The Workforce Training and Economic Development (WTED) Fund was established in 2003 as part of the Grow Iowa Values Fund and is currently funded through the Iowa Skilled Worker and Job Creation Fund. This fund has become an important source of financing for community college new program innovation, development, and capacity building, particularly…

Private organizations and state governments are increasingly seeking out businesses with training needs they cannot fulfill themselves and finding community colleges willing to set up flexible retraining programs quickly. (MSE)

Although several fundamental forces are changing the American economy and the American work force, three conditions are pivotal--demographic change, technological change coupled with shifting conditions of competition, and the continuing inadequacies of both public- and private-sector employment and training policies. The employment and training…

Project Refocus, the University of Missouri Kansas City's long-term, cross-sector collaborative project brings together business, labor, government, and higher education to address changing employment needs and retraining of laid-off workers. The program's 15-year evolution, activities, achievements, and lessons learned are described. (Author/MSE)

The transformation of Singapore from a stagnating colonial port city in the late 1950s into a newly industrialized city-state in the early 1990s was the outcome of planned adjustments to changing internal and external conditions. Training and retraining programs played a role in these adjustments. Although full employment prevailed in 1979, the…

The report describes the development of a model training program, Training and Technology, and subsequent efforts to diffuse the innovation. Before the inception of TAT, a survey study, Resources for Southern Manpower Development, had indicated that the South had considerable manpower development potential and need. TAT was organized by Oak Ridge…

Work force development systems have three primary subsystems: youth development and preparation for employment, adult work force entry, and worker retraining and transition assistance. Programs targeting youth pose one of the greatest challenges to those striving to develop or improve work force development systems. School-to-work will not…

The challenge of recruiting, retaining, and retraining information technology (IT) staff in colleges and universities affects the entire institution, not just the IT organization. Some of the issues surrounding the projected IT staffing crisis are outlined, and steps campus IT leaders can take to minimize the effect of staff turnover on…

A survey of French research by CEREQ ("A French research centre for analysis of occupations and of vocational education and training") shows that firms have undertaken a number of experiments, most of them large scale, to retrain their work force. These initiatives are situated within a general context of change. Training programs based…

Productivity is a major issue in every discussion about the national economy. There is growing evidence that lagging productivity is one of the roots of the national economic slowdown, manifested in high rates of inflation and unemployment, increased federal deficits, and in reduced ability to compete in international markets. Many economists…

The 13 chapters in this volume detail how industrial and organizational psychologists, human resource professionals, and consultants have created innovative human resource development and training programs. "Employee Development and Job Creation" (Jennifer Jarratt, Joseph F. Coates) looks at several trends that have important consequences for…

This Skills Development Program (SDP) provides a generic set of actions employers could take to ensure that their organization has the work force skills necessary to compete globally today and tomorrow. The guide is organized by the 13 critical steps of the SDP: (1) determine if there is a need for improving workforce skills; (2) set specific…

The purpose of this federally funded program is to study the transition mechanisms required to transfer available technical manpower from aerospace and defense industries into other areas of employment in private industry and public service. Selected industries and public service areas were assigned to 14 study teams for researching the likelihood…

A discussion is provided of the role of community colleges as the primary delivery sources for workforce retraining, using the Pellissippi State Workforce Innovation Program as a case study. The first sections of the paper document the need for worker retraining in the United States, reporting the Department of Labor Secretary's Commission on…

This book is a tool kit for human resource development (HRD) and training managers, trainers, and administrative assistants in small HRD departments. Part 1 deals with the challenges and opportunities of managing a small HRD department and with planning the strategy. Chapter 1 gives a sense of the workings of small HRD departments. Chapter 2…