SMART
Southeast Maritime and Transportation Center
Virginia Beach, VA
www.maritime-technology.org
Contact
Barbara Murray
Principal Investigator (PI)
bmurray@tcc.edu
(757) 822-7485
Students Earn Stackable Credentials in Maritime Technologies Pathway
The new SMART Center maritime technologies pathway, based on the registered apprenticeship model, features stackable academic credentials leading to an associate degree in maritime technologies and nationally recognized industry credentials.
The success of the SMART Center maritime technologies pathway led to the US Department of Labor’s request for the center’s input on revisions to the Transportation, Distribution and Logistics Competency Model. SMART has used this model to shape its programs of study and certifications.
The SMART Maritime and Transportation Institute alumni, who are secondary school STEM teachers and guidance counselors as well as college faculty, have created 55 new academic programs and modules.
Award-winning Maritime Trades Training Program Has High Employment Placement & Retention Rate
Since 2012 the Maritime Trades Training Program has provided 363 course completers—93% of the 388 people who enrolled in the courses—with full-time employment and the opportunity to apply for academic credit for their training. Two years later, 308 or 85% of the completers were working for the same employer.
The SMART Center seeded the Maritime Trades Training Program with five community college partners and industry leader Newport News Shipbuilding. This scalable program received the National Exemplary Program Award from the National Council for Workforce Education.
SMART Center Expands Credentialing
The SMART Center has created the first-of-its-kind crosswalk mapping the US Coast Guard’s maritime industry seagoing credentials to academic credit. This innovation is being rolled out at San Jacinto College in Houston, Texas, and has the potential to increase college enrollment for veterans and merchant mariners nationwide. The center’s professional development courses have also provided industry credentialing and academic credit for 39 technicians and instructors, who in turn have impacted the education of more than 8,250 students.
