GM STC Professional Curriculum

Professional Curriculum

The GM STC Professional Curriculum is made up of multiple learning paths, each built for a specific service area or areas. This curriculum is where technicians deepen their knowledge and practice and validate their skills for STS credit. Completing learning paths on this curriculum is required in order to meet STS requirements.

STS Requirements

STS requirements for each of the service categories and Medium Duty are listed on the following pages.

Each service category section indicates the course requirements for 2025 Dealer Divisional STS as indicated by the courses that appear under the Bronze, Silver, and Gold categories. The courses required to reach GM MTC in that service area include all of the courses in Bronze, Silver, and Gold and the courses under the MTC category. Required courses are needed to meet the Dealer Divisional STS and for certification. Supplemental courses provide additional content to enhance the curriculum and improve the service technician’s performance but are not part of the Dealer Divisional STS requirements or certification.

Dealer Divisional Service Training Standards

Service technicians who successfully complete all of the STS requirements within each category for a Division will earn Divisional Certification (Buick, GMC, etc.) for that Division.

GM Master Technician Certification

GM MTC, like ASE Certification, is common across all Divisions. Service technicians who successfully complete all GM MTC requirements within each category will earn GM MTC across all Divisions for that category. Since this certification is common, some courses required for GM MTC may not be found as part of the STS. Similarly, some courses required for the STS will not be part of the requirements for GM MTC.

Legend

Refer to the legend below for references contained on the following Learning Path pages.

A = Assessment

B = Buick

C = Chevrolet

C-EV = Chevrolet EV

D = VCT

G = GMC

G-EV = GMC EV

H = Hands-On

K = Cadillac

P = Placement Assessment or Posttest

V = VOD

W = WBT

Service Category Requirements

The following pages define requirements and learning paths (excluding Emerging Issues) for each of the service categories.

Note: please make note of those learning paths and courses that are required to achieve STS and maintain MTC/WCT status.

Emerging Issues

These monthly GM Service Know-How Seminars provide service/technical information on current issues and GM certified repairs. In many cases, an Emerging Issues seminar may provide notification to technicians of a concern and the current attempts to address the related issues.

The GM Service Know-How Emerging Issues seminars feature guest Subject Matter Experts who discuss, and/or demonstrate, a service-related topic. Email questions from the technician audience may be addressed as well.

Topics that may be of interest to Service Consultants are identified by an “SC” icon in the lower right corner of the screen. By calling out these topics, Emerging Issues hopes to help Service Consultants identify customer concerns that may not require a trip to the service bay.

Emerging Issues is only available as a streaming video on GM’s www.centerlearning.com.

Emerging Issues seminars, and a great deal of other technical video content, can be accessed by logging on to www.gmglobalconnect.com and selecting the Center of Learning website.

STS Requirements

The intent of the program is to ensure that the technician takes the training this year in order to be STS complete the following year. To receive credit for completion, the technician must:

View the seminar at www.gmglobalconnect.com and select the Center of Learning website.
Pass the test for this course.

GM STC Professional Curriculum

Training Provided by GM Approved Suppliers

As appropriate, GM STC incorporates supplier training into its curriculum. These suppliers develop training that meets the high standards GM requires for dealer service technicians. Currently, training in the Body Structural Repair and Paint and Refinish categories is provided by GM-approved suppliers.

Body Structural Repair

GM STC includes I-CAR training as required for a minimum of one technician per repair facility and optional training within the Body Structural Repair portion of STS to ensure that technicians have the skills and knowledge to fix vehicles right the first time and thereby deliver an exceptional customer experience.

Visit https://info.i-car.com/network-programs/oem/GM for Body Structural Repair courses offered by I-CAR.

How do I know if my Welding Certification is current?

I-CAR Welding Training & Certification is valid for five years. I-CAR recommends beginning the registration process to regain the certification at least two months prior to a technician’s expiration date. This provides ample time to ensure that the technician’s certification does not lapse.

To check your I-CAR certification status, please visit: https://www.i-car.com/Home/MyICAR/Login

If you’re a Service or Body Shop Manager, you can always check your team’s progress toward Body Structural Repair STS at www.centerlearning.com > Reports and select:

Earning GM STC Credit for I-CAR Training Programs

You must have an established Profile page in GlobalConnect with a Primary Email address per below to allow certification status from I-CAR to transfer into GM’s training website (www.centerlearning.com).

Each week, I-CAR provides GM STC a report of all applicable completed training. GM STC then uploads the credit into body structural repair technicians’ training records, which display the credit immediately. Dealers’ STS Reports will also display the credit after their regular weekly update.

To manage your OEM Affiliation with I-CAR:

Navigate to www.i-car.com and login to your myI-CAR account, or create one if you haven’t already.
Once logged in, select >My Training. Select >My Affiliations from the options that appear.
Select the New Affiliation button.
Select GM Network from the dropdown and select Next.
Enter your COL PID into the Company ID field. Enter your Dealer BAC number into the Dealer Code field. Enter the date your affiliation began in the Start Date field.

You can call your assigned I-CAR customer care representative or call the I-CAR Customer Care Desk at (800) 422-7872 for additional assistance.

Note: Body Structural Repair technicians and managers do not need to fax in proof of earned I-CAR credit. All applicable Body Structural Repair credit is submitted to GM STC directly from I-CAR.

Additional Resources

The I-CAR website (www.i-car.com) provides an array of information about their training programs as well as important details regarding Gold Class points for their recognition programs. In addition, Body Structural Repair technicians and managers may contact the I-CAR Customer Care Desk at (800) 422-7872 or by email at CustomerCare@i-car.com.

