BUTLER TWP — Butler County Community College is partnering with the Butler County Vocational Technical School to bring a heating, ventilation and air conditioning associate's degree program to the county.

It's a program vo-tech director Joe Cunningham calls one of a kind.

High school students enrolled in the HVAC program at the vo-tech will be granted the equivalent of a semester of credits from BC3 for their classes at the vo-tech.

After high school graduation, to earn their associate's degree, the students will take core courses such as English and blueprint reading at BC3. Two newly created classes focusing on HVAC will be taught at the vo-tech in the evenings to complete the program.

The vo-tech's joint operating board Thursday evening approved the agreement.

The program is different than other agreements that grant high school students college credit because BC3 previously has not had a HVAC program.

Nick Neupauer, vice president of academic affairs at the college, said BC3 is most likely the first community college to create such an agreement with a vo-tech.

"What is unique is that they are granting credit for their time (at the vo-tech),"Neupauer said.

He said the vo-tech's "exemplary program" with its faculty and equipment will make the agreement successful. BC3's board of trustees approved the agreement in March.

Bill O'Brian, BC3's vice president for continuing education, said the college gets numerous calls each year asking about an associate's degree in HVAC. The college has nowhere locally to send the students.

Cunningham said the program will be successful because HVAC skills are in high demand and the nearest places for post-secondary education in the program are in New Castle and Pittsburgh.

Neupauer said the program will benefit the college because the state has targeted HVAC as a high-priority occupation and rewards community colleges financially which offer programs applying to those occupations.

"This is truly a workforce development program," he said. "This demonstrates two institutions separated by some water and a mile and a half working together."

Adult students who have not graduated from the vo-tech HVACprogram still earn the same degree by taking the four basic HVAC courses at the vo-tech during the evenings.

The two new courses will cover load calculations and HVACsystem design. They will be taught by vo-tech faculty acting as employees of the college, Cunningham said.

He expects 14 to 18 students to enroll in the evening portion of the program beginning in September.