New Partners in Education

In a weak economy with high unemployment and few job
openings, some educators are strengthening their relationships with local
businesses to ensure that graduating students are trained for the jobs
available. This approach is especially valuable in the engineering industry,
where technologies are constantly changing and colleges need to stay current in
order to produce competitive graduates.

Don Schultz, director of the Professional Automotive
Training Center at Shoreline Community College, saw the value in such
partnerships when he made a phone call to the Puget Sound Automotive Dealers
Association. His goal was to find out what kinds of graduates the local auto
industry wanted to hire and to tailor his program to meet their needs.

The result is a program where students graduate not only
with a degree and some certifications, Schultz says, but also with a job. They
work in a facility that was recently expanded by 26,000 square feet. Local auto
dealers donated the $4.2 million needed to build the expansion, as well as the
tools, new cars and spare parts with which the students work.

In return for their investment, the dealers get a trained
workforce. The program graduates about 120 new students per year. It also
facilitates short training programs for employed technicians to get updated on
working with new models, including hybrids and electric cars. Approximately
6,000 to 10,000 working technicians come through for additional training each
year. The next closest training centers for many of these auto dealers are in
California, so the program trains a local workforce for local businesses.

The Material Science Technology program at Edmonds Community
College has also taken this approach to education. Its courses train students
to work with composites, a building material being increasingly put to use in
everything from cars and airplanes to shower stalls.

The program is supported by a board of representatives from
Boeing, Airtech Instrument Company Inc. and other local manufacturers who
advise the college on the types of training to offer students. There are about
10 graduates per year, some of whom begin jobs at these companies while others
go on to universities to earn bachelors degrees in fields such as plastics
engineering.

Instructor Ross Monroe says he expects a substantial
increase in manufacturing jobs in Washington state in the next 5 to 10 years.
Since composites are being used more and more in manufacturing, his program is
training a workforce for an emerging field.

As more job opportunities emerge around the state,
partnerships between education and business may prove useful to filling in the
job gap in some industries.

I believe the mission of the community college is to serve
the community, Schultz says. We want to develop partnerships where all the
partners win.