[Click on the title above to view on the CTE Central Blog website.]

This spring Barstow Community College is launching a new Career Academy that will offer free Career Technical Education courses to pre-college students. These courses include orientation, English, constructive quantitative math, automotive and diesel technology, welding, electrical technology, photography, and child development. One hundred thirty five students have enrolled thus far.

I spoke with Sandi Thomas, the Director of the new Academy to find out more about it.

What is your role now at the Community College?

My current position at Barstow Community College (BCC) is the Director of Career Technical Education, and I was given the opportunity to serve as Interim VP of Student Services last spring. Prior to working at BCC, I taught Vocational Education in the K-12 system and was a Career Tech for many years. During this time I recognized the need for students to engage in what interests them and how they are able to see the relevance between Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and real world jobs. I believe that all students should have the opportunity to experience career exploration leading to a career that fits their interests. Outside of education I am a local business owner of 25 years, which gives me hands-on experience in entrepreneurship and business management, and I employ 20 people. I also have a Master’s Degree in Human Services with an emphasis in Counseling.

I hear the new Career Academy is your idea.  What inspired it?

My inspiration came from working in the K-12 system and recognizing a need to introduce students to vocational and educational programs at an earlier age. I have witnessed this first hand in running our Annual CTE Summer Youth Program for going on the fifth year this summer. Seeing the students engaging in this program, which deals with vocational areas and STEM was a large  inspiration to begin the Career Academies Program. Also, working with our contract training programs and seeing a need for a skilled workforce contributed to providing students an outlet to explore different career and education options at an earlier age to continue into higher education or enter into the workforce with a well-developed career path.

Career Education and Workforce Development Center

Who is the Academy for? What is your target audience?

The target audience for this program was 6^th- 12^th graders since there seemed to be a need in this age range that wasn’t currently available in the Barstow area.

Where will classes be held?

Currently classes will be held in our new facility, the Career Education and Workforce Development Center.

Once students are oriented and select a career path, the location of their courses is dependent on their pathway selection and schedule. They may continue to take courses at the new facility or take advantage of some of our other flexible course options including an expansive online program, traditional “live” classes, or hybrid classes, which are a combination of online and live formats.

 

A welding class in the Center

What is the Academy’s goal?

Career Technical Education covers many vocational programs and, “the sky is the limit.” Students enrolled in the program have options to begin career paths in any of the programs Barstow College offers. In the orientation class, students will select an area of interest and begin to work towards those goals. This can include completing a low-unit certification of achievement to taking classes to transfer into a 4-year program.

What’s special or innovative about your new Academy?

It’s unique because it’s the first of its kind in the Barstow area. We’ve done concurrent enrollment and outreach before, but the Academy is more focused on the completion of certificates and/or degrees. And we designed it with student success foremost in mind, beginning with our orientation classes to give students the academic skills they will need as well as make them aware of what they can expect at the college level. We use structured self-awareness activities to help students identify goals, interests, skills, values, and lifestyles that appeal to them, and then make sound educational and career choices. We also help by offering fee waivers–as well as dual credits–that open the program to a wider population of students. And finally, we offer post Academy opportunities like continuing education and trainings, internships, and job placement support. We don’t leave them hanging; we continue to be there for them.

What is the connection between the Academy and higher education? Will students receive credits or certificates that local colleges will recognize?

The courses are all credited through Barstow Community College. When students are enrolled in the Career Academy Program and have concurrent enrollment in general, they are able to receive dual credit for both BCC and their high school. They are also able to take advantage of the Concurrent Enrollment Exemption, which waives enrollment fees (currently $46 a unit) for the classes of eligible students, for up to 10.5 units.

Are there connections with local industries as well?

We have established many connections through our trainings and our advisory committees. We work to help both students and trainees transition from the Academy to continuing their education or entering the workforce. Some of our industry partners include NRG Energy (Ivanpah Solar Project- Mojave Desert) Abengoa Solar, Molycorp Inc., Southern California Edison (SCE) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF).

High Tech Utility Scale Solar Training

What courses are you offering?

