Geotech

Students who obtain the Geotech Certificate will be qualified for entry-level employment opportunities with local government agencies, private firms, and utilities specializing in water resources and water quality, engineering geology, petroleum resources, environmental hazards and remediation and other geotechnical services. Certificate earners will receive hands-on training in field and lab skills necessary for a variety of geotechnical careers.  There are no prerequisite skills for the certificate and enrollment will be limited only by available space in the core classes.  The Geotech Certificate will allow students to qualify for positions in the geotechnical sector prior to or without obtaining a 4-year degree.

Enrollment Completer Projection is 12-18 students per cohort which occurs every four semesters; we anticipate enrolling 18 new students annually.  Enrollment data on the required certificate courses are the following:

Course Code	Course Title	Sections 2018-2019	Projected Annual Added Students
Existing Courses not Specific to the Certificate
GEOL1	Physical Geology	6	18
GEOL9	Environmental Geology	4	18
GEOL9L	Environmental Geology Lab	New	18
MATH 51 or 71	Elementary Algebra or Intermediate Algebra	~200 combined	18
CISB15	Microcomputer Applications	18	18
CHEM9, 10 or 40	Chemistry of Everyday Life/Chemistry for Allied Health Majors/Introductory Chemistry	CHEM9 New CHEM10 - 20 CHEM40 - 20	18
GEOL24, 25 or 29	Geological Field Studies courses	1 each per year	18
AGOR50	Soil Science	2 per year	18
AGOR71	Construction Fundamentals	1 per year	18
GEOG10	Introduction of Geographic Information Systems	2 per year	18
New Courses Specific to the Certificate
GEOL31	Geotechnical Methods 1	New	18
GEOL33	Geotechnical Methods 2	New	18
GEOL32	Work Experience in Geotechnical Methods	New	18

Students who obtain the Geotech Certificate will increase their chances of entry-level employment with local government agencies, private firms, and utilities specializing in geotechnical support services, water resources, water quality, engineering geology, petroleum resources, environmental hazards, and environmental remediation. Students pursuing the Geotech Certificate will be trained in the use of geotechnical analytical devices for field and lab applications; acquire content knowledge and technical/quantitative reasoning/communication skills necessary for geotechnical jobs; practice proper water and soil sample collection protocols; learn the proper methods for dealing with common hazardous materials and learn about proper sample chain of custody methods. The content knowledge and skills acquired in the context of completing the Geotech Certificate will allow students to qualify for positions in the geotechnical and environmental sectors prior to or without obtaining a 2-year or 4-year degree. 

The goal of this program is to prepare students for entry-level positions in a variety of entry-level positions in the geotechnical and environmental sectors. Many of these jobs are dynamic and lead to a variety of very high-paying career tracks with additional training and education.  Some of these career tracks would require students earning a higher education degree after identifying a career of interest.  However, a number of high-paying career tracks would be accessible without a four-year degree.

In order to design the selection of courses for the certificate, we individually surveyed all 19 advisory board members as well as 6 other individuals. Most of those surveyed work in or have worked in the sectors for which the certificate will prepare students to work.  The survey instrument included questions about 12 core classes identified by early advisors and us, as well as questions about skills to include in geotechnical methods classes. As a part of this process we considered what was necessary, at minimum, to prepare competitive students for jobs in a number of highly dynamic career tracks.  The curriculum will also prepare students for immediate or future transfer into four-year geoscience degrees.

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Course #	Course Name	Units	Sequence
GEOL1	Physical Geology	4.0	Y1 Fall
GEOL9	Environmental Geology	3.0	Y1 Fall
GEOL9L	Environmental Geology Lab	1.0	Y1 Fall
MATH51 Or MATH71	Elementary Algebra    or Intermediate Algebra	4.0 5.0	Y1 Fall
CISB15	Microcomputer Applications	3.5	Y1 Spring
CHEM9 Or CHEM10 Or CHEM40	Chemistry of Everyday Life Or  Chemistry for Allied Health Majors  Or  Introduction to General Chemistry	3.0 5.0 5.0	Y1 Spring
GEOL24/25 OrGEOL 29	Field Studies of Central/Southern California   Or Special  Topics in Field Geology	4.0 3.0	Y1 Spring
GEOL31	Geotechnical Methods 1	1.0	Y1 Spring
AGOR50	Soil Science and Management	3.0	Y2 Fall
GEOL24/25	Field Studies of Central/Southern California	N/A	Y2 Fall
GEOL33	Geotechnical Methods 2	1.0	Y2 Fall
SPCH1A	Public Speaking	4.0	Y2 Fall
AGOR71	Construction Fundamentals	3.0	Y2 Fall
GEOG10	Introduction to Geographic Information Systems	3.0	Y2 Fall
GEOL32	Work Experience in Geotechnician/Environmental Technician Skills	1.0	Y2 Spring

Certificate of Achievement

Irvine Valley College, Rio Hondo, Santa Monica, Santiago Canyon

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