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TRAINING level captains. Eventually, 300 participants will have trained Center is in its ? nal phase of construction. The facility will and obtained one or more industry credential. The program serve as the site for certi? cate and associate degree maritime began in May 2014 and continues through 2016. training delivered through U.S. Coast Guard-required and

The soon-to-be-completed (March 2016) Maritime approved course work. Maritime staff and faculty have al-

Center of Excellence will include a 23,000 square feet ad- ready begun moving to the new Maritime Technology and ministration/education building and a 1,500 square foot Training Center based in La Porte, Texas.

saltwater pool with enclosure for expanded Water Survival, The San Jacinto College Maritime Technology and

HUET, Able-Bodied Seaman and Lifeboatman training. Training Center showcases a training dock with lifeboats,

The state-of-the-art building is intended to create a cutting- davits and fast rescue craft, and a separate industry dock edge training facility to meet growing occupational needs for crew changes. This also allows for vessel speci? c train- of maritime, transportation and safety-related ? elds, as well ing for local maritime companies and serves as an aquatic as to provide a one-stop shop for licensing and certi? ca- training facility for sea survival and life raft training. 15 tions for inland waterways and offshore maritime clients. classrooms house engineering simulators to train maritime

Delgado regularly reaches out into the local community, engineers for hydraulic, electric, pump control, motor con- providing programs that articulate with secondary schools, trol, heating and air conditioning, and refrigeration and a four-year universities and industry apprenticeships. multipurpose space for industry conferences and corporate

According to Rick Schwab, Senior Director of the Mari- partner meetings has also been created.

time Program at Delgado, the new facility will bring growth. The new facility includes three bridge simulators, all do-

He explains, “Numbers have steadily increased over the nated by the Houston Pilots. These ship control bridges years, with even higher enrollments expected to coincide are a part of a 3,748 square-foot simulation suite, complete with the new building expansion. The new center will have with instructor stations, debrief classrooms and develop- additional classroom space and increased classroom size. ment stations. A full-mission engine room simulator is

This will afford us the opportunity to take in more students planned for the future and will interact and interconnect at once and to offer a wider variety of training at any given with the bridge simulators to allow vessel management ex- time. In anticipation of this, there are several new programs ercises to accommodate deck and engineering of? cers and in development that will be offered in the new building, crew at the same time, in the same scenario.

such as QMED and Engine Resource Management.” The latest campus expansion, says San Jacinto’s maritime

Delgado’s Regina Radosta told MarineNews in De- instructor Captain Amy Arrowood, has been the maritime cember, “For inland and coastal credentialed personnel / program’s 10 percent annual growth which has outgrown students, I would say that quality sets us apart from the the school’s current facilities located on Highway 225. But competition. From course development to information the maritime aspect of the school straddles both sides of delivery, every step is taken with care and attention to the education equation – both academic and professional detail. The ? nal result re? ects every staff member’s most training. Arrowood explains, “Our maritime program has important questions: What is the pertinent information the two sides. We have some students that are getting their as- participant will need? What is the best way to impart this sociates degree and then we have the professional mariners information so that the student will retain it and be able to that come in for endorsements, upgrades and renewals for utilize it in the workplace? their licenses and Coast Guard training. Right now, there are 42 students in the credit program actually studying to

San Jacinto College get their associates degree in Maritime Transportation.”

In the considerable shadow cast by the San Jacinto Me- And, says Arrowood, this particular degree in Maritime morial, and overlooking the Houston Ship Channel, the Transportation is geared towards those looking for posi-

San Jacinto College Maritime Technology and Training tions on vessels.

January 2016

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