(ROSENBERG, Texas) – Texas State Technical College’s Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Technology program will use a hybrid teaching model this fall. But the instructor that students will see teaching online may not be from their home campus.

The program’s faculty from the East Williamson County, Fort Bend County, Harlingen, North Texas and Waco campuses will teach courses online to students statewide. Students will complete hands-on labs on their home campuses.

This is the first time the faculty at the campuses have united to teach like this.

“HVAC Technology is going to be one of the first programs to have statewide lectures this fall,” said Lance Lucas, statewide department chair for the program. “For example, one of our instructors out of Waco will be the instructor for lectures for our basic electricity class across the state.”

The hybrid method will apply to every course in HVAC Technology.

“It keeps continuity between the different classes with the hybrid,” said Curtis Christian, an instructor in East Williamson County’s HVAC Technology program. “It will kind of simplify instruction.”

Christian will teach some of Fort Bend County’s HVAC students in the fall. He said he looks forward to meeting them online and listening to the questions they will ask.

Lucas said the current pandemic has created more job opportunities in the HVAC industry. He stated that more people working remotely means that there is a greater need for them to maintain comfort in the heat.

“The outlook is great for HVAC technicians,” he said. “This is Texas, and we always need cooling. With so many people working from home and having their air conditioning units running all day, this industry will not slow down.”

Registration continues statewide for the fall semester.  For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.