...Consider what they face. They have to understand the broader economy
and multiple local economies; be mindful of the career desires and interests of
students; address the immediate needs of businesses; and they have to be able
to predict the future.
...That’s workforce development.
...It’s hard to overestimate the importance of workforce to the development of
an area. When a prospect looks at an area or a business is considering an
expansion, it needs to know if there are enough workers qualified to fill the
positions.
...At a time when even governments seem powerless to do much to fix the
world’s ailing economy, improving the workforce may be one of the few
issues that can be addressed in any meaningful way.
...“This is a time of tremendous change across the country and across the
globe,” said Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao, even before the current turmoil.
“America's 21st Century workforce needs to adjust to the changes of the 21st
Century economy. These changes include a fundamental transformation for all
industries and increasingly require higher skill sets and higher education.”
...Just how dramatic these changes have been were detailed by Dr. Willard
Daggett, director of the International Center for Leadership and Education. He
points out that the academic skills demanded by many entry-level jobs are at a
higher level than the academic skills required for entering college.
...In his paper, “Jobs and the Skill Gap,” Daggett writes that the number of
jobs for the unskilled has declined steadily over the past several decades,
while there’s an increase in semi-skilled jobs. Daggett said that in the next 10
years there will be a huge growth in skilled jobs. In addition, a shift has
occurred from large to small companies, where employees often need to do a
variety of tasks in a range of skills.
...Forty years ago employment consisted of large numbers of low-skill, some
semi-skilled, and fewer high-skill jobs. By the 1990s, technology had taken
over many routine low-skill jobs.
...This shift in the labor market will continue as more semi-skilled jobs are
automated, saving employers salaries and benefits. As more jobs require
higher-level skills, an interesting dynamic is occurring in postsecondary
education.
...The American Association of Community College Trustees reports that in
many regions of the country, more students with bachelor’s degrees are
enrolled in community colleges than there are students with associate degrees
attending four-year colleges. Community college has become the new graduate
school for many liberal arts majors.
Mississippi’s system
...The group that gathered in Pascagoula this past November represented an
interesting cross-section of the region. There were representatives from
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, economic development
organizations and some of the best-known employers in South Mississippi.
...The people who came together for the quarterly District Workforce Council
meeting had a common goal, and it’s the same one every time they meet: are
the needs of South Mississippi employers being met, and if not, what can be
done. This local group, and similar groups elsewhere in the state, are intended
to be the local input in a statewide system designed to develop the skills
needed by employers, big and little.
...It would be hard to take issue with the scope of vocational and technical
training offered by Mississippi. It’s comprehensive, updated regularly,
research-based and includes avenues for input from businesses and industry.
...South Mississippi has a wide range of vocational and technical training
programs in place and two community colleges – Mississippi Gulf Coast
Community College and Pearl River Community College – that supply the
training needs for local companies.
...The state provides the broad vision of where the economy is heading and
develops curricula to meet the need. At the local level, advisory committees,
workforce councils and post-secondary institutions provide the crucial local
input.
...Mississippi Department of Education’s statewide program and the courses
offered are based in large part on research conducted by Mississippi State
University’s Research and Curriculum unit. The programs are revisited every
few years to ensure they reflect national and accreditation standards and
address the needs of the state. Adjustments are based on research in the field
and surveys of instructors and industry personnel.
...The vocational and technical programs are part of a system that includes
every secondary and postsecondary school district. Vocational programs in
Mississippi are offered in over 500 schools and 15 community and junior
colleges.
...Broad categories of training include agriculture, allied health, business
computer, family consumer, marketing and trades industrial, under which
there are numerous career paths at the secondary level and even more at the
postsecondary level. The programs are designed to provide a framework to
allow students to make the transition from school to careers.
...But it is at the local level where the rubber meets the road, so to speak, and
MGCCC and PRCC play a pivotal role.
