​ A recent grant of $30,000 from the Arizona Public Service (APS) Foundation will allow Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC)’s Electric Utility Technology (EUT) Program to reach new heights. Thanks, in part to this grant, students at CGCC’s EUT program will continue to learn the best techniques to climb utility poles and repair overhead and underground distribution wires.

The APS Foundation’s focus is to improve Arizona student performance in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), according to Tammy McLeod, vice president of the APS Foundation.

“We are excited about this partnership as it represents our continued commitment to investing in STEM programs, education and ultimately Arizona,” said McLeod. “We are honored to be able to contribute to Chandler-Gilbert Community College’s EUT program, its faculty and equipment and to the success of the program’s students as they enter the job market.”

The EUT program, which started 13 years ago, offers real-world training to its students. Students gain practical experience such as pulling utility distribution wires into place on distribution poles. The APS Foundation grant will provide funding for additional equipment to further familiarize students with technology, situations and equipment they will use in future jobs and on projects.

Offered on CGCC’s Williams Campus, the EUT program is designed to produce a technical certificate or Associate of Applied Science degree. In addition, it provides students with basic preparation in overhead and underground construction and maintenance procedures.

“Students entering the program are always surprised at how frustrating, hard and challenging it is to learn how to climb a pole but by the end of the second semester it becomes easy,” said Mark D. Weaver, director of CGCC’s Electric Utility Technology Program. “The EUT program graduates more than 80 percent of its students and places more than 60 percent in utility industry jobs.”

To date, the EUT program has facilitated the hiring of 34 pre-apprentice and apprentice line workers. Given that these students live, train and work in Arizona, they are accustomed to Arizona weather, which above and beyond the training is another advantage to this program. This type of success story is only made possible through strong relationships and participation from industry partners, such as APS and the APS Foundation. Since the beginning of the program, APS has donated tools, talent and time to the EUT program.

Above and beyond financial contributions, APS journeymen linemen are a familiar sight on CGCC’s Williams Campus as they regularly come into EUT program labs to give lectures on the line worker trade and the latest issues. They also provide climbing demonstrations to students.