College, Business and Government Leaders Focus on Job Readiness, Workforce Trends

Experts Converge on Miami for 4-Day National Workforce Institute

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As the topic of jobs continues to dominate both public and presidential debate, educators and workforce experts from throughout the nation gather in Miami this week to examine workplace trends, current and future labor demand, and cutting-edge practices for building a skilled and globally competitive workforce.

More than 450 workplace specialists, business leaders, organizations and federal representatives from the U.S. Departments of Labor, Education, Energy, Transportation, Agriculture, Commerce and Defense, as well as the National Institute of Standards and Technology will be on hand for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Workforce Development Institute, scheduled Jan. 24-28 at the Hyatt Regency Miami. Focused around a theme of "Working Wonders," the institute will also serve as a programmatic hub for concurrent meetings of workforce and economic development groups including the Automotive Manufacturing Technical Education, National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers, the Virtual Career Network and the Community College/Career Collaboration.

Following are highlights of the event.  A full agenda for the institute is available at http://www.aacc.nche.edu/newsevents/Events/wdi/Pages/default.aspx . 

Wednesday, Jan. 25
Fireside Chat on Federal Policy– Legislative experts break down the current state of Congress and the impact of the presidential election cycle (4:30-6:00 p.m., Monroe).

Thursday, Jan. 26
Opening General Session (8:15-10:15 a.m.) – Keynote by Jane Oates, Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor; featured speakers include AACC President Dr. Walter G. Bumphus and Miami-Dade College Provost Rolando Montoya.

Lunch and General Session (noon-1:45 p.m.) -- Serving Business and Industry, featuring William Blausey, Jr., Senior Vice President Eaton Corporation, with response by community college presidents from Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan.

Focus Session (2:00-4:45 p.m.) – Moving Up: Bridging Secondary-Postsecondary Education, featuring Jan Bray, Executive Director, Association for Career and Technical Education ; Gerald Chertavian, founder and CEO, Year Up; and Sally Prouty, former Executive Director, Corps Network.

Reception Sponsored by Country Music Television (5:00-7:00 p.m.) – CMT introduces a new online education campaign, "CMT Empowering Education;" live entertainment by performing trio Gloriana.

Friday, Jan. 27
General Session (8:00-9:00 a.m.) – Metro Model for the Future; keynote speaker, Alexandria Villoch, Senior Vice President, Advertising and Marketing, Miami Herald and Stephen Allen, Skills USA.

Focus Session (9:15 a.m.-noon) – Be Smart About It: Aligning Federal Funding and Resources for Community Colleges; featuring Aggie Byers, U.S. Department of Defense; Michelle Fox, U.S. Department of Energy; Doug O'Brien, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Mark Troppe and Megean Blum, U.S. Department of Commerce and James McKenney, Vice President for Economic Development, AACC.

Focus Session (3:30-5:00 p.m.) – Registered Apprenticeship: Community College Work Group's Framework for Articulating from Apprenticeship to College Degrees; featuring Clay Goodman, Vice President for Occupational Education, Estrella Mountain College; John Ladd, Office Apprenticeship, U.S. Department of Labor; R. Michael Snider, Ohio Association of Community Colleges; John Uvin, U.S. Department of Education.

Saturday, Jan. 28
Super General Session (7:45-10:00 a.m.) – Doing More With Less; Panel 1 featuring Deb Derr, President North Iowa Area Community College; Katherine Jollon, Goldman Sachs Foundation; Jack Litzenberg, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation; Daryl Williams, Kauffman Foundation. Panel 2, featuring Betsy Clark, McDonald's Corporation; Karen Elzey, Skills for America's Future; Doris B. Gonzalez, IBM Corporation; and Katerina Zacharia, PromaxBDA.

NOTE: Members of the news media may register without cost for part or all of the Workforce Development Institute.  To register and/or request interviews with WDI featured speakers, contact Norma Kent, [email protected] or 703/585-8556.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the American Association of Community Colleges is a national organization representing the nation's almost 1,200 community junior and technical colleges and their more than 13 million students. Community colleges are the largest and fastest growing sector of higher education. For more information about AACC and community colleges nationwide, see www.aacc.nche.edu.

SOURCE American Association of Community Colleges