The College’s Many Connections to the Workforce
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n our efforts to deepen and extend knowledge about the formation and utilization of human capabilities, we become directly involved in what happens with adults as they pursue careers and navigate the vagaries of the workplace. This mission encompasses learners of many ages, and not just the K-12 population that people often think of as the focus of colleges of education. We are actively involved with adult learners and on-the-job education occurring in the workplace. In addition, faculty across the College are researching both formal and informal adult educational opportunities as well as career counseling and workforce preparation opportunities. It is becoming more and more important to understand and improve connections between education and the workforce. The current economic turmoil has increased unemployment and the need for the labor force to develop new skills. Displaced workers need well-designed and strategic opportunities to learn new skills to be competitive in the job market. Even if workers retain their positions, technology is changing at such a fast pace that workers face an increasing need to develop new skills over the span of their careers. A good example can be found in the large number of military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and the attendant need to translate military experiences into employable skills.
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In this publication, we present our faculty’s research dealing with the development and utilization of human capabilities in a wide variety of workforce settings. As a comprehensive college of education, we are also positioned to offer programs that provide actual educational opportunities for adults to grow their skills. For example, we offer a very popular yearlong distance education program that prepares teachers, counselors, medical personnel, and others to earn a certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis. The College is also home to the Professional Personnel Development Center, a state-funded center that prepares tradespeople like carpenters to become certified teachers who teach their trade in high schools and career and technical centers. As a college with a large and award-winning teacher-preparation program, we also contribute directly to the teacher workforce in the United States and abroad. We are seriously committed to preparing outstanding teachers who will enter the workforce and transform the field. The need for outstanding teachers is especially critical in developing nations and within at-risk communities here in the United States.