We launched the pilot semester with two sections of Orientation 1, English 101/102, and BCTT 51 (Construction Quantitative Skills). We began with these to orient students to college life and to improve basic skills. From there, students will select a pathway and continue to work towards a certificate of achievement or associates degree.

How can students and others find more information?

For more information on the program or to enroll, contact the Career Education Department by phone at 760.252.6799 or by email at voced@barstow.edu.

Can you think of a success story that illustrates the Academy’s goal?

One Barstow Community College student, Adrianna Vallejos, who previously participated in our annual CTE Summer Youth Program and was given the opportunity to explore a variety of careers and to concurrently enroll in classes with Barstow College and her local high school, is currently in her third semester in the welding program and well on her way to earning a certificate of achievement in Welding before she graduates high school. Seeing success stories like hers from prior outreach with K-12 students was influential in creating the Career Academy Program. We want to extend these opportunities to more students. Adrianna also enrolled in the Orientation class when we launched the Career Academies this spring semester. Furthermore, Adrianna has assisted us in outreach for the program since she is a perfect example of the benefits of participating and can relate to and inspire students in this age range. You can see an article from the local newspaper, The Desert Dispatch, on an outreach event conducted at one local high school with help from Adrianna and other faculty and staff from the Career Technical Education department.

Adrianna Vallejos with welding instructor, Mr. Pitard

Also make sure to check out this recent story on the Career Academy in the same paper.

Our thanks to Director Sandi Thomas for this interview.

When you write a blog you work on leads. You’re a cub reporter, like Jimmy Olsen.

(Actually he would say, “Jeepers!”)

In this information age, leads can come from anywhere—from another local blog or Listserv to the New York Times, from some new technology you learn of at a conference to something inspiring you see in the field. Often they present a subject that inspires discussion and further research. Other leads stand on their own, a snapshot of the world of CTE, nonetheless interesting.

This is a list of recent leads I’ve followed. Yell “Great Caesar’s Ghost!” if you see anything that interests you.*

Contemplating a ‘Tech Bubble’ for K-12 (12/2012):

Do educational technology companies and entrepreneurs face the risk of a “tech bubble,” similar to the massive boom-and-bust that rocked the market the late 1990s? A recent paper says it’s a real possibility. The paper, “Obstacles and Opportunities for Entrepreneurs in Education,” was released in December by the MIT Enterprise Forum of the Northwest, a chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum, a global nonprofit organization that seeks to support technology entrepreneurs.

Release of Historic Report Links STEM Students Interests with STEM Jobs by State and Joy Type from My College Options and STEMconnector. (1/15/2013):

Where Are the Stem Students? What are their Career Interests? Where are the STEM Jobs? This report identifies the STEM interests of more than one million U.S. high school students interested in  pursuing STEM careers, and links them to increasing demand for over 16 million STEM jobs by 2018. It also provides in-depth profiles of more than one million students interested in STEM majors and careers with breakouts for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report is also designed to motivate students interested in STEM careers by providing a breakdown of “hot” STEM jobs, salary figures, and a projection of the future STEM job market.

Plus “6 Things You Didn’t Know About STEM Jobs and Students” from the above report.

Freshman Survey: Focused on Jobs, from the Chronicle of Higher Education (1/24/2013):

Today’s freshmen are focused on the future. They are certain they’ll finish their degrees in four years, despite evidence to the contrary; they want to land good jobs after graduation; and they increasingly aspire to be well off.

The True Cost of High School Dropouts from the New York Times (01/25/2013):

High school completion is, of course, the most significant requirement for entering college. While our economic competitors are rapidly increasing graduation rates at both levels, we continue to fall behind.

From Track to Field: Trends in Career and Technical Education Across Three Decades from RTI International (02/2013):

Historically, CTE and occupational studies provided low-achieving or academically disengaged students with courses that prepared them for immediate entry into the labor market. However, the expansion of new types of career education within magnet schools, career academies, and traditional high schools, and the increasingly accepted perspective that all students can benefit from training that improves their workplace skills, suggests that the older dichotomies between college-bound academic education and work-oriented occupational preparation are less salient.