...“I could not ask for a better economic development partner,” Charlotte
Koestler, executive director of the Stone County Economic Development
Partnership, said about MGCCC.
...Community colleges provide four key services in post-secondary education:
They offer courses for students that plan to go on to a four-year college,
enrichment courses for adults, next-step courses for high school vocational
training students and job-specific training based on requests from local
businesses and industries.
...MGCCC and PRCC are conduits for the curriculum developed at the state
level, and work through the district workforce council and Mississippi
Department of Employment Security – along with talking at length to local
officials – to get an understanding of workforce demands on both the broad
and local level.
...The larger of the two schools is MGCCC, which offers more than 60 career
and technical programs. With its main campus in Stone County’s Perkinston,
it serves Harrison, Stone, Jackson and George counties. It has four campuses
and four centers - George County at Lucedale, West Harrison at Long Beach,
Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Center at Gulfport and Keesler
Center at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi.
...The older of the two is PRCC, which has the distinction of being
Mississippi’s first two-year institution of higher learning – and 16th oldest in
the nation. It serves six counties: Pearl River, Hancock, Forrest, Lamar,
Marion and Jefferson Davis.
...In addition to the main campus in Pearl River County’s Poplarville, it
operates the Forrest County Center and Woodall Advanced Technology
Center in Hattiesburg and the Hancock Center in Bay St. Louis/Waveland.
...PRCC has a range of programs in a variety of fields, including barbering,
brick/block/stone masonry, cosmetology, dental assistant, practical nursing,
truck driving training, welding and more, including aerospace electronics
technology.
...One of the key roles played by MGCCC and PRCC is responding to the
needs of local businesses for training. The colleges, under the Workforce
Development program, are able to custom-design a training program to meet
the needs of a company.
...Non-credit, workforce training programs are funded by the state, the
industry, federal dollars or, in some cases, it’s jointly funded. Pre-employment
programs can include everything from welding, apprenticeship programs in
pipefitting, blueprint reading classes, beginning computer classes and more. -
David Tortorano, Tcp
January 2009
and multiple local economies; be mindful of the career desires and interests of
students; address the immediate needs of businesses; and they have to be able
to predict the future.
...That’s workforce development.
...It’s hard to overestimate the importance of workforce to the development of
an area. When a prospect looks at an area or a business is considering an
expansion, it needs to know if there are enough workers qualified to fill the
positions.
...At a time when even governments seem powerless to do much to fix the
world’s ailing economy, improving the workforce may be one of the few
issues that can be addressed in any meaningful way.
...“This is a time of tremendous change across the country and across the
globe,” said Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao, even before the current turmoil.
“America's 21st Century workforce needs to adjust to the changes of the 21st
Century economy. These changes include a fundamental transformation for all
industries and increasingly require higher skill sets and higher education.”
...Just how dramatic these changes have been were detailed by Dr. Willard
Daggett, director of the International Center for Leadership and Education. He
points out that the academic skills demanded by many entry-level jobs are at a
higher level than the academic skills required for entering college.
...In his paper, “Jobs and the Skill Gap,” Daggett writes that the number of
jobs for the unskilled has declined steadily over the past several decades,
while there’s an increase in semi-skilled jobs. Daggett said that in the next 10
years there will be a huge growth in skilled jobs. In addition, a shift has
occurred from large to small companies, where employees often need to do a
variety of tasks in a range of skills.
...Forty years ago employment consisted of large numbers of low-skill, some
semi-skilled, and fewer high-skill jobs. By the 1990s, technology had taken
over many routine low-skill jobs.
...This shift in the labor market will continue as more semi-skilled jobs are
automated, saving employers salaries and benefits. As more jobs require
higher-level skills, an interesting dynamic is occurring in postsecondary
education.
...The American Association of Community College Trustees reports that in
many regions of the country, more students with bachelor’s degrees are
enrolled in community colleges than there are students with associate degrees
attending four-year colleges. Community college has become the new graduate
school for many liberal arts majors.
