Our decision to align ourselves with the Refrigeration Service Engineers Society (RSES) was based on our interest in offering curriculum and training material that was nationally recognized, that provided a substantive technical foundation, and offered opportunities for continuing education through the life of a graduate student’s career. The curriculum we use is an adaptation of the RSES RAC 87-lesson program.

This decision, both on the overall curriculum and on the specific lessons to utilize, was made after extensive consultations with local RSES chapter members (Tennessee Valley Chapter) and with RSES Senior Management. RSES regional chapters are comprised of individuals and companies with RAC as their main work, or with a significant interest in RAC, or both. In consulting with these industry professionals, our focus was to define the specific skill sets that were important to employers.

It was through this dialogue that we determined the most important factors in our training program were:

• Comprehensive knowledge base specific to the industry
• Hands-on training in real-world situations
• National certifications
• Membership in a nationally recognized industry group
• A challenging program schedule that tested a student's determination to succeed

In meeting the above requirements, all students are trained to competency in a variety of specific skills, including but not limited to:

• Recover refrigerant from a system
• Dehydrate a system to the required vacuum
• Charge a system with refrigerant to the specified level
• Use and read refrigerant gauges
• Use and read Volt/Ohm meter
• Install copper line-set for refrigeration systems
• Weld copper tubing connections
• Install duct work, hard pipe and flex
• Change compressor on refrigeration systems
• Change fan motor on refrigeration systems
• Weld copper tubing connections
• Install / replace thermostat on refrigeration systems
• Change coils on refrigeration systems
• Clean coils on refrigeration systems
• Check pressures and temperatures on a system to ensure optimum performance
• Check and replace, start contactor & capacitor, if found to be faulty
• Other skills such as working with the various hand tools used in the HVAC/R industry will be acquired.