Hurdles For Funding Future Industries
The Governor has been touring the state promoting the No Worker Left Behind program. It essentially pays for college to retrain workers in high demand fields. She's also been promoting wind power as an important part of Michigan's economic future. But a viewer wanted to know why you can't use the No Worker Left Behind Program to pay for a degree in wind technology in northern Michigan. The answer I found is the subject of this Fact Finder Report.
The No Worker Left Behind Program has a lot of possibility for workers looking for a new start, it also has a lot of requirements. One of those requirements? You need to be working toward a degree in an in-demand industry. Right now, most colleges, including Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, do not offer a wind degree.
Marguerite Cotto, Vice President of Lifelong and Professional Learning at Northwestern Michigan College says "we are hearing frustration from students. They're looking for a simple solution. We're trying to get there, but we're not always quite there."
One of the problems? How do you train a worker for a job that doesn't exist yet?
Stephen Morse, Coordinator of Construction Technology at NMC says, "right now we are training people for future jobs in Michigan. Right now none of us has an idea how many jobs that's going to involve."
Cotto says, "I think we're at the place that is both very scary and very exciting, that everyone else is at; figuring out the jobs that are going to follow energy, the right programs employers are interested in and the ones funders will pay for."
Cotto says in the next two weeks community colleges from around the state will be coming together to plan out the best way to train future workers in wind and alternative energy. Sometimes that will mean partnering so each school doesn't have to start from scratch. It also means letting certain schools have a specific focus. Schools like Delta Community College downstate will gear its program toward industrial wind turbines, while NMC will focus on the residential scale.
Building on a program that already has many of the elements in place.
Morse says, "looks like there's going to be a lot of great job opportunities in the future and we're perfectly positioned here at the college to provide that; electrical, carpentry, etc. it all ties into alternative energy."
And by the time students return to class this fall Michigan's future workers will be a little closer to what could be Michigan's future industry.
Cotto says "by this fall, fall 2009, students will be able to pull a lot of programs together to form an associate degree."
A degree that the No Worker Left Behind Program will fund.
So things are changing and developing as schools, workers, employers and state agencies work together. But there have been some bumps along the way.
What do you think about this? How is the No Worker Left Behind Program working? I want to hear from you. Leave your comments below.