Mississippi’s system
...The group that gathered in Pascagoula this past November represented an
interesting cross-section of the region. There were representatives from
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, economic development
organizations and some of the best-known employers in South Mississippi.
...The people who came together for the quarterly District Workforce Council
meeting had a common goal, and it’s the same one every time they meet: are
the needs of South Mississippi employers being met, and if not, what can be
done. This local group, and similar groups elsewhere in the state, are intended
to be the local input in a statewide system designed to develop the skills
needed by employers, big and little.
...It would be hard to take issue with the scope of vocational and technical
training offered by Mississippi. It’s comprehensive, updated regularly,
research-based and includes avenues for input from businesses and industry.
...South Mississippi has a wide range of vocational and technical training
programs in place and two community colleges – Mississippi Gulf Coast
Community College and Pearl River Community College – that supply the
training needs for local companies.
...The state provides the broad vision of where the economy is heading and
develops curricula to meet the need. At the local level, advisory committees,
workforce councils and post-secondary institutions provide the crucial local
input.
...Mississippi Department of Education’s statewide program and the courses
offered are based in large part on research conducted by Mississippi State
University’s Research and Curriculum unit. The programs are revisited every
few years to ensure they reflect national and accreditation standards and
address the needs of the state. Adjustments are based on research in the field
and surveys of instructors and industry personnel.
...The vocational and technical programs are part of a system that includes
every secondary and postsecondary school district. Vocational programs in
Mississippi are offered in over 500 schools and 15 community and junior
colleges.
...Broad categories of training include agriculture, allied health, business
computer, family consumer, marketing and trades industrial, under which
there are numerous career paths at the secondary level and even more at the
postsecondary level. The programs are designed to provide a framework to
allow students to make the transition from school to careers.
...But it is at the local level where the rubber meets the road, so to speak, and
MGCCC and PRCC play a pivotal role.
...“I could not ask for a better economic development partner,” Charlotte
Koestler, executive director of the Stone County Economic Development
Partnership, said about MGCCC.
...Community colleges provide four key services in post-secondary education:
They offer courses for students that plan to go on to a four-year college,
enrichment courses for adults, next-step courses for high school vocational
training students and job-specific training based on requests from local
businesses and industries.
...MGCCC and PRCC are conduits for the curriculum developed at the state
level, and work through the district workforce council and Mississippi
Department of Employment Security – along with talking at length to local
officials – to get an understanding of workforce demands on both the broad
and local level.
...The larger of the two schools is MGCCC, which offers more than 60 career
and technical programs. With its main campus in Stone County’s Perkinston,
it serves Harrison, Stone, Jackson and George counties. It has four campuses
and four centers - George County at Lucedale, West Harrison at Long Beach,
Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Center at Gulfport and Keesler
Center at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi.
...The older of the two is PRCC, which has the distinction of being
Mississippi’s first two-year institution of higher learning – and 16th oldest in
the nation. It serves six counties: Pearl River, Hancock, Forrest, Lamar,
Marion and Jefferson Davis.
...In addition to the main campus in Pearl River County’s Poplarville, it
operates the Forrest County Center and Woodall Advanced Technology
Center in Hattiesburg and the Hancock Center in Bay St. Louis/Waveland.
...PRCC has a range of programs in a variety of fields, including barbering,
brick/block/stone masonry, cosmetology, dental assistant, practical nursing,
truck driving training, welding and more, including aerospace electronics
technology.
...One of the key roles played by MGCCC and PRCC is responding to the
needs of local businesses for training. The colleges, under the Workforce
Development program, are able to custom-design a training program to meet
the needs of a company.
...Non-credit, workforce training programs are funded by the state, the
industry, federal dollars or, in some cases, it’s jointly funded. Pre-employment
programs can include everything from welding, apprenticeship programs in
pipefitting, blueprint reading classes, beginning computer classes and more. -
David Tortorano, Tcp
January 2009
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