Certificate program is first to certify personnel in the apartment industry to a single national standard
Contact: John Dendy, Public Information Officer, 210/486-2259 or SPC-PR@alamo.edu
St. Philip's College Contact (for the Certificate Program): Vernard Grice, Director, Partnerships & Extended Services Division of Workforce Development & Continuing Education 210/486-7170 or vgrice@alamo.edu
Contact for the San Antonio Apartment Association: Rosemarie L. Selman, Executive Director, 210/692-7797 or Rose@saaaonline.org
SAN ANTONIO (Sept. 8, 2009) -- The announcement of a unique program to certify personnel in the apartment industry to a single national standard is Sept. 22 at 8 a.m. in Building 1 at the St. Philip’s College Southwest Campus on 800 Quintana Road.
The new Certificate for Apartment Maintenance Technician program at St. Philip’s College is a partnership of the San Antonio Apartment Association, the Texas Apartment Association Education Foundation, the National Apartment Association Education Institute and St. Philip’s College, explained Rosemarie L. Selman, Executive Director of the San Antonio Apartment Association.
“The CAMT program is in the application process of becoming accredited by the American National Standards Institute and this program is the first of its kind to address the many components of apartment maintenance skills standards,” Selman said.
“The multifamily housing industry’s demand for well trained and qualified maintenance technicians is high,” said Selman. “The need for this segment of essential personnel is not only in San Antonio, it is nationwide,” Selman said. “The purpose of the program is to provide individuals with a viable career path in multifamily housing maintenance and provide well trained maintenance personnel to companies that offer fair wages, good benefits and opportunities for advancement,” said Selman.
“The goal of the program is to reach out to people in the workforce who need training to become employable in this field,” Selman said. “The goal is also to encourage companies to train existing maintenance personnel and hire individuals trained through this program,” said Selman.
Apartment maintenance is a full-time, year-round job with good benefits according to the National Apartment Association Education Institute. Salaries range from $20,000 for a groundskeeper to $40,000 for a maintenance manager of 300-500 units to $70,000 for a regional maintenance manager.
“Courses will be taught by St. Philip’s College Allied Construction Trades instructors and industry professionals provided by the San Antonio Apartment Association,” Selman said.
Web sites/Resources related to this story include:
1) St. Philip’s College
2) National Apartment Association Education Institute www.naahq.org
3) Texas Apartment Association Education Foundation www.taa.org/member/eduFoundation/
4) San Antonio Apartment Association www.saaaonline.org
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About St. Philip’s: Bishop James Steptoe Johnston of the St. Philip’s Episcopal Church of the West Texas Diocese founded St. Philip’s College in 1898. Today, St. Philip’s College is a multi-campus institution of the Alamo Colleges and serves a semester enrollment of nearly 10,000 credit and more than 8,000 continuing education students. St. Philip’s is a Historically Black College and Hispanic Serving Institution and is the only college in the nation that carries this dual designation. As “A Point of Pride in the Community,” St. Philip’s is among the oldest and most diverse community colleges in the United States.
About TAAEF: The TAA Education Foundation (TAAEF) supports industry-specific professional education and career-oriented programs benefitting Texas rental housing owners and operators and the state’s rental housing industry. TAAEF cultivates trained talent for the rental housing industry by supporting formalized training in residential property management at all levels, including programs at universities, colleges and community colleges. In addition, the
organization promotes careers in and raises awareness of advancement opportunities in the rental housing industry, and identifies and considers funding for industry education and career-oriented resources benefiting rental housing owners and operators.