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces Board Approval of Sweeping Updates to Career Technical Education Standards from a CDE News Release (2/12/2013):

“This new framework sheds light on many new 21st century industry pathways, from game design and mental and behavioral health to green energy and international business,” Torlakson said. “They also tie in well with the rigorous academics and modern relevance demanded under the Common Core State Standards.”

School Finance Reform: Can It Support California’s College and Career-Ready Goal? from Ed Source (2/14/2013):

As the 2013 legislative session begins, the governor is once again proposing K-12 finance reform. In broad strokes, his proposed Local Control Funding Formula would provide a uniform base amount for each student a school district serves, adjusted by grade span and with extra funding based on student needs. The Report questions the impact on CTE.

Adults Are Flocking to College That Paved Way for Flexibility from the New York Times (2/24/13):

In September, Jennifer Hunt of Brown County, Ind., was awarded a bachelor’s degree from Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey without ever taking a Thomas Edison course. She was one of about 300 of last year’s 3,200 graduates who managed to patch together their degree requirements with a mix of credits — from other institutions, standardized exams, online courses, workplace or military training programs and portfolio assessments.

Career Technical Education Linked to Boys’ High School Survival from Education Week (3/04/2013):

Earning three or more CTE credits within a focused sequence of courses was second only to 9th grade students’ grade point average as the strongest variable affecting high school survival for boys.

Torlakson Announces Partnership to Teach 21st Century Skills (3/12/2013):

California Department of Education has joined the national Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) network of 18 states, designed to teach every student real-world skills to meet the needs of a competitive global economy.

Better Colleges Failing to Lure Talented Poor from the New York Times (3/16/2013):

Most low-income students who have top test scores and grades do not even apply to the nation’s best colleges, according to a new analysis of every high school student who took the SAT in a recent year.

Jobs, Value and Affirmative Action: A Survey of Parents About College, from Inside Higher Ed (3/20/2013):

It’s not the college of your dreams, it’s the college you can afford. And the one that will find you a job.

California’s skilled workforce of the future must begin training in the classroom from California Forward (3/27/2013):

“It’s about time we start building career pathways with academic rigor and career relevance for every young person in California so that they can have an educational experience,” said State Senator president pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. “We want their education to be meaningful and relevant in whatever they may choose to do after school.”

About One-Third of Students Get Offers From College Wait Lists, from the National Association for College Admission Counseling (4/05/2013):

April is the month of decision making for high school seniors weighing their college options. It’s difficult enough to compare the solid offers, but for many, there is the added layer of angst over being put on a wait list.

Education Schools Innovate to Supply STEM Teachers from U.S. News and World report (4/8/2013):

“You want strong support in a total immersion program, preferably one that partners with K-12 schools and provides teacher-mentors,” says Charles Coble, co-director of an Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities initiative to overhaul teacher training.

Jimmy Olsen, out.

*Catchphrase of Perry White, Jimmy’s boss and the Editor-in-Chief of the Metropolis newspaper The Daily Planet. But don’t call him “Chief.”

Students in California have a new jobs resource tool for finding a job or checking out the job market in their field. The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office and the California Employment Development Division are combining forces to partner with and sponsor CalJOBS, an online labor exchange site hosted by the California Career Cafe.

What does it do?

CalJOBS provides free online access to employment services 24/7 through the Career Cafe.  A student or an employer can either register or explore as a Guest here. (If you find that your computer has timed you out, click on “Register” on the Career Cafe CalJOBS page or hit the “Home” button.) When students enter through the Career Cafe site they can click on “Individual” to find themselves in “My Workspace” where there are tools—videos, checklists, tutorials—to help them locate jobs by matching them to their skills, values, and interests. And they can learn how to develop effective resumés and cover letters.

In “My Workspace” students can also customize a dashboard to help them define who they are and what they are looking for. Then through the CalJOBS site they can research job opportunities or even redefine what they can be looking for based on their own skills sets and interests. CalJOBS also provides resources for continued education through training and educational programs.

