(MARSHALL, Texas) – Students attending Texas State Technical College this fall have found two programs that have been updated and renamed, and a third that replaces an older program. 

“This is evidence of TSTC’s ongoing efforts to tailor our programs to the precise skill sets Texas employers need,” said Barton Day, TSTC’s provost in Marshall.

The Automation and Controls Technology program (formerly Industrial Controls Technology) teaches automatic control principles, energy industrial safety, electrical theory and motor controls. Graduates can pursue jobs as electrical engineering technicians and industrial engineering technicians, among others. 

“They can stay local,” said Nathan Cleveland, TSTC’s associate provost in Marshall. “They are going to the same places that an instrumentation technician would go. They do a little robotics, they do a little programmable logic controls, a little instrumentation.”

The Industrial Systems program (formerly Industrial Maintenance) offers an associate degree with an electrical specialization, as well as a mechanic-electrical certificate.

“This is a program we can place students in jobs all day long,” Cleveland said. “It is an in-demand occupation.”

Computer Programming Technology replaces Software Development Technology. It teaches advanced Java programming, database programming and mobile applications development. 

“Most of the work that Computer Programming Technology graduates would do around here is the development of business applications,” Cleveland said. “If you go into the San Antonio and Austin areas, you are going to get more into the gaming applications.”

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.