The DSN for Advanced Transportation & Renewable Energy (ATRE) in the Inland Empire/Desert Region has been busy with Strong Workforce program planning. Led by Regional Consortium Chair Julie Pehkonen, the Region has been conducting a vigorous process for obtaining industry stakeholder input on CTE program needs and developing and vetting proposals for regional funding.
“This has been an excellent opportunity to engage industry, faculty, workforce development, and economic development stakeholders in an in-depth discussion on Strong Workforce objectives and how community colleges can improve their offerings,” said DSN, Larry McLaughlin.
Workgroup Meetings Were Scheduled Around a Variety of Industry Sectors and CTE Support Functions.
Three workgroup meetings were conducted for ATRE-related program areas by Larry McLaughlin. The first, conducted on August 26th, focused on renewable energy with a number of solar companies represented. Twenty-three people participated from industry, workforce development, and educational institutions in the region. After an overview of Strong Workforce goals and objectives, the funding was explained and proposal ideas were generated.
The Second Workgroup Session, Conducted on September 23rd, Focused on Advanced Transportation.
Thirty people participated including a strong showing of faculty. Prior to this workgroup session, a “pre-session” for faculty was conducted to ensure they had all the information on the Strong Workforce program. Seventeen automotive faculty attended this discussion and stayed for the two-hour general meeting that followed.
Inland Empire/Desert Region auto college and high school faculty have been collaborating on a common Intro course between the college and high school programs in order to establish articulation agreements, a model COR for an introductory-level EV/Hybrid course for colleges, and a career pathway chart that is now in a draft brochure.
The third workgroup session was a combined session on October 7th with 20 people participating. Draft proposals developed from the two prior workgroup sessions were presented and discussed. Four proposals were developed out of the first two workgroup discussions. A fifth was added by one of the member colleges after the workgroup process.
Proposals Vetted by Region
The proposals developed out of these three workgroups have received their first vetting in a region-wide meeting on November 1st. Out of 31 regional proposals submitted, the five proposals submitted by the advanced transportation and renewable energy workgroups were ranked as follows:
#1 Updating Automotive Labs – Electric Vehicle and Hybrid Instruction
#2 Desert Region Automotive Curriculum Alignment Project
#6 Solar Industry (and others) Incumbent Worker Skills
#12 Concerted Outreach and Messaging to Increase Automotive Enrollments
#18 UAV/UAS (drone) Partnership
It’s important to note, this was the first regional vetting and several cross-sector proposals were just reviewed on the 16th. All of the proposals will be reviewed again by the region’s Steering Committee, and evaluated against guidelines from a newly formed Executive Committee. There are still hurdles to cross, but the process has been thorough. It has provided numerous opportunities for all the region’s stakeholders to shape our CTE program improvements and determine how best to utilize the new Strong Workforce investment. For more information, contact Larry McLaughlin at lmclaughlin@collegeofthedesert.edu.
