ANKENY, Iowa—Two Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) employees with ties to the Automotive Technology industry received awards at the 2018 International Association General Motors Automotive Service Education Program (IAGMASP) Conference recently held in Detroit.
DMACC Automotive Technology Professor Greg Seaman of Pleasant Hill received the GM ASEP Instructor Award of Merit and DMACC Vice President of Academic Affairs Scott Ocken of Ankeny received the GM Distinguished Service Award.
Seaman has been a DMACC ASEP Instructor for 23 years. Prior to that, he was a service technician and ASEP mentor at a General Motors dealership for more than 18 years.
During his time as an ASEP instructor, Seaman has helped nearly 400 ASEP students graduate from the program and find success as automotive service technicians.
Seaman’s instruction goes beyond class time.
“In order to create the best learning environment for students, Greg spends hours preparing vehicles with faults so labs are ready for students the next day,” said DMACC Automotive Co-Chair and ASEP Program Chair Jerry Burns. “It’s not uncommon to see Greg working on weekends and holiday breaks so that classes are ready to go for the next week.”
Burns also said ASEP students have so much respect for Seaman.
“It’s quite common for the ASEP class to award Greg a class gift during the graduation dinner,” said Burns. “When students come back to the GM training center, they seek out Greg.”
Ocken has been with the ASEP program when it started on the DMACC Ankeny Campus in 1983. He was a service technician at a General Motors dealership prior to becoming an automotive instructor in both the GM ASEP as well as the Auto Mechanics Technology program.
He has served as program chair for both the GM ASEP program and the Auto Mechanics Technology program. He then became the Academic Dean of Industry and Technology, a position he held for 12 years, where he oversaw 34 separate programs at DMACC and more than 75 full time faculty members and even more adjunct instructors. He was recently promoted to Vice President of Academic Affairs of the college.
“Scott has always supported the ASEP model and has, in fact, tried to get many of his other programs to operate in a similar model and or format,” said Burns.
Currently, Ocken is working on getting the automotive program a building renovation and expansion.
Seaman and Ocken received their awards at the 2018 IAGMASP National Conference held Oct. 21-24 at the Atheneum Hotel in Detroit.
For more on DMACC’s ASEP program, go to https://www.dmacc.edu/programs/automotive/gm/Pages/welcome.aspx
(contributed article and photo, DMACC)
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