California's community colleges continue to play a crucial role in the state's economy by providing students with the skills and knowledge to succeed and by advancing the economic growth and global competitiveness of California and its regional economies through the Economic and Workforce Development Program (EWD). The EWD program invests in the…

Due to the large number of individuals retiring over the next ten years a critical shortage of people available to work within the manufacturing industry is looming (Dychtwald, Erickson, & Morison, 2006). This shortage is exacerbated by the lack of a properly educated workforce that meets the demands of the 21st century manufacturer (Judy…

Is the United States getting it wrong when it comes to educating tomorrow's innovators in critical fields? It has been known for years that the only way to compete globally in information technology, engineering, nanotechnology, robotics and other fields is to give students the best educational opportunities possible. But do individuals have a…

Discusses the critical ongoing need for skills and education to maintain the work force. Looks at what organizations are doing to maintain employee skills, add to the entry-level work force pool, and work with educators to ensure that students will have the skills they need. (JOW)

This article features a "Triad" partnership of a group of Snohomish County organizations representing education, government and industry. Recognizing the need for a training and workforce development effort to address the aerospace manufacturing employers' needs, Triad views themselves as the pivotal cornerstone for deployment of complex…

As part of the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges' Putting America Back to Work Project, this monograph examines the economic climate of the United States and the role of the community colleges in economic recovery. The first sections outline the origins and initial activities of the Putting America Back to Work Project, which…

Examines the changing nature of today's labor market and workplace. Reviews trends in workforce composition, considers the discrepancy between the skill levels of workers and the skills needed for new jobs, and discusses the community college's role in work force development. (DMM)

This document describes the vision and priorities of Howard Community College's (HCC's) Economic and Workforce Development Task Force. The task force's commission was to identify the long- and short-term skills businesses will demand of the workforce in the Greater Baltimore area and what Howard Community College must do to continue developing…

Four major trends reshaping the American economy are having a tremendous effect on the number and nature of jobs in the United States: (1) corporate downsizing; (2) the outsourcing of work and services; (3) increasing use of "contingent" workers; and (4) the increasing income disparity between high school and college graduates. These trends have…

This analysis assesses alternative explanations of the robust enrollment growth in community colleges in the 1970's, part of a larger trend of increased vocationalization of education. The conventional explanation is that community colleges offer the most appropriate training for rapidly increasing jobs requiring middle-level skills. Various other…

Suggests the development of relationships with business/industry as an area for fruitful community college expansion. Identifies trends related to education, women's employment, the "ME" generation, immigration, technology, motivation, and work life quality that will affect adult education planning. Offers recommendations and cites exemplary…

This document, one of the results of a 3-year study, provides an overview of training in the United States in terms of who gets trained and how the training itself is organized, structured, and delivered. The findings were developed through a literature review, the work of advisory panels, feedback from 400 experts and practitioners, interviews…

The need for partnerships among deliverers of training in the public and private sectors has reached a critical point if U.S. businesses are to remain competitive. The work force and workplace are being transformed by demographic trends, economic and employment trends, a growing skills mismatch, and concerns over educational effectiveness. Two…

Vocational education in America has attempted to be the bridge between education and work. The Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), an example of such a bridge, provides for remedial education in basic skills for training disadvantaged youths and young adults who had not been successful in the educational system. The context of…

The business and industry representatives present at the initial meeting of each of Georgia's 16 state technical committees responsible for reviewing the curricula offered by Georgia technical institutes were surveyed to gather information about general trends in the workplace and ways of relating those trends to planning/revising technical…