And finally, CalJOBS has economic information about labor market facts and trends, statistics, and demographics to help students see what the work world is like today.

Employers can create a Dashboard and take advantage of Recruitment Services—where they can post job openings; Labor Market Services—where they also have access to labor market data; and Education Services with a link to the California Employment Development site.

In the Workspace, employers can post openings for jobs and internships as well as review and evaluate the resumes and job applications of participating students and job seekers. The site also helps employers recruit talent, analyze the labor market, research local training programs, and evaluate which occupations are currently in demand.

For more information, please contact Susan Coleman, Project Director, at scoleman@occ.cccd.edu, or visit the California Career Cafe or The New CalJOBS at the California Employment Development Department.

February 2013 was CTE Month. Many states—Utah, for example—took advantage of the month to celebrate CTE statewide.  (National ‘Groundhog’ Job Shadow Day is also in February, typically on or near Punxsutawney’s favorite holiday.)

CTE was also spotlighted as a priority in President Obama’s State of the Union address.

In the State of the Union, President Obama spoke of greater career preparation and skills training for high school students, with an emphasis on integrating secondary and postsecondary education. “Let’s make sure that a high school diploma puts our kids on a path to a good job” said Obama. “Join me in a national commitment to train 2 million Americans with skills that will lead directly to a job. Now you need to give more community colleges the resources they need to become community career centers -– places that teach people skills that businesses are looking for right now, from data management to high-tech manufacturing.”

The President cited the example a public CTE high school in Brooklyn—Pathways in Technology Early College High School—that has developed a partnership between New York Public Schools, City University of New York, and IBM.  The school has a six-year program that offers an associate degree for students interested in a career in technology. “I’m announcing a new challenge to redesign America’s high schools so they better equip graduates for the demands of a high-tech economy.  We’ll reward schools that develop new partnerships with colleges and employers, and create classes that focus on science, technology, engineering, and math—the skills today’s employers are looking for to fill jobs right now and in the future,” said Obama.

In their State of the State addresses in the last few months, many state governors also spoke of CTE and, in particular, the skills gap. The National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) has posted the following excerpts. To see the full texts–and in some cases a video–of each speech, click on the links below.

Indiana – Governor Mike Pence

“Career and technical education can provide our students with a pathway to success. It can launch entrepreneurs, give kids a reason to finish high school, and create a well-qualified workforce that will encourage business to build here and grow here. We have to give our kids, our future, every opportunity for success. That means quality schools, choices about their education and multiple pathways to success.”

Rhode Island – Governor Lincoln Chafee

“Rhode Islanders looking for work need to be ready not only for today’s economy, but for the economy of tomorrow. And Rhode Island employers looking to hire or expand need to have confidence that there will be qualified candidates to fill available positions.”

Wyoming – Governor Matthew Mead

“We recognize in Wyoming the importance of higher education whether it is a four-year or two-year degree. And we also recognize the value of career and technical education.”

Texas – Governor Rick Perry

“Texas employers need additional, qualified workers. Of course, not all of these jobs require a college degree. Many require a technical certification, and those jobs are among those most in demand in our state.”

New York – Governor Andrew Cuomo

“A generic job training program just doesn’t cut it anymore. We need a job linkage program.”

Vermont – Governor Peter Shumlinc

“Our current funding system does not encourage [CTE] centers to match the needs of regional employers. These [CTE] Innovation Zones will focus on areas of education and professional opportunity that fit the needs of their region.”

For a short summary of each Governor’s plan for CTE, check out the NASDCTEc posts and updates.

In my last blog post I talked about how CTE facilitates nontraditional career paths for both boys and girls. Students are breaking the stereotypes of the kinds of jobs associated with one sex or another.

From NCWGE

There is another stereotype: the role of CTE programs—formerly known as Voc Ed—in education. Who is it for?

