Eastgate Ford helps put Mohawk students in the fast lane for jobs
Mohawk College Motive Power students now have an added advantage for post-graduate employment thanks to a new partnership with Eastgate Ford and Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited.
Mohawk College has partnered with Eastgate Ford in Hamilton to provide students in the Motive Power programs with access to Ford of Canada’s dealership Learning Management System (LMS). This gives Motive Power students the chance to train on the same LMS that technicians use when they are employed by Ford dealerships across the country.
“This puts Mohawk students in a job-ready situation with any Ford dealer across Canada,” says Bob Brown, professor in Mohawk’s Motive Power programs. “Even general repair shops would be envious of this type of training. We are really grateful to Eastgate Ford and Ford of Canada for giving our students this opportunity.”
As a result of this partnership, students can work through nearly 70 different training modules in the Ford LMS and then take the associated quizzes. If they achieve a score of 80 per cent or higher, they will earn the same standardized Ford certification that dealership employees receive across the country.
“Training on this LMS will give the students the advantage of coming into the dealership knowing a lot of Ford training right off the bat,” says Robert Fricker, service manager at Eastgate Ford. “If they get the training done, then they don’t have to start from ground zero. They can start working on vehicles right off the bat.”
Working with its dealers, Ford of Canada launched this LMS partnership program in September as a way to help create a new crop of qualified college graduates for dealers’ service departments. Dealers are encouraged to partner with local colleges in their regions.
“Ford of Canada is happy to support Eastgate Ford and all our dealers across Canada through this program,” says Eric Lacourciere, service engineering and technical training manager at Ford of Canada. “By partnering with local colleges and introducing students to the Ford of Canada LMS, we are giving students the chance to experience best-in-class industry training methods and raise awareness and interest in career opportunities within the automotive industry.”
Mohawk College educates and serves more than 29,500 full-time, part-time, apprenticeship and international students at three main campuses in Hamilton, Ontario and learning hubs across Hamilton through City School by Mohawk, and at the College’s Centre for Aviation Technology at the Hamilton International Airport. Mohawk is among the top five colleges for applied research in Canada. It has been named one of Canada’s greenest employers seven years in a row, holds a GOLD STARS rating from AASHE for sustainability achievements and is home to the country’s largest and first institutional building to receive dual certification for Zero Carbon Building Framework design and performance for The Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation. More than 135,000 people have graduated from Mohawk since it was founded.