March 2008 Workforce Newsletter

*** Visit the award winning VCCS BLOG!***

Career Pathway News

Career Coach News - In this and future newsletters, updated and shared ideas about the Career Coach program will be grouped around the three core functions of career coaching:

• Core Coaching Skills -
  We’ve all heard the stories of career assessment instruments from 30 years ago recommending that a student should become a funeral director, often in a negative context. Career assessment tools have become more refined, and the field of mortuary science has been elevated into a worthwhile career pathway. Betty Jo Smith at CVCC has been working with a student who is taking classes at CVCC while working at a local funeral home. There’s nothing better than having the opportunity to blend technical skills in the classroom with practical skills in the workforce. In Betty Jo’s words, “she is a delight and very professional.  One of her first funerals was a huge memorial service in our high school auditorium for two young men killed in a fire at Longwood.  (She) knows what to say to grieving families and has a quiet but caring personality.” The student plans to finish her studies in Mortuary Science at JTCC.

• Career Consulting -
  Kay Loving at GCC works with students in Caroline County, who often find themselves stuck between opportunities between Fredericksburg and Richmond. As a result, they don’t feel comfortable in other surroundings and are hesitate to pursue post-secondary educational opportunities. Kay has been working with a group of students on their career plans and educational options. Recently, she took a group of 39 students who had applied to GCC on a field trip to the campus. The students were welcomed on to the campus by Robin Allen and made to feel comfortable. A group of students and faculty spoke to them, and now they are exciting about what lies ahead for them next year. By bridging the gap between high school and college, these students have a better chance of being successful at the next level.

Last month, Tamara Sole, PVCC Career Coach at Nelson County HS, had the opportunity to share with the PVCC College Board, the Nelson County Board of Supervisors, the Nelson County School Superintendant, and other school personnel some of the many benefits of her career coaching activities at the high school.  Tamara has been an outstanding resource at the school since day one, and many of her students are now looking at post-secondary opportunities, attending either PVCC or CVCC.

Anne Sharpe, PVCC Career Coach at William Monroe HS in Greene County, recently worked with many juniors and seniors at WMHS to help enroll them in the “Construction Academy” at PVCC. Funded by a U.S. Department of Labor grant, The Construction Academy PVCC offers training programs in the construction trades, preparing students to enter the industry at the "helper level". Through this program, students are able to learn basic carpentry, masonry, electrical, and HVAC skills, improve their math skills, learn the basics of print reading, and receive OSHA-10 certification. All this useful knowledge will prepare them for jobs with local contractors. The Construction Academy also offers contractor licensing and management preparation courses.

• Administration & Marketing -
  The TNCC coaches will be presenting on Camp MIT (Manufacturing, Industry & Technology), a summer program with the goal of expanding the horizons of students in the career decision making process and making them aware of opportunities in the manufacturing and fabricating industry. The presentation will take place at the High Five III Conference - "Celebrating Best Practices in Career and Technical Education" on April 16-17.

DataBytes

PeopleSoft Student Information System (SIS) Updates/New Processes

• Noncredit Web Registration: The PeopleSoft and VCCS staff continue to work on this project. For updates, please go to the website or contact Trenton Hightower.
  
• Noncredit Web Application: Testing of the web application will occur at the Featherstone facility Thursday and Friday, April 3-4.
  
• SAS data warehouse: Over the past year, VCCS has worked with SAS Institute in the development of a data warehouse. A data warehouse has the ability to pull together multiple data source and present data in a user friendly environment. Over the past month, VCCS and SAS staff have worked together to gather input from community college leaders on their data needs. We’ll continue to provide updates on the project as we move forward.
  
• SIS Meeting: A meeting of the SIS taskforce will take place in May. Staff are working on dates and will send out a timeframe in the next two weeks. In addition, there will be online session in the next three weeks to discuss and demonstrate setups that need to occur in order for the web registration to occur. This information will be sent to the WDS advisory council and SIS taskforce member distribution list.

College Submissions

• Blue Ridge Community College

Susan Crosby recently returned from her exchange visit to India where she stayed on the campus at Jadavpur University and met numerous faculty and administrators and spoke with students. The delegation of three VCCS exchange partners visited several of the programs supported by the university designed to prepare citizens for employment.  During her visit, Susan participated as a speaker in a day-long workshop, “Community Development Through Continuing Education”, providing a brief overview of community colleges and examples of continuing education programs designed specifically to meet workforce development needs. She also met with the staff of the Department of Adult and Continuing Education and Extension programs on two occasions.  Like American Continuing Education divisions, DACEE provides all its own services to their students (admissions, registrar, fee collections, billing, etc.) and balances revenue-generating programs with ones that don’t generate as much revenue but are valuable to the participants. Susan kept a diary in the form of a blog.  Go to www.mytb.org/MikeandSue for more information about the exchange and pictures.The ‘call’ for applicants to this annual exchange program, to a variety of venues, has recently been distributed.  If anyone’s thinking about applying to the Jadavpur exchange and would like her reactions, contact Susan at crosbys@brcc.edu.  For information about the other exchanges, contact Mary Beth Wentworth at JTCC: mwentworth@jtcc.edu – Workforce Services staff are certainly eligible.
 
