Community Colleges & Technical Schools

Eleven community colleges (CCs, including five Native-Hawaiʻian-Serving Institutions (NHSIs) and two Tribal College Universities (TCUs), four HVACR technical/trade schools (TSs), and four 2–4-year colleges near the six EARTH institutions have expressed interest in partnering to expand their HVACR-offerings’ quality and scope. To enhance student access, open-source educational materials based on emerging best practices identified in consultation with EARTH’s industry members will be collaboratively created, piloted, then disseminated to alleviate development costs for NHSIs, TCUs, CCs, and TSs. In addition, EARTH will sponsor a RET program, targeting science teachers from these schools to broaden student and community dissemination of emerging technologies and teaching materials. EARTH institutions will co-host a RET program each year with in-person research experiences and virtual cohort activities. EARTH will partner with industry to pursue an integrated approach to developing, piloting, and disseminating courses, broader curricula, and capstone projects.