Building partnerships among institutions of higher learning can be challenging enough. Imagine trying to do this across state lines and state college systems.
But a rather novel partnership is just what Bismarck State College in North Dakota and the Connecticut Community College System have formed in response to the critical workforce training needs of a regional energy employer. In a unique and innovative partnership, the colleges have joined forces to offer on-the-ground and online education and training to Northeast Utilities (NU) employees, both current and new hires.
Sobering energy industry data show that upwards of 50% (almost 60,000) of the skilled technician and engineering workforce will be retiring or leaving the industry in the next few years. In addition, the National Commission on Energy Policy concludes that 150,000 new jobs will be needed to design and operate new low-carbon power sources in the coming years.
The serious ramifications for the energy industry if it doesn’t prepare for this loss of skills and knowledge can’t be downplayed. If NU and its education partners wanted to prepare for this demographic shift, they had little choice but to pull together and think outside the box.
NU had to make sure that it had a pool of skilled, qualified candidates to draw from to meet its workforce needs now and in the future. If it is going to have a future in energy, it has to prepare its workforce today. NU also recognized that it could meet its workforce needs only by providing a regional solution—it wasn’t viable to support a program at each college in the different communities it hires from.
As a member of the Energy Providers Coalition for Education (EPCE), a national alliance of electric utilities and organizations managed by CAEL, NU participated in developing an industry-built Electric Power Technology associate degree program available through EPCE at BSC. It made sense to tap into this resource to provide the specialized education and training it needed for its incumbent and future workforce.
The partnership allows Connecticut students in NU’s service areas to complete their general education and other technical courses on the ground at their home institutions, at any one of the 12 Connecticut community colleges. Students can simultaneously take Electric Power Technology courses online through BSC, and be awarded their degree, Associate in Technology Studies, by their home institution in Connecticut.
Developing a partnership like this takes patience and firm resolution as each partner works within and between their institutions to reach agreement on the many details of a partnership. This of course requires serious commitment and much dialogue between the many departments within a school.
But the payoff in the end is a collaboration that benefits each of the partners: the students who would otherwise not have access to the high quality, online industry-built and industry-endorsed program; the employer who taps into the industry expertise of an institution; and the education partners who can build capacity without duplicating existing programs. It’s a win all around!
If you’d like to learn more about how to build a similar successful partnership with an employer or an institution in your region, please contact me at rvdegroot@cael.org. I’m happy to talk about this unique partnership and the opportunities it presents
But a rather novel partnership is just what Bismarck State College in North Dakota and the Connecticut Community College System have formed in response to the critical workforce training needs of a regional energy employer. In a unique and innovative partnership, the colleges have joined forces to offer on-the-ground and online education and training to Northeast Utilities (NU) employees, both current and new hires.
Sobering energy industry data show that upwards of 50% (almost 60,000) of the skilled technician and engineering workforce will be retiring or leaving the industry in the next few years. In addition, the National Commission on Energy Policy concludes that 150,000 new jobs will be needed to design and operate new low-carbon power sources in the coming years.
The serious ramifications for the energy industry if it doesn’t prepare for this loss of skills and knowledge can’t be downplayed. If NU and its education partners wanted to prepare for this demographic shift, they had little choice but to pull together and think outside the box.
NU had to make sure that it had a pool of skilled, qualified candidates to draw from to meet its workforce needs now and in the future. If it is going to have a future in energy, it has to prepare its workforce today. NU also recognized that it could meet its workforce needs only by providing a regional solution—it wasn’t viable to support a program at each college in the different communities it hires from.
As a member of the Energy Providers Coalition for Education (EPCE), a national alliance of electric utilities and organizations managed by CAEL, NU participated in developing an industry-built Electric Power Technology associate degree program available through EPCE at BSC. It made sense to tap into this resource to provide the specialized education and training it needed for its incumbent and future workforce.
The partnership allows Connecticut students in NU’s service areas to complete their general education and other technical courses on the ground at their home institutions, at any one of the 12 Connecticut community colleges. Students can simultaneously take Electric Power Technology courses online through BSC, and be awarded their degree, Associate in Technology Studies, by their home institution in Connecticut.
Developing a partnership like this takes patience and firm resolution as each partner works within and between their institutions to reach agreement on the many details of a partnership. This of course requires serious commitment and much dialogue between the many departments within a school.
But the payoff in the end is a collaboration that benefits each of the partners: the students who would otherwise not have access to the high quality, online industry-built and industry-endorsed program; the employer who taps into the industry expertise of an institution; and the education partners who can build capacity without duplicating existing programs. It’s a win all around!
If you’d like to learn more about how to build a similar successful partnership with an employer or an institution in your region, please contact me at rvdegroot@cael.org. I’m happy to talk about this unique partnership and the opportunities it presents
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