RTCC Students Pass
Vehicle Inspectors’ Exam

The Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles and the Randolph Technical Career Center teamed 10 years ago in an experiment to test the viability of certifying students as state inspection mechanics.

The program recently celebrated its 10^th anniversary by certifying eight newly-minted State of Vermont Certified Inspection Mechanics. Sam Thompson, DMV’s field inspector, praised the program begun at RTCC by instructor Damon Jillson as a model program that has now spread to other schools.

"It started here with three students and now we do this at six other schools," said Thompson, who, along with Field Investigators Denise Kingsbury and Everett Burns, administered the testing at RTCC.

"Students in RTCC’s automotive technology program are not only exposed to the latest in automotive technology," said Jillson, an ASE-certified instructor, "they are also eligible to obtain college credits, become certified inspection mechanics, and may work in the industry in a cooperative program while still taking class."

All eight students who took the inspection certification exam this year passed.

"The students were well prepared and exceeded the norm, we usually expect about an 85% passing rate; at RTCC we got 100%," said Thompson.

The program is a great benefit to the industry according to Thompson, in that it provides needed inspection mechanics for local garages and dealerships.

"Students who become certified and who work in the industry already, often get immediate pay raises of about $.50 an hour," said Thompson. He added that another value of the program is that the students develop "good habits" with regards to their inspection duties in the tech center and those carry over into the industry.

Students are not charged a fee for the exam and they receive a state inspection manual as part of the process. This year the manual was revised, and the RTCC students were among the first to receive the newly-updated version.

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