Vectren And Ivy Tech Community College Partner To Offer Degree Program To Employees

Vectren, a CenterPoint Energy company, and Ivy Tech Community College, have partnered to offer the Achieve Your Degree program, which will allow lineworkers and natural gas construction workers employed by Vectren the opportunity to earn college credentials, as well as an Associate of Applied Science degree through a combination of apprenticeship/on-the-job training and Ivy Tech coursework. Required on-the-job training will be assigned course credit and count as credit hours toward the degree.

“We are proud to partner with Ivy Tech Community College to allow our lineworkers and gas apprentices the opportunity to further their education and obtain an associate degree, while developing their skills in their field of work,” said J.D. Street, director of technical training at Vectren. “Vectren values its employees and supports a path toward personal and professional development.”

Sue Ellspermann, president of Ivy Tech Community College, said, “Ivy Tech is honored to serve Vectren and its employees with our Achieve Your Degree program. Our goal with this program is to help Vectren employees earn degrees and credentials.”

Lineworkers and natural gas construction workers working for Vectren will have the opportunity to earn an interdisciplinary certificate, technical certificate and ultimately an Energy Technology Associate of Applied Science degree by completing relevant coursework along with their on-the-job training. To prevent some of the barriers that may come with completing a degree while working full-time, employees may complete coursework while carrying out their apprenticeship/on-the-job training. Several of the classes can be taken in an online format. Through Ivy Tech’s Achieve Your Degree initiative, billing of tuition and some fees are deferred until the end of the semester when Vectren’s tuition reimbursement will take effect.

“Vectren’s commitment to its employees is outstanding,” said Kelly Cozart, interim chancellor of Ivy Tech Evansville campus. “It was important to the company that lineworkers and gas construction workers had the opportunity to earn college credentials as they complete each portion of their training. We are so pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to these individuals and look forward to seeing the program grow.”

Those employees who have already completed qualified training, up to five years prior, will have course credits retroactively credited to them to count toward a certificate and/or degree if they apply to begin optional coursework. For more information on the Achieve Your Degree program, visit www.ivytech.edu/achieveyourdegree.