STLCC Receives $15 Million to Innovate Worker Training in Missouri
St. Louis Community College was awarded $15 million to create a new approach to worker training that will benefit more than 3,300 Missourians who are unemployed, underemployed or require additional technical training for high-demand careers. STLCC will receive $4 million, the largest portion of the grant, for local training programs and statewide grant administration, with the remaining amount allocated to partner institutions.
STLCC will lead a consortium of community colleges and other training institutions -- Missouri Manufacturing Workforce Innovation Networks (or MoManufacturingWINs) -- which focuses on preparing workers for careers in modern manufacturing, including production, industrial maintenance, welding and machining.
With the four-year grant, STLCC will innovate the way adult workers in Missouri are trained and make programs more adult friendly. The new curriculum and structure will engage students in the training process, and move away from a traditional job-training approach to an education model that establishes career pathways to fill employer needs for workers with specific skills. The new approach will also provide flexible scheduling and technology to make it easier for adults to fit into their work and family schedules.
“The key to securing this grant and ultimately being successful in its implementation will be in shifting the way we traditionally think of and conduct manufacturing training – it’s about being innovative and training workers on the skills they need to succeed in today’s modern manufacturing shops,” said Rod Nunn, STLCC’s vice chancellor for economic development and workforce solutions.
The training innovations also include:
• Accelerated instruction by moving from semester-based programs to modularized training and stacked credentials that allow students to get short-term training for now that can be applied as credit hours to an overall degree long-term.
• Industry-recognized credentials certification endorsed by the National Association of Manufacturers for graduates.
• Incorporation of more online and hybrid training to make it easier for busy adults.
• Contextualization and integration of basic skills into the technical coursework to enhance learning and accelerate completion.
On Oct. 9, STLCC will host an Industry Insights Seminar for Manufacturing at its Center for Workforce Innovation, 3344 Pershall Road in Ferguson. Attendees will hear about challenges facing the manufacturing sector and how to engage in MoManufacturingWINs. To register for the seminar, go to https://classes.stlcc.edu/CE_Registration/http://www.stlcc.edu/Continuing-Education/classes/index.asp?Cat=XBSA, or call 314-984-7777.
In addition to STLCC, MoManufacturingWINs includes Metropolitan Community College, North Central Missouri College, State Fair Community College, Ozarks Technical Community College, East Central College, St. Charles Community College, Mineral Area College and Linn State Technical College. Other key partners, led by the Missouri Community College Association, include the United Auto Workers Labor Employment and Training Corporation, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Missouri Department of Economic Development, and local Workforce Investment Boards.
Established in 1962, St. Louis Community College is the largest community college district in Missouri and one of the largest in the United States. STLCC has four campuses – Florissant Valley, Forest Park, Meramec and Wildwood – and annually serves nearly 80,000 students through credit courses, continuing education and workforce development programs. For more information about STLCC, visit www.stlcc.edu.
Sandra Eskridge
8:23 am on Saturday, September 22, 2012
This is obviously a much needed program in today’s economic environment, but can it also be applied to the senior citizens who have been forced to retire by their employers who have been pressured not to keep certain age groups on the insurance rolls by increased premiums and sizing down? The result of this scenario is a group of people who now find themselves struggling to subsist on social security payments diluted by Medicare premiums while looking for work in their previous type of position, yet find that their position may not be a stand-alone job description any longer. More employers seems to be doubling up on what an employee needs to be able to do skill wise (or lift) in order to apply for the job. It seems that such job descriptions lend themselves only to a younger age group. So, is retraining under these circumstances really feasible? Perhaps not. If one is 67 years old, even with a B.A. in your tattered pocket, trying to retrain for newly devised positions may, at a minimum, include obtaining an Associate’s degree in a new area to get your foot back in the door. Would anyone want to pay to retrain for two years to throw themselves back into the workforce at age 69 when they tell us we definitely will need to stop working again at 70? Do the math.