“Mechatronics” Partnership Between DACC and Correctional Center Well Underway

One of the newest words in both education and rehabilitation is “Mechatronics.”  And it came up during a presentation at Thursday (Jan 26th) evening’s Danville Area Community College Board of Trustees meeting.  As Dean for Business and Technology Terri Cummings explains, DACC classes are taught to inmates out at the Danville Correctional Center, with the goal of building careers in maintenance technology usable right here in local industry.

AUDIO: It prepares the students to be able to work in a manufacturing environment; and work with the machinery, repairing the machinery.  (And) understanding it, the electrical components; because of course nowadays everything is electrical, and leads to the robotics.

DACC Director of Educational Programming McKenna Allision gives Board of Trustees update on the new Mechatronics program collaboration with the Danville Correctional Center.

Director of Educational Programming for DACC McKenna Allison says if inmates are interested and qualify, they are accepted; and often given a brand new lease on life.

AUDIO: And they have to provide us with a copy of their GED or high school diploma.  And then if they have any other additional college transcripts, we’ll take those.  And we send those (the documents) to campus, and they’re treated like any other student that’s here.  We’ll put them through an ACCUPLACER test, and make sure that they can place in some of our courses.  It’s nice to see pride in their work; and them feeling that they can be successful.

DACC president Dr. Stephen Nacco says the whole idea of Mechatronics was basically a challenge from Maria Miller, who’s an education leader within the Department of Corrections.

AUDIO: And out of the whole state of Illinois, this is the first correctional center with Mechatronics, and she said “Could you do it?”  And DACC said, “Sure we’ll do it!”  Because other correctional centers weren’t quite ready to do it, but we did it.  And it makes it so that they could handle problem solving; benefits in hydraulics, benefits in electrical, and things like that.  It gives them the basics to lead to really good jobs.

The Mechatronics program officially began just recently, on January 9th.