Photo by Heather L. Smith/The Aurora Sentinel
AURORA | A new trade school focused entirely on renewable energy, sustainable design and “green” technology welcomed about 200 students to its new, 62,000-square-foot campus in Aurora this week.
Less than a year after the Ecotech Institute opened its first classes in a temporary facility off East Iliff Avenue, officials welcomed new and returning students to its permanent home at 1400 S. Abilene St.
Classes started Monday at the campus near East Mississippi Avenue and Interstate 225, a building that boasts photovoltaic solar panels and wind turbines on the roof, “solar trees” in the parking lot and motion-triggered lighting systems in the classrooms.
According to faculty, staff and administrators from Ecotech, the first school devoted entirely to preparing students for “green” trades, such features hint at the school’s bigger mission.
“The thought is that this will be the hub where we fine tune the program,” said Glenn Wilson, Ecotech’s academic dean. “There is no college like this that prepares (students) for these types of technical jobs in the clean energy field.”
The school’s two-year degree program offers associate degrees in electrical engineering technology, energy and environmental paralegal, energy efficiency, environmental technology, renewable energy technology, solar energy technology and wind energy technology, as well as a certificate program in sustainable interior design. Ecotech’s faculty total about 70, instructors that are required to hold a master’s degree.
The tuition runs at about $350 per credit hour, and the specialized degree programs encompass 96 credit hours for completion.
The school’s general education requirements include math, science, English and computer technology courses.
“When we talk to the people hiring the students, we want them to have a good understanding of the physics, the chemistry, the geography and everything that’s behind the science. That’s why we have general eds,” Wilson said. “Then we have classes that are related to core manufacturing and installing. We have basic electricity, we have safety, digital electronics ... so they understand the equipment in a generic sort of way.”
Ecotech’s parent company, Alabama-based Education Corporation of America, also operates Virginia College, Culinard: The Culinary Institute of Virginia and the Golf Academy of America. In total, the ECA enrolls an estimated 19,000 students.
When officials first announced plans for Ecotech last year, they said enrollment at the Aurora school could range between 700 and 1,200. Now in its third quarter, the trade school is still building its attendance numbers, Wilson said. About 75 new students started classes at the school this week, while more than 100 returning students moved to classes in the new facility.
Still, Ecotech officials say the new building can accommodate more than 1,000 students, a number they’re hoping to eventually surpass. Satellite campuses could be part of the school’s future, officials said, but the Aurora facility will stand as the model for the school’s operations and curriculum.
“One of the key issues is how we built the facility,” said Ecotech President Michael Seifert. “We have the solar trees, we have a major wind turbine; that’s a key issue. We wanted to make sure that as we teach these future employees, that we walk the talk. I think that’s very important.”
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