Hawkeye Shifting to Competency-Based Education in Some Career Programs

WATERLOO — When Aleese Stewart moved to Cedar Falls with her young son, she wanted to learn a trade.

She had come to the Cedar Valley after six years in the U.S. Navy because her mother lives in the community. She initially worked for John Deere.

But Stewart dreams of becoming an electromagnetic engineer to build the submarines and aircraft she became familiar with while a member of the Navy in Virginia. In the meantime, she believes working in a trade will provide the financial security needed to raise her now 2-year-old son.

She left Deere to pursue a heating and air conditioning diploma at Hawkeye Community College.

"HVAC for me is a knowledge to have," she explained. It's her starting point to gain a set of marketable skills and build her resume.

Since Hawkeye has implemented a competency based education model in the program, it also offers the flexibility she needs with her parenting responsibilities.

"It helps me for just doing my personal life and doing school," said Stewart.

"The biggest thing with competency based is it's designed around the students," said Jim Konrardy, a Hawkeye assistant professor and the HVAC instructor. Along with making space for family life, that also means flexibility to work around a job schedule.

"I think that's amazing for a lot of adults in this class," said Stewart.

HCC is part of a community college consortium in Iowa implementing competency-based education for certain career and technical programs with the help of a $5 million federal grant. The U.S. Department of Labor's third round of the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grant started in 2023 and continues through early 2027. The three-member consortium is led by Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny and also includes Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa.

At Hawkeye, the Industrial Automation Technology and Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning programs have already transitioned to the competency-based model. In the fall, the Welding program will begin its transition.

Jonathan Purdy, the project coordinator for Hawkeye, said the grant provides some equipment and a budget for online and software support.

"But a lot of the work is getting the curriculum transferred over," he said. "The biggest difference is the in-class experience."

Competency-based education shifts the focus away from classroom lecture and toward one-on-one time with the instructor in the lab setting.

"CBE is about 'What can you handle, what is your pace?'" said Purdy. "It's pretty similar, it's just when you schedule time in the lab."

The HVAC program is in its second year of the competency-based approach after starting in August 2024. Students earn the diploma in one year.

Since starting in the fall, Stewart had taken classes on electric heaters, gas furnaces and boilers. In early February, Konrardy was getting ready to start the next class on other heat sources such as geothermal, solar, oil and more.

At the beginning of each four-week class, students meet together with the instructor for a couple days. They get a syllabus and a breakdown of how long each competency included in the class should take to master.

They continue at their own pace with online modules to learn concepts and work on the competencies. Students can then schedule lab time for purposes of practice and working with the instructor to demonstrate their proficiency on skills being taught.

Stewart said "it takes discipline" but this has been a good way to learn for her. "Once you fall behind it's kind of hard to get back up" on track.

Purdy said the online modules have some features that track progress to help keep students from falling behind. In addition, the college has a pathway navigator who works with students struggling to keep up with the classes.

The lab, which is in Butler Hall, contains about 15 units, most of which are furnaces plus several boilers and an electric fireplace. The equipment includes a variety of heating and cooling sources plus other types of devices like mini split, rooftop and hanging heaters.

"Whatever you could think of for a residential house, we work on it here," said Konrardy. Generally, students learn commercial and industrial applications and refrigeration once they're working in the field.

The program can take up to 22 students each year, and its enrollment is currently a few students lower. Konrardy works with no more than two students in the lab at a time. Four others can also be in the lab at any one time practicing skills they'll later demonstrate with him.

Lawsin Sinnwell went through the program during 2024-25, the first year it was competency based. He moved to Cedar Falls from Solon to enroll in the program at the suggestion of his cousin, who works in the HVAC field. The now-20 year old is employed by Mike Fereday Heating + Air Conditioning, a job he started several months after beginning at Hawkeye.

"I was able to work at my own pace," said Sinnwell, during the four-week class periods. "I liked to get stuff done earlier than the date it was required." That gave him a lot of flexibility and his job accommodated his schedule.

"I was able to get (the classwork) done in two weeks and then I was able to work for two weeks." The competency-based approach also allowed him to have more one-on-one time with the instructor, which he said "makes a difference." It was a good way for Sinnwell to learn the HVAC skills he uses on the job.

"Obviously, it's more responsibility," he noted, with the self-paced online learning and scheduling times in the lab with the instructor. "You don't have to show up every day. ... I think that plays kind of a factor, too."

Mike Fereday Heating + Air Conditioning also has two other employees who have gone through Hawkeye's program since it became competency based.

"They're definitely coming out a little more ready to hit the ground running," said Tim Fereday, who is part owner of the company and a member of the HCC program's advisory board. "I think it probably has to do with them grasping what they're doing and feeling confident with it."

He touted the flexibility the program now offers and said in the past students couldn't actively work for the company while earning the diploma. "It was a lot more classroom heavy and then towards the end of the program they had the possibility of being able to work 1 1/2 days per week — so not nearly as much as they can currently."

Going through the program while working in the HVAC field is "going to be the best for the student by far," said Fereday. "If the ambition is there, the ability is there to work while completing the program, for sure."

Article by Andrew Wind, The Courier

Photo credit: Chris Zoeller, Courier Staff Photographer

Learn more about the Heating and Air Conditioning Diploma program