Warren County Community College Partners with USI

USI’s Industry Recognized UAS Certifications Enhance Warren County Community College’s CTE Program

Deland, FL (October 11, 2021) – As one of a select number of community colleges approved for the Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act, Warren County (NJ) Community College has elected to significantly expand its’ Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) career and technical education (CTE) program. Warren chose Unmanned Safety Institute’s UAS Curriculum and Certifications for its’ nationally recognized drone program due to the broad acceptance and recognition of USI Credentials by the commercial drone industry.

Warren County Community College recognized early on that unmanned systems technology (air, ground and sea) will serve as the core of future transportation systems. As such, Warren has committed to building an Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence at the college’s Phillipsburg Education Center, where they have earned several national certifications from the FAA. Warren offers an Associate Degree in Unmanned Systems, a Certificates in both Drone Piloting and Drone Maintenance & Repair and is adding degrees in GIS and Photogrammetry.

“This grant allows us to prepare for the future in a field that has boundless potential”, said Dr. Will Austin, the President of Warren, and the college’s Chief Pilot. “The growth of unmanned technology will be creating hundreds of thousands of exciting, well paid; career opportunities and we want the Warren students to have the best opportunity to prepare for leadership level participation in this important field. We chose to adopt the Unmanned Safety Institute’s (USI) curriculum and certification structure as it is the best representation of industry’s requirements for UAS pilots and other positions.”

USI’s President and CEO, Josh Olds commented, “We are very honored to work with Dr. Austin and the entire team at Warren County Community College as they have demonstrated a commitment to preparing their students for real world UAS employment opportunities that is absolutely leading edge. I also recognize that this is only the beginning of their major investments into growing their unmanned systems program. I believe that they are not just filling open positions in the marketplace, rather they are building the future leaders of the unmanned systems industry.”

The USI backed program at Warren College kicked of this fall with 20 participating students in the first pilot course, and it is expected that within one year there will be more than 100 students benefiting annually from this new relationship throughout multiple courses.

###

About Warren County Community College

Warren Community College (NJ) is a fully licensed and accredited college dedicated to the advancement of unmanned systems education. Warren's program has enjoyed praise by leaders in the industry and previously has gained certifications like Trusted Operator Provider (TOP, Level 3) from the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and is a member of the FAA's UAS Collegiate Training Initiative. Most recently, Warren was certified by ASTM International, which is part of UAS, as an approved UAS Training Provider (UATPP). Adding Unmanned Safety Institute training and certifications will advance the Warren curriculum into training activities of more complicated and larger unmanned aircraft, and to fill curriculum gaps in their current certification process.

About the Unmanned Safety Institute

The Unmanned Safety Institute (USI) is the industry’s most widely recognized leader in flight safety solutions for individuals, academia and organizations focused on integrating and operating UAS for civil or commercial purposes. The Unmanned Safety Institute provides UAS flight safety training and certification to operational standards based on the adoption and modification of time-honored aviation safety practices. With more than 200 instructors and over 10,000 customers around the world, including several Fortune 500 enterprises and nearly 200 schools in over 30 states, USI is the global leader in commercial and academic UAS training and certification, delivering the most highly regarded training program of its kind. Programs include the Small UAS & Advanced Safety Certifications, Visual Line of Sight Systems Operations™ (VSO) and Professional Remote Operator™ (PRO) certifications and Unmanned Connect™ workforce development initiative. USI’s training and certification programs are endorsed by major aviation insurance providers and incorporated into aviation association professional development programs and have been evaluated and recommended for college credit by the American Council on Education. Discover more at www.UnmannedSafetyInstitute.org.

USI - Alexis Creedy
Alexis.Creedy@unmanned-safety.org