The Virginia Community College System recently approved a new diploma in construction technology offered by Wytheville Community College.

The program is intended to prepare students to work in the carpentry, electrical or plumbing trades, but also to give a "more well-rounded education" than is offered in Wytheville's less-comprehensive, career-studies certificate programs, said David Johnson, the school's interim vice president of instruction and student development.

The new diploma will replace an associate's degree in applied science curriculum through which students earned electrical or plumbing credentials. The new diploma is a "terminal degree," meaning it's not intended for students looking to transfer to a four-year school.

Johnson said 50 students are enrolled in the associate's degree program that will be phased out. They can continue with that curriculum or change to the diploma curriculum, he said. Starting next fall, students will no longer be able to take the associate-degree curriculum.

Wytheville has been hearing from local contractors that too few people are entering the trades, and the diploma program is intended to prepare students to excel in those jobs, Johnson said.

-- Albert Raboteau