Montgomery County Community College Offers Water Management Certificate Programs

Montgomery County Community College is offering a 10-month online certification program beginning fall 2009 to meet the growing demand for licensed operators in the water management field.

Jenifer Fields, a water program manager for the Department of Environmental Protection’s southeast region, is collaborating with Rosiland Johnson, Workforce Development and Continuing Education program coordinator at the College, to develop online courses for the wastewater management and drinking water certificate programs.

While the College currently offers both programs in a traditional classroom setting at its Central Campus in Blue Bell and West Campus in Pottstown, the online programs will provide access to the courses for people from any location. Upon completion of the 180-hour program, enrollees are eligible to take the DEP certification exams for their operator licenses.

According to Johnson, the programs are invaluable for employees in the field who need additional training for their positions or who want to advance in their careers.

“People already in the industry can take selective modules as continuing education or to prepare for the license exam,” Johnson said.

The demand for trained, licensed operators is growing, especially as water treatment technology becomes increasingly more sophisticated.

“There is a severe projected shortage of licensed wastewater and drinking water operators,” Fields said. “This program at Montgomery County Community College was started to recruit and sufficiently train existing unlicensed operators and others to pass their licensing exams.”

The training programs include basics, like math and chemistry; treatment specific training, such as disinfection, biological treatment and filtration; and management issues, such as permits, ethics and regulations, Fields said.

“The DEP serves in an advisory role for the program, as well as in curriculum development,” Fields said. “We look at the needs in the industry to see where new curriculum needs to be developed and review the exam scores to determine where curriculum needs to be revised.”

Trained, licensed operators have greater career potential and higher salaries than do non-licensed employees, Fields said.

The College is offering the online DEP Wastewater Management Certificate program during the fall 2009 semester and the online Drinking Water Certificate program in the near future. The programs will also continue to be offered in the traditional classroom setting at both campuses.

To learn more about the programs, contact Rosalind Johnson at 610-718-1979 or send email to: rjohnson1@mc3.edu.