The Road Building Equipment Service Technician (R-BEST) program provides students with knowledge and hands-on training in a variety of subjects from the curriculum of the Industrial Maintenance Technician program and the Diesel Mechanics Technician program at Chattanooga State’s TCAT Division. Topics of study include pumps, drives, valves, hydraulics and pneumatics, and programmable logic controls (PLC’s) from the Industrial Maintenance program and electrical/electronics, preventative maintenance, and hydraulics from the Diesel program.
R-BEST students will enroll in the Industrial Maintenance program for two semesters studying pumps, drives, valves, hydraulics and pneumatics and programmable logic controls (PLC’s), and one semester in the Diesel program where electrical/electronics, preventative maintenance and hydraulics will be taught. Students will also serve two semesters as an intern at a regional road building equipment dealership.
The academic portions of the program will be taught at Chattanooga State in the Tennessee College of Applied Technology division.
Selected students must commit to the five semester program – three semesters of classroom/laboratory activities and two semesters of a paid internship. Semesters are consecutive; there is no summer break.
The two internship semesters will be spent at a road building equipment dealership in the southeast region.
Students who complete the program will receive a Technical Diploma from the Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Chattanooga State.
Graduates of the RBEST program will be eligible for a service technician job at a road building equipment dealership, and may be offered a position at their sponsoring dealership.
Yes, all participants will receive an hourly wage during the internships.
Yes, continuous registration for all five semesters is required in order to be eligible to receive the Wilder-Naifeh Technical Skills grant and the clock hours for the internship component.
The cost to attend TCAT at Chattanooga State is among the lowest in the Tennessee Board of Regents system. Tuition and fees for the 2015-16 academic year (fall, spring and summer) are expected to be approximately $1,350 per semester.
Yes. Eligible Tennessee residents are encouraged to apply for state grants (Wilder-Naifeh Technical Skills Grant, TN Promise or TN Reconnect). Eligibility requirements vary for each grant and a financial aid counselor is available to offer assistance.
For in-state and out-of-state students, Federal Pell Grants and student loans may be available as well. Students must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Assistance (FAFSA) online to qualify for financial aid (WNTSG, Pell Grant and/or Student Loans).
The eight to ten students for the 2015 fall class will be selected through a competitive application and interview process. The application deadline for priority consideration is Monday, July 13, 2015.