NIC Diesel Technology Program

Buses, boats, trucks, bulldozers – students in North Idaho College’s Diesel Technology program are learning to handle anything with a diesel engine. And they’re doing it all while packed like sardines in a facility too small to accommodate them – though not for much longer.

The Diesel Technology program is one of several NIC programs that will soon have a new home in the Career and Technical Education Facility in Rathdrum. Programs slated to move are scattered among current regional facilities on and off campus; the new facility will bring them together.

Some of the current facilities haven’t been updated in almost 40 years or are not permanent. Others are too small to meet demand, such as Diesel Technology.

“Our current space is very small,” said Tony Christensen, NIC Diesel Technology instructor. “Students are tripping over each other.”

The Diesel Technology program prepares students for employment as entry-level truck/heavy equipment technicians. About 28 freshmen enroll in the program each year, with anywhere from 20 to 28 sophomores returning, but its current facility on campus was originally designed to accommodate about 12 students. Put simply: The program has outgrown the space.

The CTE facility will solve that problem. Construction is projected to be completed next summer, in time for the start of the fall semester in 2016. Christensen expects about 65 students next year – and with a brand new, 10,587-square-foot Diesel Tech lab, they’ll have plenty of room to work.

“We’ll be able to operate much more effectively and safely,” he said.

The facility will be constructed with $15 million in capital reserve funds set aside by the NIC Board of Trustees, without raising taxes. A capital campaign is planned to raise another $5 million needed to pay for equipment, scholarships and the funding necessary to sustain equipment needs.

Mike Nutt, a sophomore in the program, won’t attend class in the new facility, but he’s excited for the opportunity that future students will have.

“I think it’s going to be a huge asset,” Nutt said. “They’ve done a great job with the space they have, but I think for NIC to get the most benefit out of what (instructors Tony Christensen and Lonnie Raaum) are doing, they need some room.”

Christensen says employers regularly call him to ask about graduating students they might like to hire. His students have gone on to work in mining, the trucking industry and on oil fields, as well as in non-traditional equipment fields like open-pit mining and managing equipment on golf courses.

“It’s a very diverse field,” he said. “There’s a huge amount of work for these individuals to do. Basically any students who wanted to go out and do industry work have been able to find jobs.”

For more information on the Diesel Technology program, call 208.769.3448 or visit www.nic.edu/tech and select Diesel Technology.

Diesel Technician

At NIC: Two-year Advanced Technical Certificate

In-Demand: 9 percent growth in job demand between now and 2022

How much will I earn? Median pay $42,320 per year

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