In 2008 a report from the Center for an Urban Future in New York City said this (see page 7): “Around mid-century, ‘Voc Ed,’ as it was known, began to acquire a stigma as an academic dumping ground that it retains to this day. Schools officials began to relegate youngsters with academic deficits or special-education needs to career preparation programs, and gradually a largely separate and clearly unequal system-within-a-system began to take shape. Voc Ed became almost synonymous with Special Ed…. It diminished kids’ aspirations by making institutional decisions about what they could do” by enforcing an artificial and outdated distinction between ‘vocational’ and ‘academic’ standards.”

A study done in Virginia in 2004 (a dissertation rich in research and data) revealed the following: “Data analyzed revealed that some of the traditional stereotypical descriptors of CTE teachers, students, and programs were held by Virginia DOE administrators. Some stereotypes of note were: (a) CTE students do not plan to go to college, (b) CTE students are good with concrete concepts, (c) CTE students enjoy nonacademic classes more than academic ones, (d) CTE students are not from middle to upper socioeconomic class, (e) CTE teachers have lots of on-the-job experience, and (f) CTE programs are isolated from the rest of the school.

But even in 2003 someone was trying to do something about this. The Center on Education and Training for Employment at Ohio State University put out a Practice Application Brief to provide “strategies career and technical educators can use to present a new image of CTE as a viable strategy for education and work, including proactive approaches to enhancing the reputation of CTE programs, bringing parents up to date on labor market information, marketing CTE to the local community, and working with media to recognize exemplary programs and outstanding student achievements.“ These include giving students something to brag about, bringing parents on board, and working with counselors, student organizations, and local business and industry representatives.

”Marsha Boutelle scooped me on this in 2007 in a California Schools Magazine article (no longer available online) titled: Retooling Voc Ed: Career Technical Education Prepares Students for Life Beyond High School and quotes Gary Hoachlander, president of ConnectEd at The California Center for College and Career in Berkeley: “In a lot of policy discussions going on right now in Sacramento, a lot of people are talking about CTE as an alternative to college. That’s the wrong way to look at it. College is a very loaded term; if it’s interpreted to mean only a four-year college, it can polarize the discussion. And in fact, high school CTE programs propel students into a variety of postsecondary education options in addition to a four-year university degree. Some head off to community colleges to study for two-year associate of arts or associate of science degrees or to enroll in certificate programs. Others enter apprenticeships; still others enter trade schools. The point is that the shifting economy has made it very clear that the kinds of jobs that pay a living wage require a level of education above and beyond high school.’”

From the Albert Shanker Institute (he was a former president of the American Federation of Teachers): Are Stereotypes About CTE Crumbling? “Today, states continue to use a typology with roots in the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917, which classified students as ‘vocational’ or ‘academic’ depending on their curriculum concentrations. [The] focus on academics ultimately was incorporated into the Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984, but the conceptual divide remained in place, even as Voc Ed evolved into career and technical education. The NRCCTE’s new classification method presents eight different categories of CTE credit takers, rooted in 21st century realities.”

Governor Mark Warner had this to say in 2005 in Virginia in the report Remaking CTE for the 21^st Century (see page 29): “[For] me, the importance of career and technical education was based on trends I had seen emerging for several years in private business—namely the increasingly technical requirements for jobs that had once been viewed as semi-skilled or even unskilled. The fact is that while a high school diploma was enough to earn a decent living at the dawn of the 20th century, it is insufficient now. Career and technical training beyond high school is an imperative in today’s economy.”

A 2007 paper on dropout prevention from UC Berkeley titled Can Combining Academic and CTE Improve High School Outcomes in CA? explores unifying academics and career education: “[We] view the high school dropout issue as part of this bigger challenge: reconstructing high schools so that more students will find the experience meaningful and motivating, and so that more have a desirable range of postsecondary options when they graduate. In particular, we focus on programs that attempt to prepare students for work and for further education, simultaneously.“

So career technical education is for all students in today’s world. It provides them with an education that combines workplace skills with academics. This gives them realistic options in both their chosen careers and in higher and continuing education.

