Working collaboratively with the Governor’s Manufacturing Advisory Council, the VCCS initiated a new Manufacturing, Engineering, and Technology Coach (MET-Coach) program in Fall 2009 that currently has five career coaches targeted to preparing a future workforce for high performance manufacturing. Blue Ridge, Danville, Tidewater, Thomas Nelson, and Virginia Western Community Colleges currently employ MET-Coaches.
MET-Coaches fill a unique role among community college career coaches in that participating colleges, in response to local needs, may have MET-Coaches work with any adult population aged 24 and under including high school drop outs, Middle College students, One Stop Career Center clients, and community college and high school students.
MET-Coaches identify customers to be served through targeted outreach activities or referrals from other career coaches, high school counselors and teachers, community college counselors and faculty, and practitioners in Tech Prep, Middle College, One-Stop Career Centers, and Workforce Investment Act Youth Services programs. Those referred to MET-Coaches will have been identified as possessing aptitude or interest in educational or workforce training programs related to manufacturing. The MET-Coach will engage individuals in a planned sequence of training and career development activities designed to prepare them for today’s high performance manufacturing environment. Activities include: career assessment, career and educational planning, arranging certification testing, job searching and job search preparation, and more.
In 2009-10, five community colleges received grant awards up to $50,000 grant to support a MET-Coach in their service region. Information about the grants can be found at www.vccs.edu/workforce/grants under the Manufacturing Coach Career heading.
The VCCS has developed a comprehensive plan and instruments for assessing the outcomes of the MET-Coach program including targeted outcomes appropriate to each grade level or type of population to be served. Projected outcomes of the program include enrollment in relevant high school career and technical education courses including dual-enrollment courses; enrollment in relevant community college degree and certificate programs and workforce training; attainment of Career Readiness Certificates; participation in apprenticeship programs; and job placement and employer satisfaction measures. Below is a link to the program’s measurable objectives.
Measurable Objectives
MET Coach Report Template
Parent's Survey Experience
Learner's Survey Experience
Employer's Survey Experience
MET Coach Program Summary
MET Career Coach Job Description