When the doors open, the whirring of the poorly run engines and the odor of gasoline exhaust fill the air. The car lifts and ventilation tubes line down the spacious garage in Q Building. The Ford Automotive Student Service Education Training program, which trains five automotive technicians, is housed at Dallas College Brookhaven Campus.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Ford ASSET at Brookhaven – the first of its kind in the nation.
On March 25, the Ford Expo was held at Brookhaven. Jonathan Cuff, the ownership manager responsible for 175 Ford dealers across North Texas and Oklahoma region, said why he believes Ford’s involvement on campus is important.
Cuff said: “Ford is interested in talking to young people about careers in the automotive industry, working as a Ford technician at a Ford dealership. There’s currently a shortage of technicians across our industry, so we need talented young men and women to be able to join our industry and be able to train up and take over those jobs.”
The program started in 1985 with two locations, one at Brookhaven and one at an institution in Florida.
Over the years, Ford’s program has been impactful for the local communities and people involved. Shane Baxter, the lead faculty coordinator and instructor, said, “The people you see here doing these classes, they work in the community we serve, Dallas and Fort Worth.”
The program produces technicians who help keep vehicles on the road, but these learned skills are transferable to other areas of the community. “A lot of people will go into other industries like … HVAC or they go into refrigerator repairs,” Alex Patino, a Ford ASSET instructor, said.
The Ford ASSET program teaches technicians to identify and fix problems such as gasoline engine repair, brake systems and electrical systems, to name a few. Neil Reid, a Ford ASSET instructor, said, “[Ford] sends us the curriculum, and they send us the bugs for the cars.”
Additionally, certain dealerships donate Ford vehicles for students to operate on.
In an email to Brookhaven employees, Raytosha Jones, Brookhaven’s senior director of campus administration, said that earlier this year, Ford Motor Company donated five vehicles to the Ford Brookhaven program: A $61,000 2024 F150; $70,000 Lincoln Aviator; $121,000 Lincoln Navigator; $65,000 Lincoln Nautilus; and a $38,000 Bronco Sport.
Most enrolled students already have a position at a Ford dealership. Baxter said the program will help facilitate employment after graduation for students not already working.
Jesse Ulloa, a Ford ASSET student, was already in an automotive program in high school. “Ford was actually sponsoring us during a competition,” he said. “And that’s how I found out about it. And I just went through the path, and I stayed at the dealership I got.”
The program has a co-op structure where students work and study. They attend lectures and hands-on lab in the shop for three days a week. They apply their training in the Ford dealership for the remainder of the week where they can continue with field training.
Evan Bailey, who was already a student at Brookhaven, said his mother recommended to him to join the automotive program one night while working on his vehicle.
Bailey said, “I just like the fact that we work at a dealership honestly, and then the knowledge that we get here is immediately at applicable to what we’re doing out in the real world.”
The ASSET program lasts for two years. Upon completion, students will have earned an associate degree in applied sciences and an Automotive Service Excellence certification from Ford.
Patino said technicians who do not go through the ASSET program can take 10 years to earn the same certification.
The Ford Motor Company is interested in continued investment in the students at Brookhaven, Cuff said.
“We’re looking for continued growth,” Cuff said. “We’ve been blessed with a great partnership here at Dallas College at Brookhaven.”
Currently, the program has 40 first-year students and 30 second-year students. Cuff said this is an all-time record enrollment. “[This] is testament to the relationship that the dealers that Ford Motor Company has with the with the college, the instructors and the administration,” Cuff said.
Baxter shared similar enthusiasm for the future of the program. Baxter said: “I hope to see it keep growing. … I want to be able to say to anybody that comes to the door, ‘Yeah, we’ve got a seat for you.’ If you have a job at a Ford dealership, come on in. We have somewhere for you to learn and be a better technician.’”
