Posts Tagged ‘White House’

Reflections on President Trump’s Workforce of Tomorrow Event at the White House

Wednesday, June 28th, 2017

This post was written by John Cech, Ph.D., Deputy Commissioner – Academic & Student Affairs, Montana University System.  

On Thursday, June 15, 2017, I joined President Donald Trump and 20 people at the White House for a “Workforce of Tomorrow” meeting to discuss strategies for preparing more Americans to fill nearly six million vacant or soon-to-be-vacant careers.  The White House singled out 10 states as “exemplars,” which are creating new educational and apprenticeship opportunities for our citizens.  I am proud to say Montana was one of the 11 states to receive an invitation from the White House and I was honored to represent Governor Bullock and our great state at this meeting.

The meeting was facilitated by Ivanka Trump, Adviser to the President and included: Secretary Alex Acosta, Department of Labor; Secretary Wilbur Ross, Department of Commerce; several key White House staff; seven Governors; and representatives of three additional governors.  The President invited the Governors and participants to share some of the best practices and success stories from their states.

In a ceremony in the Roosevelt Room, President Trump signed an executive order nearly doubling taxpayer money spent on learn-and-earn programs under the grant system, ApprenticeshipUSA. The money, totaling $200 million, would come from existing job training programs.

Why is this work important?  States across the nation are facing serious workforce challenges.  In Montana, for example, our population is aging and estimates are that a quarter of the workforce are going to retire in the next ten years.  This, coupled with our strong economy and low unemployment (3.8%), poses significant complications for industries to find the skilled labor needed for 21st century jobs.

I believe our state was chosen to be recognized as a leader in this effort due to our long-standing culture of collaboration and creativity.  Thanks to the support and leadership of Governor Bullock, Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian and Commissioner of Labor Pam Bucy, we are a leading state in the development of new apprenticeship learning opportunities.  The Montana University System and the Montana Department of Labor and Industry have worked together to develop 20 new apprenticeship programs in fields such as healthcare, advanced manufacturing, information technology, accounting technology, and culinary services, with another 20 in development. These programs offer courses that result in college credits, work-based learning opportunities, prior learning assessment, industry recognized credentials, and a salary. In other words, students can ‘earn while they learn.’

This work has particularly impacted Montana’s rural and frontier communities with apprenticeship opportunities for fields in in-demand, living-wage industries, in some of Montana’s most remote areas, through innovative and thoughtful programming.

For example, MSU-Billings City College has partnered with a rural fire department employer in Miles City to develop the very first paramedicine apprenticeship program in MT. Cutting edge technology is used to ensure all learners have access to this program. IPad Robots (i.e. MedBots) enable EMT professionals at the rural fire department to complete MSUB City College paramedic coursework, as well participate in labs through real-time class discussions, small group breakouts and medical simulations with fellow students in the Billings-based classroom.

Montana is also working with our Office of Public Instruction to develop new statewide pathways for high school students interested starting early with their career development.  These new pathways include opportunities for dual credit, work-based learning, and pre-apprenticeships.

Our efforts are informed through concrete data including employment projections and wage and income records to ensure that we’re supplying the talent pipeline to high-demand careers with skilled employees from across the state.

While federal funding is a critical catalyst for identifying and developing work-based learning strategies, Montana is a fantastic example of how states can leverage these funds with state and private resources to create a new paradigm for workforce training.

I believe our successful partnerships and statewide collaborative efforts are what captured the attention of the White House this past week, and I was honored to share our many accomplishments.

By admin in Uncategorized
Tags: , ,

Foy H. Moody High School Recognized at the White House

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2015

Earlier this month, the White House hosted Celebrating Innovations in Career and Technical Education (CTE) to recognize leaders in CTE from across the country. In attendance were some of the NASDCTEc Excellence in Action award winners, including Dr. Sandra Clement, Principal at Foy H. Moody High School, who was invited to speak and credited the strong focus on CTE to Moody’s excellent graduation rates and continued improvements.

As Clement reflected on the event she said, “Everyone was genuinely very interested in the work our students were doing in CTE. This is very refreshing because a lot of times CTE is not given the validity of the impact it has on students.”

