Southern Illinois University-Carbondale WED
468-3
Department of Workforce Education & Development
Page
34
Unit II - Linkage Plan
WED 468-3 Education/Labor Force Linkages
This unit is designed to guide you in developing a linkage plan. Before you can
develop successful linkages with BIL/GM, you must first determine exactly what the
nature of the linkages will be. How much can you realistically do? What can you offer?
What do you expect in return? In short, you must plan your linkage efforts.
In order to develop a plan for your workforce/vocational environment, you should
complete nine tasks as follows:
1. Involve appropriate people in the planning effort.
2. Review the institutional mission.
3. Identify the economic development procedures and policies currently in place
in your area or state.
4. Define the purposes and limits of your institution's linkage efforts.
5. Identify the organizations and agencies with which linkages should be
established.
6. Identify the types of collaboration and services possible in the future.
7. Determine budget, facility, staffing, materials, and equipment needs.
8. Devise a general marketing strategy.
9. Determine how the linkage efforts will be evaluated.
Tasks in detail:
1. Involve
Appropriate
People
Regardless of what the exact nature of the linkages will ultimately be, developing
such linkages will require organization or institution wide commitment. The board must
approve the undertaking, as well as the final linkage plan. Instructors or trainers must
be sold on the need for collaboration. Administrators need to ensure that plans are
realistic and can be accomplished within company or institutional capacities.