra State Music Academy

The Terra State Music Academy offers noncredit music lessons on many different instruments and voice.  Examples of instrumental lessons available include piano, bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, and drum set, as well as most woodwind, brass, strings and percussion instruments. Geared for students, first grade through adulthood, these lessons are offered year round and are taught by Terra State music faculty.  For more information call the Terra State Music Department Office at 419.559.2153, or visit http://www.terra.edu/degrees_programs/liberal_arts_business_division/music/music_academy.php.

Terra State Gracious Givers Volunteer Program

Volunteering connects you with others to make new friends and impact the community. Giving back to your community provides a sense of purpose and brings fulfillment to your life! You can earn service hours and recognition for your time. For more information contact the Coordinator of Community Education at 419.559.2255.

Small Business Development Center

SBDC Network of Ohio

The Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) Network of Ohio is the premier technical assistance program for Ohio’s small businesses. The network is provided through a partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Ohio Department of Development, and selected Ohio chambers of commerce, colleges and universities, and economic development agencies. It links resources of the Federal, State, and local governments with the resources of the educational system and the private sector to meet the specialized, complex, and changing needs of the small business community.

The Ohio SBDC at Terra State Community College provides entrepreneurial services for small businesses in Erie, Ottawa, Sandusky, and Seneca Counties. These services are free of charge and include:

  • Small Business Training and Counseling
  • Business Planning and Development
  • Business Performance Evaluation
  • Business Resource Referrals

Its mission is to help people get into business, stay in business, and grow. Anyone who is thinking of starting, buying, or expanding a business is encouraged to contact Miranda Hoffman, SBDC Director, at 419.559.2210 or email mhoffma05@terra.edu.

The SBDC is located in the Kern Center, Building B, Suite B-104, Office B. 

Motorcycle Ohio Safety Courses

Motorcycle Ohio has awarded Terra State Community College an ongoing grant to be a permanent training site for motorcycle safety classes. Both the Basic Riders Safety and the Returning Riders Safety courses are offered most weekends beginning in March and running until October. For more information or for registration visit www.motorcycle.ohio.gov.