Expanding Your Credit and Non- Credit Offerings Through Sector Specific Partnerships October 16, 2013 Carol Weigand, Project Director

Air Washington Overview  $20M (100%) DOL funded project supporting aerospace workforce education  11 Community and Technical Colleges  7 WDC Partners  50 Industry partners to date  Total participants – 2615  Numerous statewide stakeholders

The 30,000 Foot View

Why Aerospace?  Largest aerospace cluster in the world  $70B impact on Washington State’s economy  450 aircraft produced annually

 Over 1000 aerospace companies operate in Washington State  Aging workforce  Fierce competition for talent Workforce Demand

 Increasing training capacity  Providing innovative strategies for low skilled and TAA eligible workers  Developing short term opportunities that meet industry need  Creating new relationships with educators, industry and community partners across the state Air Washington is helping support the workforce needs by…..

How have sector specific partnerships helped us define our offerings and created sustainability?

Who are our partners?  Industry  Workforce Councils  Education  Numerous agencies  Other stakeholders

 A reliable workforce and a workforce pipeline  Skilled workforce  workplace basics, computer basics, math skills, soft skills  Experience  Increased training capacity Industry Partnerships Have Provided Input

 Created a plan that prioritized the most immediate industry needs  Quickly engaged partners and stakeholders -seeking assistance  Communicated our progress regularly  Monthly meetings with industry  Quarterly project advisory board meetings  Weekly consortium calls  Quarterly face-to-face consortium meetings  Quarterly newsletters How we responded…..

 Created a college specific (statewide) non- credit “on ramp” to aerospace careers program  Used a non traditional assessment, aligned traditional assessment and created PLA guidelines  Focused on TAA, English language learners, females and Veterans  Imbedded short / stackable certificates Mobilized Quickly

 Capacity expansion was difficult – SME’s can be hard to find  Aerospace has its own language – engaging low skilled workers was a challenge  New industry skills emerged – NDT, FARO, composite repair  Student aptitude and attitude  College processes  Immediate barriers….

 Colleges supported faculty recruitment  Student recruitment strategies and placement practices shared  IBEST “ish” programs were created and ELL aerospace workplace curriculum was developed and shared  New skill sets embedded within existing programs or tested in CE  Best practices emerged and were immediately shared  Nothing created was mandatory Regular communication removed many of these barriers….

 Intelligence/Aerospace industry specialist  WorkSource expert  College program expert  Student retention specialist  Employment expert Workforce Navigator/Concierge Partnership

 Serve on advisory board  Create additional branding opportunities  Utilized them for exposure – helped us cast a wider net Other Partnerships

 Aligned curriculum  Shared curriculum  Articulation with K-12  Brought in other colleges  Transparent  Outreach Educational Partnerships

 Relationships are crucial to a successful project  We must respond quickly – create multiple options – best practices emerge  Branding is crucial  Importance of data collection - BLUF  Industry feedback keeps the project dynamic What have we learned?

 Industry - localized  College Presidents  Aerospace Pipeline Committee  Labor  Professional Organizations  Additional Educational Partnerships Project Sustainability Efforts

Questions ?

AW had 730 completers through March 31, 2013 What did they study?

What type of credential did the AW completer earn?

What did they do post completion?

Graduate Employment Rate by Program of Study

Employment Rate by Program of Study

Impact of Individual Program Employment Rate on Overall AW Outcomes 63% 56% 75% 42% 50% 46% 65% *Employment rate from previous slide

Average Salary by Area of Study (Participants employed in aerospace careers)

 Lower than anticipated wages (2011 projection $34,520/ actual $32,677)  Participants are holding out for higher wage jobs  Aerospace industry can have a lengthy hiring process  Participants become impatient and settle on a survival job  Highly selective employers  Busy production schedules dictate strong confident skills /no time to mentor the newly retrained  Media spin  Cyclical nature of manufacturing creates cautiously optimistic hiring/hurry up-slow down philosophy  Over 50 aerospace companies have hired AW graduates What AW participant surveys, industry interaction and ESD data tells us about aerospace employment opportunities.

 AS9100 – innovative in nature however, not allowed under TAACCCT funding guidelines.  Additional fiscal oversight needed/necessary.  EO statement prominently displayed in offices and on all marketing materials.  Funding source accurately credited on all deliverables and marketing materials. DOL Audit Findings

 Consortium respect, communication and partnerships  ESD employment data support  Pathway created for TAACCCT round two and future  Increased capacity and training opportunities  Increased industry driven short term certificates and completions  New pathways created for low skilled workers  Strong college collaboration with industry partners Big Wins

 Increasing Veteran Participants - Validation efforts underway, alignment with Washington State Dept. of Veterans Affairs  PLA credits- better tracking and understanding of processes  EASA outcomes and deliverables-  Based on gap analysis, new plan in development  Entered employment counts-  Closing the follow-up gap, continued navigator support, post completion job search training, broaden employer base Moving the Needle

 Fall 2013Technical Assistance Visits scheduled  Next consortium meeting February, 2014  Quarter 8 report due to DOL November 14, 2013  College data due 10/15/2013  Interested in more details? - Join the Friday calls 9:30- 10:45   Questions? Other