Report: Worcester Leads The Way In Mid-Level Staffing
Gail Carberry of Quinsigamond Community College: “We have a huge developmental gap for students who come through the door.”
Worcester has its challenges. But efforts in the city to churn out mid-level skills workers to meet the needs of area employers have been arguably more successful than anywhere else in the state, according to Commonwealth Corp.
The quasi-public, Boston-based organization, which evaluates, administers and evaluates workforce programs around the state, said in an April 24 report that Central Massachusetts has managed to increase educational attainment of its residents as its immigrant population has grown over the past decade.
While many regions of the state saw employment declines from 2000 to 2010 among those with associate's degrees or some college experience, Central Massachusetts saw the largest growth in employment among those educational demographics — nearly 2 percent and more than 1 percent, respectively.
"Because of the deliberate efforts of post-secondary educational institutions to align their certificate and diploma programs with industry demand, the region's rate of growth in degree completions exceeds that of the state as a whole, and the increased output of graduates appears to be increasingly responsive (to) the needs of the local economy," the report reads.
Nancy Snyder, executive director of Commonwealth Corp., said the outcomes in the region are pretty unique, and credited the efforts of Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) and the Central Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board with leading the charge.
QCC's Central Role
In 2011, QCC was awarded a $20-million federal grant to pursue new post-secondary models for itself and its peer community colleges that provide clearer training pathways for students. The three-year program, called the Transformation Agenda, is in its second full year. It has resulted in revised or new programs aimed at scheduling flexibility and that can allow students to complete course requirements quicker than in the traditional semester model.
Advanced manufacturing and health care are the major areas of focus at QCC, and multiple new training options have been rolled out. QCC is also exploring the potential of an airline mechanic certificate, given JetBlue's recent announcement that it will start flights out of the city in November, according to QCC President Gail Carberry.
She said the certificate and training models the school has been working on are about flexibility and multiple entry and exit points.
Some students will come from high school, while others might come from an apprenticeship training program with the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, under which participants can work in area shops to earn more than a third of the credits they'll need toward the QCC certificate.
Some certificates might enable a student to enter the workforce right away, while others might serve as a step on a ladder toward a higher certification. Educators call the various steps on that ladder "stackable."
The idea is that students will be better served if they can complete certain certifications or degrees in steps, rather than completing most of a two-year degree and losing that progress if they're forced to drop out for financial or other reasons.
Measuring The Outcome
It's going to take a while before QCC will know how the new models are working. The school will be working with Commonwealth Corp. to track the completion rates and job outcomes for students who enroll.
Statewide, the goal of the grant is to enroll 4,000 students in the pathways programs. QCC is aiming for about 370, according to Dale Allen, the project director and vice president for community engagement at QCC.
Carberry said industry-specific adult education modules have also been introduced, with the hope of better preparing potential students for college-level courses. Those are particularly important as more jobs require degrees and training. And the testing scores from those courses will be important data to evaluate moving forward.
"We have a huge developmental gap for students who come through the door," Carberry said. "Seventy percent can't place into college-level math and maybe 45 percent don't place into English."
Instead of giving up on those students, the Transformation Agenda grant has helped QCC develop industry-specific adult education modules with the hope of better preparing potential students for college-level courses. So if a student is interested in information technology, word problems in his adult education classes would be based around IT problems. And those interested in nursing or health care would see medical terminology used in their prepatory English course.
Another important thing the $20 million grant allows is for each community college to hire a college and career navigator to man an office at area career centers run by state workforce investment boards. It's the community colleges' way of trying to lure students from programs at for-profit schools which — Carberry admits —have been more flexible than community colleges in some ways. But community colleges feel they can train students for less with better outcomes.
Resource For Workers
Dawn Kiritsis, the navigator at the Central Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board in Worcester, (which operates career centers in the city, Milford and Southbridge), said her job is to have a full grasp of QCC's training and degree programs and help potential students through the enrollment and financial aid processes.
Since her hiring in July 2012, Kiritsis said the more than 100 who have walked through her door for help range from military veterans to the underemployed to people who have just been laid off. Some were former QCC students who left for financial or academic reasons. And a number have financial or other challenges, she said.
"Many don't own cars, so seeing me right away is good for them. They touch base with me to make sure they're on the right track," she said.
Of course, not every client can find a fit at the community college, and Kiritsis said she doesn't push. Her main role is to find the best path for clients. Boosting training program enrollment is secondary. So she sometimes refers them to other community colleges or programs.
It's not entirely clear what will happen to Kiritsis and her navigators once the grant runs out in 2014, but she believes the grant makes a difference. "It's about secure, sustainable employment," she said.
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