Working with remanufacturers on new programs
Beginning in fall 2019, technical education students at Ozarks Technical Community College (OTC) in Missouri will offer diesel, automotive and manufacturing students the opportunity to enhance their employability with courses developed specifically to prepare them for high-demand jobs in the remanufacturing industry.
Local remanufacturing companies SRC Holdings Corp., CNH Industrial Reman and John Deere Reman requested OTC to address the field’s growing workforce needs. As a result, OTC officials worked directly with the industry leaders to develop a remanufacturing-focused pathway for its students.
The new courses will cover fundamental remanufacturing principles: core management, inspection and cleaning, salvage and reclamation through machining, assembly and testing, and preventative maintenance.
Opioid bill would provide funds for job training
Sen. Lamar Alexander, chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. (Photo: Senate HELP Committee)
The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is scheduled on Wednesday to mark up a bill to help opioid-affected communities that would include education and job training programs for recovering addicts as well as those who help them.
The 2018 Opioid Crisis Response Act would allow the U.S. labor secretary to use up to $100 million annually from the WIOA National Emergency Grants program to provide competitive grants for economic and workforce development in areas affected by high opioid addiction. It would provide education and job training for eligible recovering substance abusers as well substance-abuse and mental health professionals in areas hard hit by opioid addiction.
A pathway for agriculture careers
In North Carolina, Randolph Community College, the Randolph County School System and Asheboro City Schools on Tuesday unveiled a third pathway in their partnership project Pathways to Prosperity, this one focused on agriculture.
Personnel from all three school systems, industry partners and intermediary agencies have been working on the Agricultural Pathways to Prosperity Plan for months. According to program officials, a strong agricultural climate in the area, a demand for skilled workers and increased interest in agriculture-related middle and high school classes and clubs has helped them to select agriculture as their next pathway. It was determined that the partners need to carefully address the careers in agriculture in order to retain students and continue to provide a streamlined process to go from secondary to postsecondary to a career.
The three school systems debuted the project in 2015 with four pathways for advanced manufacturing jobs. The second initiative in 2016 focused on creating health care pathways.
Re-Entry Job Fair offers ex-offenders hope
More than 98 ex-offenders recently attended an invitation-only Re-Entry Job Fair hosted at Gateway Community College in Connecticut. The event included workshops for ex-offenders interested in returning to the workforce and interviews with employers seeking to hire.
The fair, which was organized in response to the growing need to reintroduce ex-offenders into the working community, followed the example of the city of Baltimore and Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore launched the Coalition for a Second Chance, a successful program that provides workforce training and job opportunities for ex-offenders. Each organization helped ex-offenders prepare for on-the-spot interviews, and conducted workshops to coach them in their personal presentation, with workshops on how to respond to interviewers’ questions, writing resumes and filling out applications.
Of the 98 ex-offenders who participated at GCC, 25 were hired and are currently working and another 20 are in the acceptance process and will be working soon.
“Everyone deserves a second chance at success, and providing a way to make that possible is at the heart of the community college mission,” said GCC President Paul Broadie II.
L.A.-area colleges team on Promise
Rio Hondo College (RHC) and six other Los Angeles area community colleges will partner with the California College Promise Project to strengthen student support programs that boost graduation rates.
The seven colleges will form a “community of practice” within the Los Angeles County Promises That Count initiative, a three-year effort to build on college Promise programs that waive first-year tuition and offer comprehensive programs of support services for new students.
The initiative is a project of WestEd, a multi-state research, development and service agency that works with education and other communities to promote excellence, achieve equity and improve learning. The effort is funded by the California Community Foundation.
“We have worked vigorously for years to create an extensive menu of support services for our students. This partnership will expand and strengthen those efforts, all to the benefit of our students,” said RHC Superintendent/President Teresa Dreyfuss.