“Pearson, Strong Performers and Successful Reformers, Canada” OECD

Finally, two videos worth watching:

“Stereotypes,” from Ohio’s OnScene CTE Program dispels the myth that CTE doesn’t make a student both career and college ready.

And “Career Technical Education—Making the Difference” from CareerTech and NASDCTEc.  “See how Career Technical Education is positively impacting students across the nation as they progress towards college and career. This video underscores CTE’s achievements and potential to help our nation in this global economy and helps break down the stereotypes and show the difference that is possible with CTE.”

One of the ongoing challenges faced by community colleges has been how to meet the needs of working adults who have significant skills and knowledge gained through work experience, but lack the course credits and the time to enroll in courses to earn corresponding degrees or certificates. Without the degrees or certificates, these working adults often struggle to advance in their careers, transition to more desirable careers, or even find employment in a competitive job market.

Often, workers with many years of practical, on-the-job experience and all the necessary skills to fill an open position will get passed over for promotions or as new hires because they lack a degree or certificate. When these workers come to a university or community college with the hope of obtaining these degrees or certificates, they often find themselves mired in basic skills courses or on a waiting list for over-enrolled programs. Required courses can be full and unavailable until the next semester or scheduled at times of the day that are incompatible with work schedules. All of these factors can contribute to high drop-out or non-completion rates which are frustrating for both colleges and students.

The University of Wisconsin (UW) has stepped forward to try to address this problem, though mostly for students seeking a four-year bachelor degree. This past month, they launched their pilot “Flexible Option” Program, which is a competency-based program that allows students to take a self-paced, independent study approach to earning the credentials they need. Students enroll at any time – as their progress is not tied to a school calendar, they don’t need to wait for a semester to start to enroll – and work at their own pace. They are welcome to access free materials and resources online and elsewhere such as massively open online courses (MOOCs). They may confer with UW faculty or take UW classes. It’s all up to them. And then, when they feel ready, they demonstrate their knowledge through “rigorous, reliable” assessments designed by UW faculty with input from industry experts and leaders.

Once they pass the assessment, students then move on to the next step. This continues until students complete and pass all the necessary assessments and are awarded their degree. Take a look at the video below, giving an overview of the program:

 

UW’s Flexible Option degree program is the first of its kind presented by a public university and signals the willingness of traditional education institutions to incorporate the vast and evolving body of information, knowledge, and instruction now available on the Internet into their credentialing processes.

It will be interesting to watch UW’s program unfold. Even more intriguing will be watching other colleges and universities as they seek to address the coinciding needs of working adults and the credentialing of knowledge or competencies acquired through non-traditional avenues.

More pertinent to us though is the question, how does CTE fit into this evolving landscape?

Remember this riddle from the last millennium: A man is driving his son to school. They get into an accident and the man dies. The son is rushed to the hospital and when he arrives for emergency surgery the doctor says, “I can’t operate on this boy. HES MY SON!”

Today you are probably trying to find the riddle in the riddle–our expectations around gender and careers have evolved. (If not, ask someone. Or keep reading.)

Kern Regional Occupation Center’s Diesel class in Bakersfield, CA

Why does this photo make us smile? Aside from the obvious joy in the faces of the participants, we feel a certain revolutionary pride in the blurring of work roles based on gender.  It’s the freedom to follow your passion unhindered by traditional expectations.

Another example: this is my buddy Jake who lives in Hawaii.

Jake is a nurse practitioner. He can take his skills anywhere and tailor his schedule to his lifestyle. And he’s making a good salary.

At the moment, men represent only 7.2% of registered nurses. But that is changing.

From TrailBlazers in Virginia

What is a non-traditional career path? It is defined as one where fewer than 25% of the workforce is of your gender.

For women and girls, the field of technology—typically a male-dominated realm—is evolving as well.  IGNITE, a Seattle based non-profit organization, is showing young girls the possibilities represented by STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) careers. An article in USA Today about the Center concludes,  “Amid concern that the nation isn’t preparing enough students for the high-tech workforce of the future, accomplished tech-savvy women are emerging as a force aimed at unleashing the untapped potential of girls. The first step: disproving a stereotype that computing is a guy thing.”

