TCC to offer Introduction to Professional Diving course
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (November 22, 2013) - Beginning in January 2014, the TCC Wakulla Environmental Institute, in conjunction with the Wakulla Diving Center, will offer a semester long Introduction to Professional Diving course.
The training will be held at the Florida A&M University pool, in cooperation with the Florida A&M Aquatics Program. In addition to in-state or out-of-state tuition, as appropriate, the three-credit-hour course will have a lab fee of $297. Applicants must take a swim test before beginning the course.
The 16-week multidisciplinary course will train students in the fundamentals of basic diving, with the opportunity to learn the elements of professional diving. Students will learn basic and advanced diving skills and receive training in life support tools, hose diving, side-mounts, closed-circuit re-breathers, and remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs). Upon course completion, students will become qualified as SCUBA open-circuit air and nitrox divers.
“This is an exciting, unique opportunity for students and will be the first of many yet to come at our Wakulla based Environmental campus as it continues to grow,” said Bob Ballard, executive director of the TCC Wakulla Environmental Institute.
This introductory course will target students who wish to extend their skills in compressed-gas diving and have a desire to work underwater, with an appreciation of the underwater environment, its inhabitants and the life-support technology that enables workers to perform meaningful tasks. Career opportunities in this field include dive technologist, assistant dive instructor, dive master and dive instructor. Future courses are being developed to facilitate these career fields.
Among upcoming opportunities in Wakulla County will be the eventual diving exploration of the natural cave system and sinkholes that run under the TCC Wakulla Environmental Institute campus, possibly linking the campus to the Gulf of Mexico.
“As our courses continue to develop and our students become more professionally trained, the cave systems may prove to be ideal for the training of cave divers,” said Ballard.
For information about the diving course, contact Kate Stewart, dean of the Division of Technology and Professional Programs, at (850) 201-8352 or
stewartk@tcc.fl.edu.
