San Jacinto College offering new Coast Guard-approved leadership courses

The following is the text of a news release from San Jacinto College:

(PASADENA, Texas) — The San Jacinto College maritime program is offering two new certification courses this year on leadership skills, approved by the United States Coast Guard (USCG).

Leadership and Management is a 40-hour course for the management level deck and engineering officers. This course further develops a mariner's risk assessment skills, workload management planning, decision making, strategic planning, situational awareness, and safety leadership.

Leadership and Teamwork is an eight-hour course for the operational level mariner and provides awareness and understanding of the human element. Students will develop and acquire practical skills to enhance their maritime resource management. Topics of discussion include communication, situational awareness and shipboard training.

"These courses were developed due to new requirements for mariners to maintain their licensing," said Capt. Amy Arrowood, San Jacinto College maritime instructor. "The Leadership and Management course is specifically required by Standards of Training, Certification for Watchkeeping (STCW)."

The two leadership courses are in addition to the more than 30 USCG-maritime courses offered through San Jacinto College's professional mariner training program. These include Basic Safety Training, 100-Ton Master, 200-Ton Master, Apprentice Mate, Tankerman PIC, and Basic and Advanced Firefighting. The college is also home to Texas' first maritime associate degree program.

In 2016, the professional maritime courses and the maritime academic courses will be held in the San Jacinto College Maritime Technology and Training Center, a 45,000-square-foot facility that will showcase a training dock with lifeboats, davits, and fast rescue craft, and a separate industry dock for crew changes. This facility will also allow for vessel specific training for local maritime companies and will serve as an aquatic training facility for sea survival and life raft training.

Professional mariner courses are offered through the San Jacinto College Continuing and Professional Development division. For more information about the San Jacinto College maritime program, visit sanjac.edu/maritime.

By Professional Mariner Staff