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UA 47th Annual Instructors Training Program Races Into the New Millennium
United
Association General President Maddaloni "United Association (UA) members must be ready to meet the challenges of the next century. The workplace is changing rapidly and opportunities for UA training craftsmen and craftswomen are everywhere. In order meet the challenges our local training programs must be able to adapt and reflect the demands of the workplace." Quality craftsmenship is a outcome of good teaching in our training programs. Therefore, the United Association Instructor Training Program is designed for the instructors, with an aim to help them improve their teaching techniques, broaden their manipulative skill, and expand their store of scientific and technical knowledge relating to their trade. The
UA believes that the instructors, who teach the apprentices
and journeymen of the piping trades, are the key persons in
maintaining the high level of performance for which we have
long been recognized. They are determined to retain their enviable
position in The following pages outline just a small segment of the amazing program that comes to the campus of Washtenaw Community College each year. This is a program unequaled in the construction industry. The UA Intructor Training Program
Each
year instructors are required to enroll in two There are both professional element and applied knowledge and technical courses available to those who have graduated from the Five Year Program. The courses allow UA Instructors to expand their knowledge and be better instructors in their local programs. UA Instructors enrolled in the Five Year Program, selecting a 40 Hour Applied or Technical Course this year, will be required to take 40 Hours of Professional Courses at their next enrollment.
The UA bookstore is stocked with textbooks published by the National Joint Training Committee, specifically for the UA training needs. They have a shelf-life of only three years, after which they become obsolete and are revised or replaced. This
year, as in the past, some of the texts and CD ROMs sold at
the store will have come off the presses just before the UA
arrives.
The course at the Training Program covered the use of interactive televsion and other distance learning techniques. It addressed presentation techiques for instructors and planning distance learning classes. The method for converting conventional class materials into a format suitable for distance learning is essential, was covered at length. The presentation also covered the use of Internet pages, e-mail, chat rooms, tele-courses, audiotapes, and instructor created video-tapes in support of a distance learning program. To assist the instructor's growth, hands-on practice using interactive television equipment was provided. To the vast majority, this is an entirely new way of teaching, but one with limitless possibilities for the UA Instructor. On-Line Teaching Techniques
Methods
for converting traditional class
Using UA Audio-Visual Aids and CD-ROMs
Empahasis is on the principles and techniques of trade instruction utilizing audio-vsiual aids and CD-ROMs. To make the training session a meaningful as possible, hands-on experience was provided. The, like so many of the new technology courses, is training the UA Instructor to utilize the most up-to-date and comprehensive training tools possible. Electrical and Refrigerant Controls
Teaching
methodology was stressed during the sessions. A comprehensive,
the course included: applied controls and control circuits,
types of control action, sequence of Also covered were discharge pressure control, expansion devices, regulators and accessories. The objective of the course was to familiarize the instructors with the application and teaching principles of controls commonly used in the pipe trades industry. Computer Applications
High Purity Computer Aided Drafting
The course explores creation of three dimensional high purity piping models while utilizing specific high purity CAD piping software. Techniques for application to piping installation, including fabrication and data management, are explored adding to the expertise of the instructors in attendance. Process Piping Training
Along
with the numerous classroom experiences, the UA brings in expertise
from many of the UA Locals By bringing in trailers equipped with the necessary tools and materials to teach specific skills, like the one pictured to left, they can best utilize the time that instructors have to learn.
The UA Welder Certification Program has no parallel in the building and construction industry. The program provides pre-tested, certified and immediatly available journeymen welders throughout the United States and Canada. UA
welders are tested at local training sites across the United
States and Canada under a consistent set of guidelines and rules.
The flexible program accommodates special As we continue to be more health and safety conscious, business, industry and government continue to respond to public concern. A weld that is not properly done, or one that allows contamination, poses a serious threat to safety and health. While the UA Welder Certification Program is setting new standards for welder testing procedures, its overriding concern is also for safety.
The training recieved here at the UA program prepares instructors to assure that the program at their home Locals provide contractors and users with the necessary skilled welders so that each and every project is delivered at the highest possible level of quality. Medical Gas Systems
They
are found in hospitals, doctors' offices,
A "hands-on" sourse, each instructor had the opportunity to try each method being discussed. The course covered the techical as well as the practical side of "soft" soldering with lead free solders. Base metals included: copper, brass, steel, stainless steel and aluminum.
Surveys and Inspections for Cross-Connection Control
Exercise included reviewing plans and an actual site survey inspection for cross-connection control. Students who successfully passed the voluntary certification exam at the conclusion of this course were certified as a "Cross-Connection Control Survey Inspector". The United Association - An Important Part of Our Community - As it Grows We Grow The 47th Annual Instructors Training Program marks the eleventh (11th) year UA has entrusted the success of this important program to the Washtenaw County area. They have become an example of summer just like good weather and sunny days. All involved in helping make the UA feel welcome are enormously proud of the relationship that has grown between the UA, Washtenaw Community College (WCC) and the Washtenaw County area. Regional Training Center
Welcoming the UA
Honoring the UA and General President Maddaloni at a welcoming reception L. to R. -Karen Lovejoy-Roe, Supervisor - Ypsilanti Township, Chairman Suzanne Shaw, Washtenaw Board of Commissioners. Graduation
A significant crowd was on hand showing enthusiastic support for the one hundred and sixty nine Instructors graduated. Spectators chimed in vociferously to make this an outstanding, most memorable graduation ceremony. Their family and friends cheered as the graduates recieved their diplomas. As with past UA Intructor Programs this was a most memorable event.
L. R. - UA Assistant General President C. Randall Gardner applauding the comments of General President Maddaloni - Mr. Curry, Michigan State University, honoring the graduates Five Years of Work Pay Off As the UA programs continues to set records for attendees and this year for graduates, the ceremony had to be moved to Pease Auditorium at Eastern Michigan University, due to the highest number of individuals graduating this year.
