History of the Institution:
During 1988, the Maintenance Director of the Indianapolis Housing Agency contacted AC/C TECH about training his maintenance staff. AC/C TECH was asked to provide training in areas related to HVAC Maintenance, Plumbing Maintenance, Interior/Exterior Building Maintenance, Electrical Wiring Maintenance, and Appliance Repair. The training was unique, specialized, and geared towards maintenance workers who had limited experience as well as limited educational background. Some didn’t even have a high school diploma, so we simply focused on changing the mindset of those workers from a janitorial perspective to a highly skilled maintenance technician who could diagnose failures and make repairs. Key indicators included but were not limited to how students completed job assignments and understood employer expectations. More specifically, we considered how effectively students completed work-orders, followed diagnostic & repair procedures, conducted planned maintenance activities, met job task standards, maintained a clean and safe working environment, and established good customer relation skills. Lastly, the training was setup to help the maintenance staff earn pay rate increases based on skills developed, which amounted to 25 cents per hour for every group of courses successfully completed, until $1.25 maximum was reached.
During 1993, AC/C TECH pursued state approval through the Indiana Board for Proprietary Education to issue Technical Certificates and to award an Associate of Applied Science Degree. On May 25, 1993, AC/C TECH met all requirements and subsequently earned authorization to issue technical certificates. Six months later, on November 10, 2023, AC/C TECH earned authorization to issue an AAS Degree in Residential & Apartment Technology. From that point forward, AC/C TECH has been recognized as a post-secondary vocational institution.
Also during 1993, AC/C TECH sought approval to provide training and testing for the EPA Technician Certification program, nationwide. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accepted the institution’s application and granted approval on October 13, 1993. To date, AC/C TECH has certified more than 7000 technicians.
During 2005, AC/C TECH applied to provide Continuing Education coursework for the Indiana Home Inspectors program as administered by the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency (Home Inspectors Licensing Board). Approval was issued on March 1, 2006.
AC/C TECH applied to become Certified as a Minority-owned Business Enterprise (MBE) through the State of Indiana and received approval on March 27, 2006. AC/C TECH became a Member of the Indiana Apartment Association on October 30, 2006; and became Certified as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) through the City of Indianapolis on June 9, 2009.
During 2014, the President of Rose Property Group, LLC contacted AC/C TECH about establishing an employer-based training program for his entire maintenance staff. That included developing interactive distance online courses so that every maintenance technician could participate, including those in other states, and provide recruiting services for all property locations nationwide. It took six years to develop the online courses and two years to establish policies, procedures, rules, graduation requirements, and student support services… applicable for their operations.
Now, AC/C TECH is pursuing accreditation so that the entire apartment industry can benefit from our training and student services, nationwide.