The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and Front Range Community College (FRCC) have teamed up to develop a first-in-the-nation degree program in highway maintenance management. The partnership is expected to become a national model for use by other states.
The first classes in FRCC’s new highway maintenance management program recently began. The coursework is designed to give employees of CDOT—as well as state DOTs and public works agencies across the country—the education they need to meet the increasing complexity and demands of the nation’s transportation network.
The program aims to help highway maintenance agencies improve their succession planning for management positions—enabling them to recruit and retain well-trained, effective and professional managers.
Who is this program for? The new degree path is geared toward supervisors and workers in the industry who wish to advance in their organization—and will help them prepare for management positions. Participants who complete the program will earn a two-year Associate of Applied Science degree.
The new FRCC program was initiated by CDOT’s Division of Highway Maintenance—and will allow participants to earn credit for any prior training and education they may have done over the course of their career.
Courses in the new program will teach management and leadership skills—such as supervising employees, budgeting and project management. It will also train participants in the technical skills needed for highway maintenance and operation—such as highway safety, winter storm operations, maintaining bridges, traffic operations, emergency/incident management and environmental protection.
The program will use as much of the industry-provided training as possible to award college credits through FRCC’s prior learning assessment process. Students in the industry have a significant amount of required and incidental training in order to perform their jobs, and the program will capture as much of that prior learning as possible and award college credit.
FRCC crafted the new program with significant input from members of the American Public Works Association (Colorado Chapter), leadership from the Colorado Local Technical Assistance Program, and leaders from a variety of local Colorado public works agencies. The AAS degree is relevant to state, county and municipal public works agencies—as well as private sector companies involved in the maintenance of roads and bridges.
About Front Range Community College
FRCC offers more than 100 degree and certificate programs from locations in Boulder County, Larimer County, Westminster, Brighton, and online. FRCC is a member of the Colorado Community College System.
About the Colorado Community College System
The Colorado Community College System (CCCS) is the state’s largest system of higher education, serving 138,000 students annually at 13 colleges and 39 locations across Colorado. Our open access mission ensures all Coloradans who aspire to enrich their lives have access to quality higher education opportunities.