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The
following report on the UA Traing Program is brought to you
as a service of the Greater Michigan Plumbing & Mechanical
Contractors Association.
(pictured
right) clarified the necessity of UA's Instructor Training
Program: "The United Association is on the road toward
becoming an even stronger and more progressive union. I want
to see every local union live up to the potential that exists
for all of us. The best way to do this is to be prepared and
able to perform the work that will be required of us. Our members
depend on us to provide them the best possible training opportunities."
this
regard, and the UA Instructor Training Program is the best way
to do so.
The
Five Year Program involves two hundred hours of instructions.
Each instructor will recieve one week (forty hours) of intruction
each year for five years. The Five year Program is divided equally
into two main elements of instruction: the Professional 
Element,
which involves the instructor in courses dealing with the principles
and techniques of teaching, and the Applied and Technical Element,
which involves them in courses dealing with scientific and technical
subject matter related to our trade.
professional
element courses (ten hours each) and twenty hours of course
work selected from the applied and technical element. the latter
twenty hours may be taken in a single twenty-hour course or
in two ten-hour courses.
The
UA Bookstore
The
United Association continues to expand and keep on the cutting
edge of the technologies necessary for their instructors. One
of the most important additions to the UA Training Department
over the past four years has been the technology for Distance
Learning.
Along
with the program outlined above, the total concept of On-Line
Teaching and Teaching Techniques was also explored at great
length. The use of the Internet in teaching, forums, on-line
teaching, chat rooms, on-line assignments, e-mail and other
Internet features was explained and demonstrated. These Internet
teaching techniques can be used with courses offered completely
on-line or to supplement traditional classroom courses.
materials
into an on-line format was emphasized, along with procedures
and standards for web page creation and maintenance. Students
had hands-on practice in creating on-line course materials and
uploading to a server.
Focusing
on the use of comtemporary audio-visual equipment and CD-ROMs,
the workshop took instructors through the addition to the training
arsenal of the United Association.
Designed
to help UA Instructors become familiar with Eletrical and Refrigeration,
the course was a must for the instructor specializing in the
HVACR Industry.
operation
and troubleshooting.
The
course provides UA instructors with an introduction to applications
software needed in course development, record keeping and database
development. Hands-on experience was emphasized during the course.
The advanced course emphasizes how the UA instructor can use
the computer for a variety of instructional purposes in local
United Association training programs.
As
the need for high purity installations increase, the need for
the best trained instructors for our apprentices and journeypersons
also increases. To fill this need the UA began specialized courses,
including this one on High Purity Computer Aided Drafting.
throughout
the country.
The
UA's Welder Certification Program has been growing at a rapid
rate. A number of facility owners view this weld cerfiication
as a value added commodity exclusively available through our
Mechanical Contractor Association of America's (MCAA) signatory
contractor. It is vitally important that our instructors pass
these skill along to our apprentices and journeymen that will
prepare them for a bright future in the industry.
requirement
of users and contractors. A user can request that welders be
tested and certiifed for a specialized procedure that may be
needed on a particular project.
The
medical gas system can literally be a patient's lifeline - bringing
medical (breathing) air, nitrous oxide for anesthesia, and pure
oxygen or 
providing
nitrogen to operate surgical power tools. These systems are
not used just in operating rooms. 
dentists'
offices, outpatient clinics and nursing homes. Every day thousands
of lives depend on their proper operation. That is why the UA
is dedicated to training the safest and best Medical Gas Installers
that can be provided. The class was designed to provide both
the general and specific information needed to develop local
training programs throughout the United Association.
Pneumatic
Controls
was
taught. The instruction concentrated on pneumatic temperature
control applications dealing with heating, cooling, humidity,
and year round air conditioning. To give the necessary hands-on
experience, auxilary switches and relays were used extensively
throughout the course.
In
this course the instructors learned "how-to teach methods"
soldering and brazing. Experts from the industry demonstrated
the techniques and procedures successfully employed in teaching
this subject.
This
course presented material including the background information
needed for identifying cross-connections, understanding how
backflows occur and the dangers they present, methods used to
control backflows and recommended applications for each type
of backflow assembly, interpreting plumbing codes and local
ordinances, and inspecting a facility for cross-connections.
Adding
to the summers of training at WCC, will soon come a more permanent
fixture for the UA as it looks to build a regional training
center on the campus. The center will offer specialized one-week
training programs for UA members throughout the year. The partnership
will benefit both the college and the UA. As details continue
to be worked out on the 30,000 square-foot facility, those attending
the UA Training Program had the opportunity to see where the
center will be built next year with the huge sign marking the
spot.
All
in the County sincerely appreciated the UA's choice of Washtenaw
County for the UA Instructor Training Program. That is why we
consider one of our most important endeavors to be making sure
that we do everything we can to make everyone feel welcome.
One of our welcoming gifts is the book bags from the Greater
Michigan UA Local 190 Training Program (picutred left).
Volunteers from the Greater Michigan PMC along with representatives
from the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti Vistors Bureau pass out the
bags during registration. Along with the bags, the Volunteers
help to solve problems with hotel reservations, give directions,
suggest places for dining and shopping, etc.
The
designation "Ceftified Instructor of Journeymen and Apprentices"
was awarded to 169 students as the culmination of five years
of work. George H. Bliss, III, Director of Training, (right)
presided over the Ceremony at Eastern Michigan University's
Pease Auditorium.
UA
General President Martin Maddaloni (left) charged
the class with becoming the country's very best UA Instructors
and Tradespersons possible.
Graduates
Preparing To recieve their Diplomas while their families in
the bleachers, cheer them on
