Hamilton Technical College has been providing technical training in the Quad-Cities since 1969. A family-owned proprietary business founded by Charles Hamilton Jr., the college is going strong at its 53rd Street campus in Davenport.
Confusion arose last year when Kaplan College merged with a group of business colleges called Hamilton Colleges, which have no affiliation with Hamilton Tech.
“Hamilton Tech has never left the family or been owned by another corporation,” said Maryanne Hamilton, president and CEO.
“When Kaplan went through its merger with Hamilton Business Colleges, everyone who saw the name ’Hamilton’ just assumed it was us because we are the only Hamilton in the area. We still have people ask us if we sold our school,” she said. “No, we have not sold the school. We did not merge with Kaplan. We are a completely separate entity.”
Hamilton Tech has two distinct programs separated into two schools: the School of Technology, which includes Electronics Engineering Technology and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM); and the School of Allied Health, which includes Medical Assisting Technology and Medical Billing and Coding. In 2006 when the campus underwent renovation, the schools were physically separated within the facilities at 1011 E. 53rd St.
Students can earn diplomas in seven months, associate’s degrees in 11/2 years, or bachelor of science degrees in just over two years.
In order to remain on the cutting edge of rapidly advancing technology, the college works with a program advisory committee. Members advise the school on the current and future needs in the field of technology. They evaluate the college’s curriculum and programs and offer feedback in order to keep it relevant and updated.
“Our advisory board members work in the field daily within this community, and at all levels,” Hamilton said. “Some are business owners, others are employers or employees working in a company, and they know what they need today and they also know what they will need tomorrow.
“We follow their advice totally and implement a lot of their ideas because we want to stay a step ahead of what they need in the workforce so our graduates are prepared to get those jobs.”
Mark Christy, director of Hamilton Tech, noted an example of this symbiotic relationship and its benefits. “We have a gentleman from Motorola on our advisory board who talks to us about advancements in communication electronics and what is happening with cell phones, computer networks and communication networks. There are more and more lasers being used, so we are integrating those kinds of machines and offering training for our students.”
Christy also noted new innovations in robotics and computer numeric control machines — or the CNC machines that are being integrated more into the manufacturing process — that warranted the school’s acquisition of the machines and the technical skill set necessary for students to use them.
According to Christy, Hamilton Tech has a 98 percent job placement record in technical areas. “We have 2,500 companies from all over the country in our database that hire Hamilton Tech graduates. Some of those include Motorola, Rockwell International, Mercedes Benz, the Arsenal, Genesis and Trinity Health Systems, the Nuclear Power Plant and even the CIA and FBI,” he said.
“We have seen recently many research projects and statistics that show we are very well suited on the technology and medical side for future market demands, not only in our community, but anywhere that our students want to live,” Hamilton said.
Christy added, “We want to keep them in our area. So we are also educating our local work force and demonstrating to companies that we are an educational institution right here in the Q-C that can help train those workers to do those high tech jobs.”
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008/05/12/news/business/