{"id":197336,"date":"2023-04-13T07:00:42","date_gmt":"2023-04-13T11:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=197336"},"modified":"2023-04-21T14:50:18","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T18:50:18","slug":"uconn-health-helps-facilitate-training-in-the-trades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2023\/04\/uconn-health-helps-facilitate-training-in-the-trades\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Health Helps Facilitate Training in the Trades"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the newest trainees at UConn Health is neither a medical student, dental student, resident, nor fellow.<\/p>\n

\"Paul
Paul Stepka, 16, plans to work as a pre-apprentice under the mentorship of UConn Health HVAC technicians through June 2024, when he graduates from Goodwin Tech. (Photo provided by E.C. Goodwin Technical High School)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He\u2019s an aspiring heating, ventilation, and air conditioning technician.<\/p>\n

Paul Stepka, 16, of Farmington, a junior at E.C. Goodwin Technical High School in New Britain, is UConn Health\u2019s first pre-apprentice under the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System’s Work-Based Learning program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a teaching entity, an educational facility, and so not only are we teaching medical students and dental students, but we\u2019re also teaching our future trade workers,\u201d says Eric Kruger, UConn Health\u2019s vice president for facilities development and operations.<\/p>\n

Recognizing a shortage of electricians, plumbers, and HVAC technicians in today\u2019s workforce, UConn Health is now a sponsor with the Department of Labor, and is partnering with Goodwin Tech and A.I. Prince Technical High School in Hartford to provide work-based learning experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can train skilled trade apprentices and pre-apprentices to eventually become licensed journey people.\u201d Kruger says.<\/p>\n

Sometimes referred to collectively as qualified craft workers, they require a journeyman\u2019s license from the state, obtainable after 8,000 apprenticeship hours and successful competition of a licensing exam.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find HVAC really interesting because it\u2019s a lot of different stuff combined, a lot of plumbing, a lot its own stuff, and then there\u2019s carpentry that you\u2019ll do,\u201d says Stepka, whose first day at UConn Health was Monday. \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to learning a lot more about HVAC by being actually on-site.\u201d<\/p>\n

His mentor is Chris Linnhoff, who\u2019s been with UConn Health for 18 years, the last 12 as an HVAC supervisor.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be working with all of the guys, we\u2019ll take him to different jobs,\u201d Linnhoff says. \u201cWe have air conditioners, heaters, refrigerators here. He\u2019ll be working on a lot of different equipment. He\u2019ll be shadowing our techs, see what they\u2019re doing, and he could ask questions and we\u2019ll explain what we\u2019re doing. We\u2019ll start with maintenance, and repairs will come later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Group
From left: Isaiah Curtis (Connecticut Department of Labor), Paul Stepka, Sr., HVAC pre-apprentice Paul Stepka, Ray Bennettson (UConn Health), Chris Linnhoff (UConn Health), and Eric Kruger (UConn Health) on the day Stepka signed on as UConn Health’s first pre-apprentice (Photo provided by E.C. Goodwin Technical High School)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the rest of his junior year, Stepka will work two days a week at UConn Health. He can work more during the summer, then as a senior he\u2019ll alternate two-week intervals as a pre-apprentice at UConn Health and a high school student at Goodwin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be great for him,\u201d Linnhoff says. \u201cHe\u2019ll have a lot of experience in big, heavy commercial HVAC. You get school training, but you need hands-on training, and that\u2019s what he\u2019s going to get here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kruger, who led UConn Facilities and Operations in Storrs before joining UConn Health in 2022, implemented a similar work-based learning program in Storrs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The idea is to open a pipeline from trade school to potential employment at UConn Health, while in the process providing hands-on experience to the next generation of tradespeople.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re finding about the available workforce out in the trades right now is, it\u2019s tough to fill some of these positions,\u201d says Ray Bennettson, assistant director of facilities management and operations. \u201cThere are not a lot of unemployed trade people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The aim is to have other students, from both Goodwin Tech and Prince Tech, follow Stepka into UConn Health\u2019s work-based learning program, with as many as six pre-apprentices rotating in by next school year. A group of HVAC students from Goodwin Tech is scheduled to visit UConn Health April 19.<\/p>\n

\"students<\/a>
students gathered in boiler room<\/div>
230419-Goodwin-students-boilers_103141670-1000x1000<\/div>
Goodwin Tech students start their tour in the boiler room in UConn Health's Academic Research Building April 19, 2023. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)<\/div><\/div>\"Students<\/a>
Students take a tour of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in the penthouse<\/div>
230419-Goodwin-students-penthouse-Linnhoff_103902297-1000x1000<\/div>
HVAC supervisor Chris Linnhoff leads Goodwin Tech students on a tour of UConn Heath's mechanical systems April 19, 2023. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)<\/div><\/div>\"perspective<\/a>
perspective on campus from penthouse<\/div>
230419-Goodwin-students-penthouse-Linnhoff_104658503_HDR-1500x1000<\/div>
HVAC supervisor Chris Linnhoff shows Goodwin Tech students the view from the penthouse level of UConn Health's academic building April 19, 2023. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)<\/div><\/div>\"Students<\/a>
Students touring the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in the penthouse<\/div>
230419-Goodwin-students-penthouse-Bennettson_105238169-1500x844<\/div>
Ray Bennettson, assistant director of facilities management and operations, explains some of the ventilation functions in the penthouse of UConn Health's main building April 19, 2023. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)<\/div><\/div>\"Students<\/a>
Students take a tour of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in the penthouse<\/div>
230419-Goodwin-students-penthouse-Linnhoff_104847481-1500x1000<\/div>
HVAC supervisor Chris Linnhoff leads Goodwin Tech students on a tour of UConn Heath's mechanical systems April 19, 2023. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>