COSTA MESA : OCC to Guarantee Its Students’ Skills

Some Orange Coast College graduates soon will come with a guarantee.

Beginning with the 1993-94 academic year, the college’s career and vocational education office will guarantee the skills of graduates in nine programs. If a student is judged by an employer to be lacking, the student will be given up to six units to correct deficiencies--free of charge.

“This skill guarantee is part of OCC’s public accountability to its customers,” said Patricia Stanley, administrative dean of career education. “Our customers include students as well as local employers. This guarantee sends employers a powerful message about the quality of Orange Coast College’s ‘products.’ ”

The college is the first of California’s 107 community colleges to institute the guarantee program, according to college officials. If successful, it may be extended to include other OCC career and transfer programs.

To be eligible, students must be employed full time within 12 months of program completion or graduation and the job must be related to their field of study.

Study areas included in the guarantee program include airframe and power plant, culinary arts, emergency medical technician, English as a second language, film/video, fitness specialists, journalism, office information systems and ornamental horticulture.

“Our students will be technically proficient based on the curriculum in the program at the time they enrolled, or we will bear the expense of correcting deficiencies,” Stanley said.