Motlow/TCAT Co-Host In-Service Training Day to Boost Recruitment

August 3, 2022

Motlow State and TCAT McMinnville co-hosted an in-service training day for Warren County, White County, and Cannon County Career Technical Education directors, STEM teachers, and counselors on July 29 in McMinnville. The purpose of the event was to educate secondary school personnel about programs and opportunities at Motlow and TCAT so they can help with the Colleges’ recruiting efforts.

“This was a joint effort for TCAT McMinnville and Motlow to build stronger partnerships with secondary schools in the northern part of our service area,” said Larry Flatt, Executive Director of Motlow’s Automation and Robotics Training Center (ARTC). “We shared information about what we offer to them that they might not get otherwise, such as details about our programs, opportunities for students, information about dual enrollment, and transferring to four-year institutions.”

Attendees toured labs and learned about specific opportunities associated with programs offered at Motlow and TCAT McMinnville. They viewed the campuses’ nursing, mechatronics, welding, automotive, and machining centers. Attendees even got hands-on experience with programming robots at the ARTC.

“This event has been very impressive. It has made us all better enabled to answer questions our students might have about the programs offered at Motlow and TCAT. And we can say that they will get hands-on training,” said Linda Taylor, a Spanish teacher at Warren County High School. “The demand for people in the mechatronics field is only getting bigger. This is the future.”

Taylor can speak to the value of Motlow’s Mechatronics degrees because her own son graduated from Motlow in 2019 with an Associate of Applied Science in Mechatronics. “I enjoyed being able to see firsthand what he always came home talking about! It was a privilege to be able to attend.”

Motlow is a national leader in credentialing for robotics training. Motlow’s ARTC is the only facility in the nation prepared to credential workers for the top three robotics manufacturers in the world: ABB, FANUC, and Yaskawa/Motoman. The ARTC is the home for high-wage, high-demand job training for careers in mechatronics and robotics.

For more information, contact [email protected].

Tennessee’s Community Colleges is a system of 13 colleges offering a high-quality, affordable, convenient, and personal education to prepare students to achieve their educational and career goals in two years or less. The system offers associate degree and certificate programs, workforce development programs, and transfer pathways to four-year degrees. For more information, please visit us online at tbr.edu or visit Motlow at motlow.edu.