Phil Thoden’s Post

Enrollment declines, demand for workers fuel community college workforce projects https://lnkd.in/gMsekams As community colleges grapple with enrollment declines, they are pursuing workforce development as a key part of their strategy to reverse that trend, creating new programs to meet the needs of local employers and students. [...]

Workforce Development is a national problem with local solutions. I say this a lot because it is true. Across the nation, employers are asking for skilled workers, workers are looking for family-sustaining and personally rewarding careers, and regions are looking to attract both new companies and new talent. The federal government has made significant investments in workforce development, especially through the CHIPS and Science Act, but seeing an announcement like this one out of Maine drives home the need for local investments. $75.5 million for short-term workforce training programs is truly transformative. Because the funding is being distributed throughout the Maine Community College system, it will impact workers and employers. Ultimately, this will deepen and sustain impact through new and improved workforce training programs, greater economic development, and boosted economic mobility and education attainment. Win-Win #workforcewednesday https://lnkd.in/gP4DU9FR

“The Colorado Talent Pipeline Report calculated that 91.4% of jobs paying family-sustaining wages require education beyond high school — not necessarily a four-year college degree but at least an associate’s degree or some level of certification. However, in 2021, the portion of Colorado high-school graduates seeking to continue their education past high school dropped below 50% for the first time in memory, leaving many new workforce entrants without the skills needed to afford to live and work here.” We believe skilled trades are a key component to ensuring Colorado meets the workforce demand expected in the coming years. Learn more about what the State of Colorado is doing to promote workforce development: https://bit.ly/45qb7bH #workforcedemand #skilledtrades

Our work in Higher Education often comes with unique challenges, yet work across faculty/staff silos reveals common struggles to me. Equitable and fair compensation is one of them. It's essential to address these struggles to foster growth and ensure a stable future, and the proverbial Faculty-Staff divide need *not* be so. Over so many years in the Academy, I have much to unlearn and relearn. Are we, including Faculty colleagues, prepared to do the same? -- "Compensation practices in many colleges have become the deferred maintenance of the human-resources world." Read more: https://lnkd.in/e5FPkxgE

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce closed 2023 with exciting developments - bipartisan approval of two significant bills: A Stronger Workforce for America Act: This bill updates workforce development programs and emphasizes career pathways, skills upgrades, and responding to employer needs. Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act: This bill revises Pell grant eligibility for short-term career training, focusing on quality assurance and job placement. While these bills hold promise, the journey has just begun. They await full House and Senate consideration, with an election on the horizon. The Senate has its perspectives, and opinions on these proposals vary. Legislative changes in workforce development and education could impact your strategies and opportunities in 2024. These views are my own and do not reflect the position of my employer.

Earlier this week, I submitted public comments in response to the state's proposed public workforce training plan for 2024-2027, known as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) State Plan. As an analyst covering workforce and criminal legal systems issues, in a state that continues to expand mass criminalization and punishment, my work often addresses the workforce/CLS overlaps. As such, I took the opportunity to include comments that highlight the need for bolder goals and strategies to reduce workforce training barriers among justice-impacted Georgians. My comments offered three broad, justice-impacted-focused policy recommendations for Georgia's State Workforce Development Board (SWDB), which is tasked with crafting the State WIOA Plan: 1) Expand its definition of Individuals with Barriers to Employment" to one that is more inclusive of the experiences of justice-impacted Georgians. In order for Georgia to equitably set & meet workforce training goals for justice-impacted Georgians, the state must better define WHO they are and WHAT justice-impacted barriers they experience. 2) Develop workforce training strategies to ensure that Georgians who face barriers to employment have meaningful access to workforce training programs. 3) Devise more innovative strategies that serve the adult education needs of justice-impacted Georgians, to strengthen their access to digital skills and affordable broadband services. For the entire list of my public comments to the SWDB, see below: https://lnkd.in/eJcE3bBQ

The Biden administration has helped galvanize workforce development efforts across the nation under legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The policies are helping build a new generation of construction and manufacturing workers, but it's time for state and local policymakers to continue that work. By weaving job quality and equity standards into policies, governments can support the development of a stable and sustainable workforce, said Karla Walter, senior fellow for inclusive economy at the Center for American Progress. To this end, the organization published a playbook to inform policymakers and advocates about job quality standards for government-supported work. Research suggests that these standards produce a multitude of benefits—from raising the earnings of working families, to closing racial and gender pay gaps, to boosting worker productivity and supporting on-time, on-budget project completion. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eNxHyCyZ

"But for many colleges, compensation practices have become the deferred maintenance of the human-resources world"... "But in higher education, HR is viewed as a compliance bureaucracy that can be downsized and consolidated without downstream effects." Two thoughts: 1. Student wellbeing is directly tied to staff wellbeing. You want to improve student wellbeing - get with Human Resources and prioritize this issue. 2. As Universities develop strategic plans, that on occasion include wellness, this needs to be included in those plans. For most institutions this work takes concerted effort over multiple years because the resources aren't there to fix it in one academic year or one budget cycle.

In addition to salary and benefits, the 2024-2025 operating budget includes additional staffing and resources to support student success and behavior. Some budget highlights include: 🔵 Funding for 18 new positions, including intensive support teachers and paraprofessionals who will help meet the needs of special education students. 🔵 Funding for 62 positions plus resources to support work related to student behavior management and consistent discipline districtwide. 🔵 Retention of 60 positions, most of which directly support the classroom, that were previously funded by ESSER money, which expires this year. Plus, SPS has allocated $12.2 million to increase employee compensation. Employees not represented by a collective bargaining unit will receive a step plus a 3.5 percent cost of living increase. Specific details about compensation for other employee groups will be outlined in collective bargaining agreements and the 2024-2025 salary schedule. MORE: https://ow.ly/saXI50Sq1zj #SPSLearning

"...The High Road to the Middle Class (HRMC) map is designed to spotlight high road training programs (HRTPs) – programs that implement demand-driven workforce strategies advancing job quality, equity, and worker voice – that can train America’s infrastructure, clean energy, and manufacturing workforce. "By leveraging partnerships with both employers and labor, these programs deliver worker-centered and industry-driven training that is connected to employer needs and regional labor market demands for a skilled workforce. "This map can serve as an important resource for employers, labor unions, federal grant recipients, public workforce system stakeholders, job seekers, and state, local, Tribal, territorial, and federal government partners to help them meet their workforce needs and develop new equitable pathways to quality jobs. "We encourage users to leverage this map to develop and scale partnerships with high road training programs as they apply for federal funding and implement projects mobilized by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda..." (Source: https://lnkd.in/epxX5Gzs) Learn about the U.S. Department of Labor's Good Jobs Initiative at https://lnkd.in/gtMuWfsK #federalfunding #InvestingInAmerica #laborunions #federalgrantsp #publicworkforce #jobseekers #labormarket #workers #jobs