Wallace State: Auto Manufacturing

Admission Requirements and Curriculum (catalog)

AWARD OFFERED Certificate, Associate in Applied Science

Wallace State joined with four other community colleges in Alabama to form the Consortium for the Alabama Regional Center for Auto Manufacturing (CARCAM) to create an advanced curriculum specifically designed for auto manufacturers and tierone, tier-two and tier-three suppliers in Alabama.

The AMT curriculum is based upon automotive industry demands with built in flexibility to adapt to changing technology in the workplace. Students will receive training in electronics, hydraulics, programmable logic controllers, welding, machine tool technology and robotics as well as problem solving and team building. Graduates will be considered multi-craft technicians and are eligible for employment at the more than 200 automotive plants in the state.

Students in the Wallace State’s AMT program will receive state-ofthe-art training on the latest machining, welding and robotics equipment and will be able to apply their skills through cooperative education opportunities.

Scholarships are available through the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association. To qualify, a student must be an Alabama resident who has recently graduated from high school or earned a GED and plans to enroll full-time in an automotive manufacturing program at a two-year college in Alabama. For more information, visit www.aama.to.

According to the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama, 72 percent of production workers require a minimum level of education beyond the high school level in order to perform highly-skilled tasks in technologically-rich environments.

The auto industry in Alabama accounted for 44,834 direct jobs and 79,356 indirect jobs in 2005, an increase of 44 percent that year, with a total payroll of $4.8 billion. An additional 13,200 jobs are expected to be available through 2025. Median hourly earnings in the automotive manufacturing industries with the largest number of employees were $22.45 in May 2004. The average weekly wage in 2004 in the Alabama Motor Vehicle Manufacturing industry was $1,318. (Source: U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics and www.edpa.org)

Joe Hendrix, Advisor
256/352-8154
joe.hendrix@wallacestate.edu