Partnership with Hovensa brings students from St. Croix

Lueandra Alexander is a long way from home —some 2,000 miles, in fact. In spite of being in a strange town surrounded by unfamiliar faces, she's not only thriving, she's excelling in one of the more difficult programs at TSTC: Instrumentation, Computerized Controls & Robotics (ICR). And she's just 19 years old.

Alexander is not alone. She is one of nearly three dozen students who hails from St. Croix (the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands) now attending TSTC through a scholarship "loan" program provided by St. Croix's biggest employer, Hovensa, one of the largest refineries in the United States.

Hovensa chose to partner with TSTC to develop its future workforce and send students into one of three programs, ICR, Industrial Systems & Engineering Technology (ISE) or Electrical Power & Controls (EPC). The first group of 20 students arrived in the fall of 2010 and included Alexander. Although she's now been here a year, she's been planning for this a lot longer.

"When we were in eighth grade, the top students were approached by Hovensa to join their four-year program, learn a craft and then join the workforce," Alexander said.

After initial testing, selected students began training in high school and chose the course of study they wanted to pursue. By the time she graduated from St. Croix Central High, Alexander already was NCCER-certified (National Center for Construction Education and Research) and had spent a summer working in the refinery. At the end of her senior year, she was offered a conditional scholarship "loan" provided she maintained her grades and worked for Hovensa for two years after graduating from college. At the end of the two-year period, the "loan" would be considered paid in full.

It's a sweet deal. Students get a monthly stipend and Hovensa picks up 100 percent of the costs for all lodging, books, tuition and travel back to St. Croix upon completion of the program.

Of course, while students only have to work for the company for the two-year period, "It is our hope they will continue after the two years and become the core of our maintenance organization, not only as craftsmen and technicians, but as our future supervisors, specialists and managers," said Joe Hazewski, vice president of Maintenance & Controls at Hovensa.

Hovensa officials said the program evolved out of the need for skilled craftsmen. Historically, the company would hire off-island contractors, an expensive — and temporary — proposition. Since there were no technical schools in St. Croix, Hovensa worked with the local government to provide NCCER-based curriculum in the public schools to help train locally grown workers. But they needed more.

After researching technical schools in the U.S., Hovensa decided TSTC Waco would be the best choice and sent a team to visit in January of 2008. Company officials spoke to instructors and administration, toured housing, classrooms and lab facilities and even checked out the city of Waco to ensure it would make a good social and cultural match for the students.

"TSTC has been a great choice. The staff and administration have been outstanding, and the facilities and training are something that would be difficult to provide," said Jerry Gerlich, facilities engineer and supervisor at Hovensa. "We were particularly impressed with the amount of ‘hands-on' training the students receive."

Alexander is happy with her training, too.

"I personally love this school. I love that [Hovensa] had this opportunity for us. I am learning a lot," said Alexander.

The students are an asset to TSTC, too, said Program Coordinator Marcus Balch, who added many students are on the dean's list, some are student workers, and one is a Student Ambassador.

"I can't say enough about the folks at Hovensa  who have helped this project grow, as well," said Balch. "It is evident that Hovensa is committed to making a difference in the lives of these students, and at the same time bringing quality employees that are well-trained back to the company."