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ACS program encourages community college students to become chemical technicians

New grant program aims to fill gaps in the chemical technical professional workforce

by Nina Notman, special to C&EN
October 27, 2024 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 102, Issue 34

 

Three smiling students stand in front of a notice board.
Credit: Courtesy of Rashanique Quarels-Allen
Alan Escobar, Andre Castro, and Farshad Shairmahomed from Rowan College of South Jersey worked in Rowan University’s chemistry research laboratories over the summer to build their skills as chemical technicians.

This summer, four students from a New Jersey community college spent 10 weeks at Rowan University gaining skills to prepare them for careers as chemical technicians. They learned how to use instrumentation that is far beyond the budgets of most community colleges, says Christina Nase, a professor of chemistry at Rowan College of South Jersey, whose students took part in the internship program. The internships’ aim was to make the students more marketable by developing their soft and technical skills, and Nase says they have come back to her classes “a very confident bunch.”

These internships were funded by an American Chemical Society PrepareCTP Seed Grant; CTP stands for “chemical technical professionals.” These seed grants are a part of the 2022–26 ACS Strategic Initiative on Fostering a Skilled Technical Workforce, which focuses on increasing the flow of skilled technical workers into the chemical industry. The chemical industry will soon be facing a significant shortage of technicians, the result of a high number of retirements and low levels of interest in chemical technician careers, says John-David R. Rocha, a program manager in the ACS Education Division.

Two students wearing lab coats and safety glasses stand by a fume hood; one is pouring liquid from a bottle into a fritted filter funnel.
Credit: Courtesy of Rashanique Quarels-Allen
Rowan College of South Jersey students Alan Escobar (left) and Andre Castro filter crude product through a fritted filter funnel using ethyl acetate in Gustavo Moura-Letts’s Rowan University laboratory.

The seed grants support one potential solution—upskilling community college students in 2-year programs and encouraging more of them to consider careers as chemical technicians. “We’re making people aware of opportunities that don’t require a 4-year degree and what the pathways [to getting those jobs] look like,” Rocha says. Community technical colleges can “play a central role” in introducing their students to future chemical company employers, he adds.

Another component funded by the Rowan College of South Jersey grant is career preparation activities for all its students seeking associate of science degrees. Local employers will be supporting a series of talks and mock interviews during the fall 2024 and spring 2025 semesters. Participating employers include Johnson Matthey, Dow, and Wedgewood Pharmacy. Early-career chemical technicians and former students will also be coming to speak with students about their positions and how they got them. Students will be “learning about how to use LinkedIn and how to use Handshake” too, says Rashanique D. Quarels-Allen, a professor of chemistry at Rowan University.

Two other ACS PrepareCTP Seed Grants were awarded in 2024. Lakeland Community College received funding to support internships and scholarships. The goal is to encourage more students to stay on the chemistry track and earn chemical technician certificates, says Sarah Preston, a professor of chemistry at the college. The plan is still going through the college approval process, but the intention is to run a one-credit course in summer 2025 for second-year students, she says. The course will include weekly professional development sessions that focus on topics such as preparing resumes, interviewing, and learning about what to expect in the workplace as a chemical technician. The course will conclude with a month-long internship at a local chemical company such as Lubrizol or Sherwin-Williams. A handful of one-off scholarships are also being funded through the grant. “The idea is to fully fund all the chemistry classes in their second year, because that’s where the drop-off occurs, between the first and second year,” says Preston. It is hoped that the scholarships will entice students to major in chemistry.

The third 2024 ACS PrepareCTP Seed Grant was awarded to Arizona Western College, which will use it to acquire analytical instruments for use by students in its associate in science program. “We will purchase digital polarimeters . . . to measure food chemistry components such as sucrose and fructose in beverages and sugar content in honey,” says Scott Donnelly, a professor of chemistry at the college. The grant will also fund two portable alcohol meters and two manual polarimeters. These new instruments will enable students in this highly agricultural area to participate in more laboratory classes directly related to local chemical technician jobs.

The 2024 seed grants each support different ways that ACS can help bring more chemical technical professionals into the community going forward, says Rocha. Two more years of ACS PrepareCTP Seed Grants are planned. “We are now in the review process for the 2025 proposals [and] we’re looking at a window for 2026 applications next summer,” he says.

Nina Notman is a freelance writer based in Salisbury, England.

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