NCWE Day 2 Highlight: Washington’s Centers of Excellence
Day two at NCWE brought another outstanding panel session, this one hosted by Washington’s State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and showcasing Washington State’s Centers of Excellence (COEs) in Information & Computing Technology, Allied Health, Construction and Marine Manufacturing & Technology on the Centers’ models of employer engagement.
“The Centers of Excellence represent key industry sectors that drive the state’s economy,” said Ann Avary, Director for Marine Manufacturing & Technology. The Centers work with all 34 of Washington’s Community & Technical Colleges, serving as the conduit between industry and education, ensuring that industry guides learning and skill-building. Directors highlighted the new COE in Cybersecurity as an example of the state legislature recognizing that local economies are not static and that support is needed for emerging industries.
Focusing on the core expectations of the Centers of Excellence, each Director shared a project that is current, responsive and helps to build links between industry and education.
Allied Health Director Dan Ferguson led off by describing the Sentinel Network. The network links the healthcare sector with policymakers, workforce planners and educators to identify and respond to changing demands for healthcare workers, focusing on the skills and occupations in demand. Dan said that legislators recognized the need across government and industry to access more reliable information on the state of their sector. The Center and the Sentinel Network have, “encouraged conversations focused on data and dissemination of the data,” said Dan.
Brianna Rockenstire, Director of the Information & Computing Technology Center, shared with attendees that increased access to internships was her number one request from faculty. Brianna also heard from industry that there was interest and momentum in broadening access to internships, especially with the long and well-documented diversity challenges IT has faced.
Brianna highlighted that hiring systems are often not built with community colleges in mind, but focusing on skills-based hiring and non-standard internship hours opens up opportunities for community college students. The internship program is beginning to ramp up and Brianna sees more partners and more opportunities for students in the coming months.
Ann Avary at the Marine Manufacturing & Technology COE focused on economic development. Her Center was awarded a recent Career Connect Washington grant, designated as a maritime sector intermediary tasked with building a maritime sector strategy. Ann’s group, made up of more than 95 industry partners including organized labor, education and the workforce system, is concentrating on three maritime subsectors: underway, fishing and processing and shipbuilding and repair.
The group has collected projected workforce data and mapped existing programs across education systems, identifying gaps and programming needs as they went. The group’s biggest takeaway was a need for equitable access to maritime careers in rural communities.
Kristi Grassman at the Construction Center of Excellence presented last, focusing on industry demand for truck drivers. To address this intense need, Kristi teamed with two other Centers of Excellence to bring together industry and colleges to discuss the challenges in the industry and in CDL training.
The convening and report looked at the supply and demand of truck drivers, addressed the financial significance of starting a new program and identified the need for examiners and the backlog in testing that’s slowing down the industry. Kristi shared that the Washington State legislature recognized the necessity for CDL training as well, recently providing $1.8 million to colleges for training.
Congratulations to the Centers of Excellence on an exceptional presentation at NCWE and we look forward to the next.