ANAHEIM, Calif., Aug. 10, 2016—Two of the industry’s largest training arms, I-CAR and ASE, announced Wednesdat that they are teaming up to reduce redundancies, as well as the time and investment required to earn designations.
I-CAR CEO John Van Alstyne and ASE President and CEO Tim Zilke made the announcement during the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) meeting at the Anaheim Convention Center, noting that the organizations had been working for more than a year on the initiatives.
The changes:
- ASE will recognize I-CAR ProLevel 2 or 3 Platinum status as meeting requirements for ASE collision repair and refinish work experience.
- I-CAR will grant two credit hours toward Platinum annual training requirements for techs with ASE Collision Repair certification.
“I think it’s important to know that while our programs are distinct, one should not be viewed to replace the other,” Van Alstyne said. “At the same time, I-CAR and ASE programs can and do work together synergistically. And we’ve been really working hard to identify those synergies.”
In addition to this collaboration, I-CAR has worked with the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF) to alleviate the misconception that the NATEF Collision Repair and Refinish Standards task list was not aligned with I-CAR’s Professional Education Program Education Edition (PDP-EE). PDP-EE was launched in 2012 to align school training with the I-CAR training offered within the industry.
The new “Official I-CAR CTE Curriculum Crosswalk to the NATEF Collision Repair and Refinishing Standards task list” will soon be available from both I-CAR and NATEF. The collaboration enables students to graduate from NATEF-accredited programs with I-CAR’s Platinum recognition and the ASE Collision Repair and Refinishing Student Certifications.
Van Alstyne also mentioned that for the second year, I-CAR is offering training classes at the ASE Industry Education Alliance Instructor Training Conference. And for the first time ever, I-CAR will present an I-CAR Collision Repair/Refinishing Technician of the Year Award at the ASE fall board meeting.
“This award will highlight the synergy between our two programs by recognizing an individual who holds both the I-CAR Platinum designation and ASE Collision Repair Certification,” Van Alstyne said.