The Career Equity Resource Center at Rutgers offers these Fast Facts for nontraditional career choices in CTE:

• Careers that are nontraditional for one of the genders, such as information technology, nursing, and engineering, often experience a labor shortage, so there is a high demand for skilled employees in those occupations.
• Trailblazing women who work in nontraditional fields can expect a lifetime earnings of 150% more than comparable women in traditionally female occupations.
• It has also been found that people in nontraditional careers enjoy a high degree of job satisfaction as they are working in fields they have a genuine interest in, regardless of gender stereotype.

The Hawaii State Board of Career Technical Education gives these reasons, among others, to choose a nontraditional career:

• You’ll spend more than 30 years working and you’ll want to enjoy it. (Check out this video.)
• You can earn up to 30% more working in non-traditional jobs.
• You can earn enough to get what you want from life.
• Your training and education lays a solid foundation for your future.
• You’ll learn new ways of thinking and dealing with others.
• Your skills will be needed in key fields. (Check out this guidebook.)

Students, both male and female, are bucking the stereotypes and following the career paths that interest them most, traditional or not. And according to the predictions for the workforce of the future, the time is right.

It’s easy to make New Year’s Resolutions. I will go to the gym four times a week at least. I will not eat sugar for at least a month. I will buy nothing I can’t pay cash for. Starting now.

It’s even easier to make them for others.

All of us who are involved in career technical education, career paths, higher education and community colleges, and workforce development could or have made resolutions for 2013. Others have put them out there for all to see.

I did a search for such wish lists just to see what the CTE community is hoping for this year. The best comes from The Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW). The ICW annually creates resolutions for Congress. It’s a fun read. Check it out.

For higher education, they say they are just asking for ‘socks and underwear, gifts that may not be flashy, but are essential to everyday life.’

“The socks [would] be a greater investment in data, research, and transparency. We know so little about how efficiently our institutions are performing, how effective they are at teaching students, and what can make them function more smoothly.”

The ‘underwear’ is a focus on outcomes. “Whether it’s changing student aid to place incentives for degree or certificate completion, implementing performance-based funding models for institutions, or simply measuring student learning gains while in college, there is no shortage for things we can do to ensure students and taxpayers alike are getting the most bang for their buck.”

For CTE, they suggest more of what they got last year: “staying on the current track and doing more of what works.”

“But where Congress dipped their toe into the water last time, it should dive head first this time around. Strengthening industry partnerships is a great way to help bridge existing gaps; incentivizing core subject teachers to work in tandem with technical educators could finish the job.”

“And perhaps no education program could benefit more from having longitudinal data systems in place that can track students from K–-12 to higher education and into the workforce. Once students get into the workforce, we should be able to tie them back to their schools to find out just how beneficial these programs were in helping young people achieve prosperity.”

For workforce development, they are succinct: “Just pass a bill already.”

“Let’s make sure the program retains a majority business representation on state and local workforce investment boards. Put simply, you can’t train people for jobs that aren’t available, and the only way you’re going to get it right is by supporting an employer-guided system. “

For more insight into what people are wishing for, here is a sampling of resolutions from various sources:

Resolutions for high school students thinking about their future, from the Mercury News.com.

An interesting list for “Millennials” from PolyMic, an online news platform for millennials created by a Harvard and a Stanford grad. (Millennials are also known as Generation Y, born between 1980 and 2000.)

A quick list from The National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE), Washington State: New year, new legislative session, new chance for CTE to shine.

And finally from Forbes, advice for entrepreneurs to add a ‘personal brand’ to what they are doing: “Be Unforgettable!”

Happy New Year!

This is the third installment in a three-part interview with Dr. Gustavo Chamorro, Director of the Digital Media Center (DMC) in the Rancho Santiago Community College District, discussing the Entrepreneurial Incubator housed at the DMC. If you missed the first two installments of the interview, you can link to Part 1 and Part 2 here.

Is there a success story that stands out in your mind?

