The focus of our Carpentry program is centered on creating the academic environment necessary to produce multidimensional educated artisans. In order to provide this unique educational experience our students complete an intensive, integrated liberal arts curriculum. This curriculum has been developed in such a way that all courses, both academic and artistry, build upon each other and missing any portion of the curriculum provides an incomplete education. This integrated approach creates a highly focused learning environment which students find both challenging and rewarding.

Carpentry has existed since humans first picked up tools and used wood to create shelter. The artisans who work wood still use many of the same methods and tools. Modern carpentry techniques and tools have made the process of working wood even easier, as they enhance both precision and productivity. There are many categories within the carpentry trade -- artisans may specialize in any number of areas including structural framing, finish trim work, fine joinery, cabinetry, and wood decoration in many forms. Carpenters must be precise. They use both hand tools and machines, often working alongside different trades on new construction or preservation work. Geometry, trigonometry and technical drawing are all used on a daily basis in the field of Carpentry.

Carpentry is a rewarding but demanding trade. The work can be divided into many categories but all of them center on using wood (cutting, assembling, fitting, etc.) to construct. Each aspect of carpentry demands patience, organizational skills and the necessary physical skills. Carpenters may work individually or as a part of a team. A good carpenter is a key player in many parts of the construction process.

All college preparatory courses are desirable (see College Catalog), as are courses in carpentry, shop, mechanical drawing and mathematics. Manual dexterity, hand-eye coordination, physical fitness, and a good sense of balance are important. The ability to quickly and accurately solve arithmetic problems is an advantage.

Carpenters may be employed as preservation carpenters, new construction framing carpenters, new construction trim carpenters, commercial form carpenters, cabinet shop woodworkers, mill work woodworkers or architectural woodcarvers.

The Carpentry curriculum consists of eight semesters that will prepare students for a career as a wood specialist. The course is designed to give a broad overview of the skills required to work in all aspects of the modern American carpentry building industry. The program will specialize in two main fields: 1) the development of skills needed to work and build with wood and, 2) conservation techniques.

The curriculum is designed with two distinct stages. During the first two years students develop the basic skills required to work wood and put this material into use as an architectural form on either historic or contemporary buildings. Upon completion they will receive an Associates degree and be able to competently begin working as an apprentice to a master craftsman. Students who choose and are selected to continue into the Bachelors program will complete two more years of intensive training -- honing their practical skills and techniques. They will advance their study into theoretical aspects of the wood construction industry, conservation work and business management. Students finishing the full four year curriculum will receive the education and skills needed to become a business owner and master artisan.

The student who applies for this course should have a high level of practical skills. Their background should include a determination to succeed in a field which has a fine tradition. Carpentry is an exciting area of study, which will provide the student with the opportunity to become a highly skilled artisan.

An emphasis throughout this curriculum will be on workshop and on-site practice, where repetition will lay the foundation for high skill levels. Initially, the courses will focus on hand skills/techniques for working wood and the theoretical knowledge needed to apply them. These skills will lay the foundation for later workshops which extend the initial knowledge beyond practice and into accomplished work. During the third and fourth years, students will specialize in the craft by concentrating more fully on set disciplines. With the repetition of process engrained within the student, they will be able to concentrate fully on the craft rather than the process. This approach will leave students with a solid background, preparing them for the rigors of working as a commercial practitioner/artisan.

Areas of study within the course will be: conservation, craft and architecture history, drawing, design and geometry, English, framing, information technology, general woodwork, management and professional practice, math, and modern construction. Classes in many of these subjects will be complemented by lectures and instruction from master artisans brought in to teach specific specialties.