The Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program strives to meet the nation's demand for skilled technicians by developing and improving technology education in community and technical colleges. As technological workforce needs multiply and skilled workers become increasingly difficult to find, this effort becomes ever more critical to the health of our national economy. The employer needs for right-skilled graduates is well-documented. For example, in its most recent survey, the Manpower Group found that nearly half of employers are having difficulty filling US jobs. In addition, they report that, for the 6th consecutive year, skilled trades positions are the hardest positions to fill. When asked why they were unable to fill roles, almost half of employers point to a lack of applicants or a lack of applicants with the necessary hard or soft skills. Mitigating such disparities between workforce needs and worker skills are important goals of community and technical colleges. Strong industry partnerships are fundamental to this work. When done well, these relationships stimulate exchange and dialogue between institutions and employers that, in turn, ensure program currency, alignment with workforce needs, awareness of industry trends, and the production of graduates who are right-skilled and work-ready. Strengthening these beneficial collaborations is not only critical for the grantees of the National Science Foundation's ATE program, but for all colleges and programs that wish to advance technological education and expand opportunities and pathways for students and the communities in which they serve.
The Engaging Educators, Strengthening Practice project team has investigated education-industry partnerships across the ATE community and has found that 78% of PIs have received no training or support for forming or maintaining industry partnerships. In addition, none mentioned instruction or guided development of an industry partnership action plan or support for the execution of such a plan. This project will develop curricula that supports educators in establishing and sustaining industry partnerships. The curriculum will be delivered during in-person workshops and webinars. Workshop participants will construct an industry partnership action plan based on research and best practices, as well as aligned with their specific organizational goals. The project will: 1) Develop curricula that supports educators in establishing and sustaining industry partnerships; 2) Facilitate the use of a rubric for partnership assessment/evaluation; 3) Provide professional development workshops and webinars to guide the use of the materials and to build participant community; 4) Establish online learning exchanges for post-workshop participant knowledge transfer, support, and collaboration; 5) Adapt workshop materials for online reference and use by participants and others; and 6) Disseminate the tools, findings, and outcomes of these efforts via the project website, conference presentations, published reports, and webinars. The project website and resources will be designed to ensure that they are accessible by all users, including those with disabilities. All appropriate resources will be archived with ATE Central to ensure sustainability. This project is funded by the NSF Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
