Southern Illinois University-Carbondale WED
468-3
Department of Workforce Education & Development
Page
55
More unified system, currently education/training providers are scratching for the
same dollars and clients; collaboration means cooperation between employers and
educators; inter-educational collaboration and articulation is mostly ignored; lack of
qualified instructors. What needs to be done? All members of the system, from the top-
down, need to be involved for collaboration to occur. Retrain instructors by making
teaching more financially attractive and remove competition from business/industry. We
cannot train secondary and postsecondary students if we can't prepare adequate
numbers of instructors for them.
Credibility is an important factor regarding qualified entry-level workers. What
can be done? Actively involve those who hire graduates. Complaints from business
and industry were reported by The Education Resources Institute and The Institute for
Higher Education Policy in 1997saying "College graduates face a job market, but
employers say they are dissatisfied with basic skills such as computer and writing
abilities, according to a recent report." The resources institute is a Boston-based
nonprofit education think tank. The policy institute is based in Washington, D.C. The
study includes information from several government agencies and higher education
associations. "Things are pretty for college graduates, but there are pitfalls," said
Colleen O'Brien, managing director of The Institute for Higher Education Policy. "We're
seeing that the demand for computer and technical skills is driving the job market."
Employers reported those with a technical education background generally lack abstract
thinking ability and interpersonal skills, O'Brien said. Conversely, those without a
technical background don't have computer and technical skills, she said. The training
needs of BIL/GM must be identified and met if current workers are to get the training or
retraining needed to remain among the employed (The state news). Finally we must
ask how much are schools communicating what they need from industry?
Benefits of Linkages
·
Improved
identification of potential linkages
·
Improved access of the right persons to the right programs