GC:  We have many examples of successful companies that have grown from our incubator–you can read about some of them here. And I can give you three stunning recent examples: True Games Interactive, Melrok, and RCampus.

True Games Interactive, as you would guess, designs online games. They started with 2 employees, and now they are 40. They created 40 new jobs, from secretarial to designers and programmers. They outgrew us at the DMC and moved to Irvine to create their headquarters. Also part of that story, one of the classes we offer in digital media—web site development, marketing, and design—created this company name and designed an improved company logo; it leans toward the gothic and the logo represents this.Melrok is another example of a success story we’re very proud of.

That’s the company that minimizes energy use on a business site, is that right?

GC:  That is correct. Melrok provides energy consumption, cost, and carbon information that leads to the development and implementation of energy reduction projects. They have two main services: EnergiScore and EnergiStream, which monitor and analyze your energy use. They are now looking at using this technology at community colleges throughout the state.

What is RCampus?

GC:  RCampus provides free online educational management tools for teachers so that they can better manage their classes. It also provides services to help students build and maintain online ePortfolios to ‘easily organize and showcase collections of their work, reflections, and assessments in multi-page webfolios and matrices.’ RCampus has over 200,000 users now. You can learn more about RCampus and its free services here.

So to summarize, the incubator’s mission is to help businesses develop their ideas into a viable business. And in the process, we want to get our community college students involved. The idea is to inspire more community colleges to develop entrepreneurship programs.  And in an incubator, students get real world experience. So in addition to job creation, the incubator is providing students with the experience of what entrepreneurship is about as well as giving them the skills to become entrepreneurs themselves. And we do provide free consulting services to the community—even a high school student can come to us with an idea.

Our thanks to Dr. Chamorro.

This is the second installment in a three-part interview with Dr. Gustavo Chamorro, Director of the Digital Media Center (DMC) in Rancho Santiago Community College District. We are discussing the Entrepreneurial Incubator housed at the DMC. If you missed the first part of the interview, you can find it here.

Digital Media Center in Santa Ana

Do you have a line around the block to get in?

GC:  We are full. We have 19 companies right now. But we also have an affiliate program that offers the same benefits and services as the incubator but without the office space. However, I think one of the greatest advantages to the incubator is the opportunity to be in the same building with other entrepreneurs and grow relationships with these people, to share experiences and challenges and bounce things off each other. For example, if a company is developing an iPhone app, they can talk to someone there who has had this experience and learn what to avoid, what platform is best—Android or iPhone, for example—and what works.

Is everything at the DMC incubator related to technology?

GC: – Technology, energy efficiency, and medical devices. We do define technology very broadly, but we try to keep the companies related in some way that is beneficial to them. This is important to create synergy among incubator residents since they share something in common.

What is the process for the entrepreneur, from the initial pitch to incubation?

GC:  Entrepreneurs find out about us by word of mouth; the entrepreneur community is very close-knit. When they come in, we ask them to submit an executive summary of their business plan, which goes to an application review committee composed of people in the digital and technology community. They let us know if they think it meets our initial criteria.

Once the company is here, we do a needs-assessment to find out what the company requires right away. That’s when we bring in the consulting services and begin nurturing and massaging the company to help it grow. We continue to coach them and monitor them, and when we think they are ready, we bring in the investors, often here at the incubator. We can then have an informal initial meeting where we talk to the investors about the company and the investment landscape here in Orange County. Through these interactions, the companies get to know the investors on a personal level and they can call them if they choose to. And the investors have a chance to talk with them about what they are looking to invest in and what their criteria are.

At what point do you kick them out of the nest?

GC:  Companies can stay here for up to 3 years. If by then they aren’t ready to break out, they’re probably not going to succeed. Because of the economy, we can be flexible, and most companies do stay the full three years. But even when times are good, it’s always hard to find your first customer—it’s easier when there is someone out there who has bought your product and can say it works.

We do want to nurture these companies and watch them grow; jobs are created, the community benefits, and they are contributing to our economy.

Up next, the last installment of the interview with Dr. Chamorro – be sure to check back for Part 3: Success Stories.