While Clement described how exciting the event at the White House has been for her school and district, she noted the expansion of the U.S. Presidential Scholars program to include CTE has put CTE on a national platform. “Recognition of CTE will be much more monumental, and students will have a variety of pathways to choose from while still being recognized for their good work,” said Clement.

Despite this recognition for Moody’s already stellar CTE programs, Clement plans to continue to expand CTE programming including developing a pathway surrounding computer software engineering and offering more certifications in health care, a growing industry in her community.

Foy H. Moody High School was a 2014 Excellence in Action award winner in the STEM Career Cluster. Learn more about the school and their Innovation Academy for Engineering, Environmental, and Marine Science, here.

Katie Fitzgerald, Communications Associate 

By admin in News
Tags:

2015 School Counselor of the Year Honored at White House

Thursday, February 12th, 2015

On January 30th, I had the pleasure of being a guest at the White House as the First Lady Michelle Obama hosted the American School Counselor Association’s School Counselor of the Year awards ceremony. This is the first time this event has been held at the White House. 36 finalists and semifinalists and 2015 School Counsel of the Year Cory Notestine of Alamosa High School in Colorado received recognition from the First Lady and actress, Connie Britton who played a school counselor on the popular television series Friday Night Lights.

The First Lady shared that “Every day, our school counselors help young people become the people they’re meant to be and achieve what they were put on the earth to achieve.  That is truly an awesome responsibility.  It’s also a tremendous privilege.”  The First lady published an op-ed and also spoke about the event, as well as her Reach Higher Initiative, on Entertainment Tonight.  View a video of the White House ceremony here.

Photo Credit: Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon

Kimberly Green, Executive Director

By admin in News
Tags: ,

CTE Research Review

Thursday, August 14th, 2014

Research Image_6.2013Although apprenticeships make up just 0.2 percent of the U.S. labor force, they are garnering more attention this summer thanks to recent reports, including from the White House’s Ready to Work initiative and a set of policy recommendations from The Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project.

American University economics professor Robert I. Lerman posited that investing, expanding and re-branding U.S. apprenticeships has “the potential to reduce youth unemployment, improve the transition from school to career, upgrade skills, raise wages of young adults, strengthen a young worker’s identity, increase U.S. productivity, achieve positive returns for employers and workers and use limited federal resources more effectively.”

Despite such findings, the size of the U.S. apprenticeship system stands in stark contrast to other major developed countries such as Canada (2.2 percent), Britain (2.7 percent) and Australia and Germany (both 3.7 percent). In Britain, apprenticeships are coming back into favor after years of decline, much like the United States’ system. Recent surveys show that students and the wider public have a “growing appetite” for apprenticeships.

Federal investments would be one part of the approach to expanding the U.S. apprenticeship program. According to Lerman, the United States spends less than $30 million annually, whereas Britain spends about £1 billion (or $1.7 billion). If British spending on apprenticeships were adjusted to match the U.S. population, Lerman estimates that figure would be $8.5 billion.

Calling the expansion of apprenticeships a “potential game-changer”, Lerman offers recommendations for federal and state governments as well as examples of successful youth apprenticeship programs in Georgia and Wisconsin

Be sure to check out additional apprenticeship-related recommendations from the Center for American Progress, through their series of issue papers as well.

Andrea Zimmermann, State Policy Associate

By admin in Research
Tags: , , , , ,

Obama Administration launches STEM campaign

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

The Obama Administration launched an “Educate to Innovate” campaign this week that is focused on boosting the participation and achievement of students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

This campaign includes a partnership with the administration, leading companies, foundations, non-profits, and science and engineering societies. The administration plans to deploy a mix of strategies to highlight students’ success in STEM as a national priority. The attention to education stakeholder partnerships and STEM programs could lead to more opportunities for CTE, which already focuses on those areas.

The administration noted three broad goals:
• Increase STEM literacy so that all students can learn deeply and think critically in science, math, engineering, and technology.
• Move American students from the middle of the pack to top in the next decade.
• Expand STEM education and career opportunities for underrepresented groups, including women and girls.

By admin in Public Policy
Tags: ,

 

Series

Archives

1