Paint and Refinish

The GM Paint and Refinish Training Process

GM and our paint suppliers have developed a strong training relationship since joining forces. Our relationship enables us to implement the strict procedures necessary to consistently restore a vehicle’s appearance to pre-accident or showroom condition after a paint repair. Our process ensures that painters are knowledgeable and skilled, and we work together to establish performance testing standards to ensure competency certification. Paint suppliers train the technicians while GM monitors adherence to the curriculum and performance standards.

Our process offers several benefits to learners:

An expedited method for meeting GM Service Training Standards (STS) and achieving certification
An easy way to evaluate a painter’s knowledge level
Consistency in skills evaluation among peers

The graphic below depicts our Paint and Refinish Training Process. A painter who successfully completes this process will earn credit for GM Certified Paint/Refinish course number 22041.00 on their training record and dealership’s STS Report. Please allow up to four weeks for the credit to appear in the Center of Learning.

*Basic Paint Assessment 22042.00A plus the appropriate Product-Specific Paint Assessment 22044.

Pre-Qualify

A technician must accomplish at least one of the following:

Paint ASE Certification
Completion of previous GM or paint supplier training courses
One year documented automotive paint experience

Online Evaluation

Once a technician pre-qualifies, he/she must complete the online evaluation by logging on to www.centerlearning.com. Trainees who do not have a log on ID and password may obtain one either by contacting their GM service manager or by calling the GM Center of Learning Help Desk at (888) 748-2687; press 2 then 8. Technicians can locate the online evaluation by clicking Testing > Service Technical > Paint Placement Assessment. The evaluation includes two tests:

Test 1
Test 2

Basic Training – technicians must pass Test 1 before taking Test 2

OE (Original Equipment) Training – this test is paint manufacturer specific

Section B: OE Color test (primarily performance based color tinting/matching) Trainees are given two attempts to pass the two online evaluation tests.
Section A: OE Product test (primarily performance based product training)

Evaluation Scored

Upon completing an online evaluation test at www.centerlearning.com, trainees receive immediate feedback on how they scored. A score of 80% or higher is required to pass Test 1 and sections A and B of Test 2. This information is sent to the paint supplier Central Training Office (CTO).

If a trainee receives a score of 79% or less on any part of the online evaluation (e.g., Test 1 or either section of Test 2), the trainee should contact their paint supplier representative to enroll in the applicable OE Training course(s). For example, if a trainee scores 80% on the Basic Training test and 80% on the OE Product test section and 79% on the OE Color test section, the trainee should enroll in OE Color test.

Attend OE Course(s)

Note: This step is required only if a trainee does not pass the online evaluation tests.

Upon completing an online evaluation test, the trainee receives immediate feedback from www.centerlearning.com, including a note on which course(s) they need to enroll in.

See the GM Paint Manufacturer Course and Contact Information section of the catalog (Section 2) for course names based on supplier used.

Course Contents: Part 1 is primarily performance based product training; Part 2 is primarily performance based color tinting/matching.

For more information pertaining to specific OE courses, call the paint supplier at the number listed in the catalog.

Schedule In-Shop Evaluation

Note: This step is required only if a trainee passes the online evaluation.

Upon successful completion of both online evaluation tests, the trainee should contact either his/her local paint supplier representative or the paint supplier CTO to schedule an in-shop evaluation.

In-Shop Evaluation

Note: This step is required only if a trainee passes the online evaluation.

A paint supplier representative performs an in-shop evaluation.

Step #1:
OE Approved paint systems information review
Step #2: Observed Performance Evaluations

The representative familiarizes the technician with the OE approved paint systems, product, and process information. It is appropriate for the representative to coach the technician on information and interpretation. It is not appropriate to supply answers for the Observed Performance Evaluations.

The paint supplier representative fills out all of the requested information on the Observed Performance Evaluation sheets (one set for product application and another set for color tinting).
The representative observes as the technician demonstrates his/her ability to perform all of the evaluation criteria listed.
To pass the course, a technician must achieve a perfect performance score of 100% on both the product application and color tinting evaluations.

Note: If a technician fails the in-shop evaluation, the recommended action is to complete the OE course.

Results Sent to Training Administrator

The paint supplier representative sends the completed Observed Performance Evaluation sheets to their training administrator.

Results Sent to Center of Learning

The paint supplier CTO compiles a list of certified painters and forwards it to GM STC.

GM STC Posts Records to Center of Learning Website

GM STC imports the list of certified painters into www.centerlearning.com. Credit shows in training records immediately and on the STS Report within one week.

OE Certification Timing

Trainees must complete the Paint and Refinish training process within a six-month period once they begin.

GM Paint Manufacturer Course and Contact Information

The following table shows the GM paint suppliers and their contact information. To determine the training requirements for certification, GM body service technicians can discuss them with their paint supplier representative or contact the appropriate GM-approved paint supplier at the number(s) listed below:

Paint Suppliers	Phone Numbers	Website
Azalta/Spies Hecker /Standox/Cromax	(610) 358-5354	www.axaltacoatingsystems.com
AkzoNobel/Sikkens	(800) 656-2332	www.akzonobel.com
BASF	(800) 201-1605	www.BASFrefinish.com
PPG/Nexa	(800) 647-6050	www.ppgrefinish.com
Sherwin-Williams/Martin-Senour	(630) 887-7516	www.sherwin-automtive.com
Valspare/DeBeer	(972) 595-8910	www.valsparautomotive.com