Through a collaborative effort led by BRCC/WSCE, an employment law seminar recently was presented in two half day sessions to more than 50 human resource managers.  The program, entitled Hot Topics in Employment Law, included sessions on the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Immigration, Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Federal Contracting, and Affirmative Action.  The law firms of Lenhart Obenschain, Litten & Sipe, and LeClair Ryan, along with the Shenandoah Valley Society of Human Resource Management, the Harrisonburg/Rockingham Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Augusta Chamber of Commerce co-sponsored the event.  Each session was approved for General recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI).

• Community College Workforce Alliance - CCWA Partners with VCATS on WorkKeys Program The Community College Workforce Alliance (CCWA) recently partnered with the Virginia Council for Advanced Technology Skills (VCATS) to provide WorkKeys Assessments to local manufacturing employees. The project was a pilot session to help determine skill levels needed for manufacturing jobs in the Commonwealth.

"The assessments offered by CCWA enabled us to set the stage for development," said Sheryl Bryan, of VCATS – a workforce partnership between The Virginia Manufacturers Association (VMA) and the Virginia Biotechnology Association (VA Bio) which works to address the upcoming shortage of that state’s manufacturing workers. She added, "CCWA offered great services, great location and great hospitality for this project."

• Piedmont Virginia Community College

Congratulations to Pat O'Rourke and Lyn van der Sommen for passing the LERN exam to become Certified Program Professionals.

The PVCC Construction Academy received an earmark grant that will be used to expand our programs in the construction trades.

• Thomas Nelson Community College

Officials at Thomas Nelson Community College have doubled the number of motorcycle safety classes to meet the increasing demand.

Forty-five Canon Virginia employees recently completed a year long training program designed to improve their overall supervisory skills. The training was conducted by Tony Farley, Thomas Nelson Community College’s Associate Vice President for Business Development and Corporate Training.

TNCC VP for Workforce Development Dr. Deborah Wright, far right, and Associate Vice President Tony Farley, left, pose with Canon Virginia President Takayoshi Hanagata and some of the Canon employees who recently completed Pathways to Global Excellence Leadership training.

The Pathways to Global Excellence Supervisors Training program provided 50 hours of instruction comprised of six full 8-hour sessions and a two-hour kickoff session. This two-hour session included a detailed analysis of Canon Virginia’s (CVI) business ventures, company goals and strategies. Company President Takayoshi Hanagata initiated the program by outlining company goals as well as future business strategies and challenges. He also emphasized the importance of several new business ventures for the company and how the first-line Supervisor position was critical to the future success of the enterprise.

The training curriculum covered a myriad of material designed to better equip the supervisors with the tools needed to manage a diverse workplace through changing times. Prior to each training session, a guest speaker from the CVI management team was invited to share with the group challenges from his/her department, including areas of growth and potential expansion. This served as a constant reminder to the supervisors the importance of the Pathways to Global Excellence training program.

Supervisors from Canon Virginia and its affiliate operations including Canon Virginia-Oakland and Industrial Resource Technologies participated in the program. Canon’s overall company goal is to promote superior individual and exceptional business performance combined with speed, flexibility and adaptability to change. In order to accomplish these objectives, several key factors must work together – factors such as the capability to lead, promote customer service, maintain performance and accountability, provide an opportunity to lead, improve channels of communication between all levels of the organization, solve problems, and make right decisions the first time.

By all accounts, the Pathways training was a great success. Following the 12-month program, participants were invited to a culminating celebration where Mr. Hanagata and members of senior management offered their congratulations and demonstrated their support of the training program.  Dr. Deborah G. Wright, TNCC Vice President for Workforce Development attended one of the sessions to show her support for the program and TNCC’s commitment to Canon Virginia.

CVI is already making plans for the next series of training modules to be delivered to their members utilizing the Thomas Nelson Workforce Development team.

• Virginia Highlands Community College

The Center for Business & Industry at Virginia Highlands Community college in Abingdon, Virginia will be hosting a Development Dimensions International (DDI) Trainer Certification June 10, 11 and 12.  The cost per person is $500 thanks to scholarships provided by the VCCS.  Deadline to register is May 10.  If you are interested, please contact Beth Duffield, Workforce Development Coordinator at 276-739-2496. 

• Wytheville Community College

Governor Kaine visited Wytheville and learned about the involvement of Wytheville Community College and in helping Gatorade develop and deliver operator and maintenance training.
A five credit Autonomous Maintenance course was designed for Line Operators and a 26 credit Career Studies Certificate Program for Maintenance Technicians. In addition, WCC’s workforce staff created a one credit Computer Basics course which has been delivered to 8 Gatorade classes. Gatorade Management told the Governor of their appreciation for the assistance being provided by WCC with the use of college facilities for the applicant selection process.

System Office Updates

Important Dates to Remember

Workforce Development Academy

• Planning for the Second Annual Workforce Development Academy Alumni Reunion has started.  WDA Alumni, look for a “Save the Date” email to arrive soon.  The reunion will probably be held sometime June 2008.
  
• Mark Your Calendars! - The next Workforce Development Professional Competencies course will be July 28 – August 1, 2008. There are a few scholarships available towards the program fee, compliments of the VCCS! The course will be held in Charlottesville, Virginia. For more information, contact Barbara Kessler at 434-243-5337.  This course is the first step towards certification as a Professional in Workforce Development (PWD) from the University of Virginia.

VCCS General News / Highlights