History/Saint Paul College
St. Paul College
The program, which conforms to the WOSTEP standard, is two years in length, and can accommodate up to 24 students.
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[edit] Contact Information
- 235 Marshall Ave
- St. Paul, MN 55102-1807
- USA
- Phone: (651) 846-1600
- Fax: (651) 846-1722
[edit] Program Structure
The program is full time, year round, and comprises approximately 3000 hours, per the WOSTEP curriculum. Class times vary depending on the instructor, but are usually from 8:00-4:00, with lunch at 11:30.
[edit] Faculty
Joseph Juaire has overseen the department since 1995, and the school became a member of the international WOSTEP partnership in 2004. Mr. Juaire's wife, Janelle Juaire, is the primary first year instructor. Douglas Thompson currently instructs in the second year, and Jacob Sobell teaches part-time, as well.
[edit] Facilities
The Watchmaking Program is located in two classrooms on the fourth floor of the St. Paul College building. In addition, there is a cleaning room and a faculty office joining the two. Two storage rooms complete the complex, which, despite its diminutive-sounding size, is spacious and does not feel cramped. Plans are in the works to annex another room for machining, heat-treating, and polishing -operations currently carried out in the first year classroom. The program's equipment is modern and up-to-date, thanks to the generous underwriting by Rolex which the school has enjoyed since 2005.
[edit] Enrollment Process
Situated as it is, in a state technical college, applicants to the program must enroll in the school. They must be pre-approved by the watchmaking faculty for admission into the program, and this is usually done in advance of their enrollment. After speaking with Mr. Juaire, and coming in person for an interview and mechanical aptitude bench testing, they are either accepted on the spot or asked to return for a second interview a few months later. The program operates on a January-December basis, instead of the more conventional August-May basis, so applications must be in by October for consideration for the January start. In practice, it's best if students apply no later than August. Once accepted to the program, the future student must go through the College's application processes, which are fairly straightforward and lenient. If recent college credit cannot be supplied, students will have to make an appointment to take the state-mandated Accuplacer examination to insure their competency in mathematics, English, etc.
[edit] Tuition
Tuition is the responsibility of the student, and is the same for in-and-out-of-state residents. It is currently around $2900 for the fall and spring semesters, and $1500 for the shorter summer semester. An additional financial obligation incumbent upon new students is the purchase of the WOSTEP toolkit, the cost of which varies year to year, but is around $2500. Financial aid is available through the school for qualifying students.
[edit] Accommodations
The school does not offer dormitories, so living arrangements are the responsibility of the student. It is advisable, given the city traffic, parking restrictions, and weather conditions which prevail in Minnesota in the winter months, to live within walking distance, which is what many of the watchmaking students traditionally elect to do. The neighborhood in which the school is located is one of the more upscale in St. Paul, so apartments are readily available. If one has the difficulty of searching for a suitable domicile from a distance via the internet, it may be helpful to know that some neighborhoods in the vicinity best avoided are Midway, Frogtown, and University Ave. However, Grand Ave., Cathedral Hill, Crocus Hill, and Maplewood are suggested by the professors and alumni as being cleaner, quieter, and safer.
[edit] Philosophy of Education
The professors at St. Paul College aim to teach students modern watch repair, for the maintenance of high-end Swiss timepieces. Accordingly, both traditional and modern methods are used, depending on which is better for the task at hand. Emphasis is placed, as in all WOSTEP schools, on high-grade mechanical timepieces, rather than vintage pieces or restoration techniques, though this aspect of the world of watchmaking is not ignored. The curriculum is a modified version of the WOSTEP curriculum (which allows such flexibility within its framework).
The St. Paul College Watchmaking Program aims at very high standards, and students sit for both the WOSTEP and AWCI CW21 examinations at the culmination of their studies. The school prides itself on producing a personable and friendly watchmaker adapted to the needs of the 21st century. Accordingly, students are selected for the program with an eye, not only for their mechanical aptitude, but for their personality as well. The St. Paul College watchmaking program boasts of a near-100% post-graduation employment rate.
[edit] Elsewhere on the Web
- Official Webpage for the St. Paul College Watchmaking Program
- A Youtube video, produced by the college, illustrating current students vibrating hairsprings and oiling cap jewels, among other things.