From the Chancellor

Two-year college system must take care of future workforce challenges

By Mark Heinrich
Alabama Community College Chancellor

Posted on al.com on February 07, 2013 at 7:54 a.m.

While the national economy continues to recover at a glacial pace, Alabama is on a roll. Airbus will break ground on a $600 million aircraft manufacturing facility in Mobile this spring, creating 3,200 construction jobs and eventually 1,000 high-tech manufacturing jobs. Austal USA, which makes ships for the U.S. Navy, will continue adding jobs this year with 1,000 potential new positions.

The year 2012 was full of smaller expansion announcements as well. Huntsville's Toyota engine plant broke ground on an expansion in 2012 that will add 125 jobs, and an automotive supplier located in Talladega just opened its doors, with plans to have a 200-strong workforce. I could go on, but the bottom line is things are looking up here at home.

That said, these big opportunities also present us with big challenges. The biggest among them is the need to train unemployed and underemployed Alabamians, along with our next generation, so that they might take advantage of the jobs of the future.

That begins with a healthy and growing two-year college system that is ready to rise to the challenge. I cannot imagine a more exciting time to have been given the opportunity to lead the Alabama Community College System as chancellor, and I am confident that we have a team in place that is in fact ready to rise.

As we begin planning ambitious new objectives for our system to ensure that it will serve as a foundation for the state to meet workforce demands, we will request increased support from the state. On Tuesday, the Alabama Legislative Fiscal Office reported that Alabama's Education Trust Fund would have more available dollars for the upcoming school year. While the state certainly needs to continue to invest in all levels of education, it seems clear that our continued economic success depends on an investment in post-secondary training.

I recognize that increased investment will demand increased responsibility. We are ready for that at the ACCS. Here are a few of the things we are doing to be ready to meet expectations:

• We have launched a system-wide evaluation of programs to assess whether they are delivered efficiently and properly address education and training needs.
• We are expanding partnerships with business and industry to grow technical training programs designed to fill skills gaps in fields such as welding, auto manufacturing, shipbuilding and aviation. Our institutions have partnerships with 1,200 businesses across the state, and we intend to increase that number by 30 percent in the next 12-18 months.
• We are exploring the possibility of making dual enrollments programs free for high school students in order to introduce young people to career training and workforce opportunities before they leave high school.
• We are developing plans for a GED scholarship program, and we would target that program to increase participation rates in our Adult Education programs in areas of Alabama plagued by high unemployment and low literacy rates.

Above all, our activities will be marked by accountability, transparency and integrity. As part of a new strategic plan launched for the system, we will ensure that the governance of the ACCS is effectively focused and driven by results. We will study organizational structures and make changes if necessary.

We recognize that the system's past is plagued by imperfections, and that lawmakers and the public may have lingering doubt in our ability to meet the challenges ahead. But we will rise to the challenge because we know that the future of our state depends on it. We know that the 250,000 people whose lives we touched last year represent the cornerstone on which Alabama's economy will continue to be built.

We also know that the system is full of success stories. From our incredible training partnerships with manufacturers to the graduation rate of the students we send on to four-year schools, Alabama's community colleges are already doing remarkable things. But with support from our state, we can do more for Alabama at a time when its economy is gaining momentum and creating the need for more skilled workers. It's a major part of our mission, and Alabama can count on us.

Retirement System Information

Attend a Retirement Seminar 

The Retirement Systems of Alabama has scheduled retirement seminars for employees. If you are just beginning employment in the college system or if you have up to 19 years of service credit, there is a seminar for you. Also, members who are within 3 to 5 years of retirement eligibility can register for a retirement preparation seminar. The links to these seminars and others have been added to the Human Resources section of the Jefferson State home page. 

Links have also been added to TRS, PEEHIP and RSA Forms and Publications. The links provide address change forms, beneficiary change forms and more.

Please contact Karen Key at extension 7899 or kkey@jeffstateonline.com for additional information. The seminars can be found at:

www.jeffstateonline.com/about-jscc/human-resources/seminars 

 

Employee Health Fair

Health & Benefits Fair to Be Held For Employees

Please make plans to attend the Employee Health and Benefits Fair on both the Jefferson and Shelby campuses.

The Alabama Department of Public Health will be present to conduct wellness screenings for all employees, retirees, and adult dependents (18 and over) who are covered under PEEHIP.  As well, approved vendors will be available to speak with you about direct deposit, insurance, and investment options.

     

Vendors:                           

America’s First Credit Union

Axa Advisors

Alabama Education Association                  

Legacy Credit Union                            

First Educators Credit Union                   

CommuteSmart                             

Aflac                              

Wells Fargo                        

Collateral Benefits                            

Sam’s Club

Massy, Stotser and Nichols, Attorney at Law

Valic                              

PEEHIP Wellness Screenings*:

Total cholesterol

LDL (bad cholesterol)

HDL (good cholesterol)

Triglycerides

Blood Pressure

Pulse Glucose (blood sugar)

Calculation of body mass index (BMI)

Osteoporosis screening

Jefferson Campus

March 7, 2013

9:00 - 2:00

Fitzgerald Student Center

Room 400

*To participate in the Wellness Screenings you must present your insurance card (Blue Cross Blue Shield, Viva Health, Southland)

To make an appointment for the Health Screening or for further information, please contact Karen Key kkey@jeffstateonline.com 205-856-7899.

Outstanding Faculty

Nominees for Outstanding Faculty Announced

The following instructors have been nominated by students and/or colleagues to receive the 2013 Outstanding Faculty Award.

     Cindy Danley

     Justin Fisher

     Angela Ford

     Dianna Hyde

     Murray Jones

     Mildred Lanier

     Robert Wallace

The Outstanding Faculty Award is presented each year during the annual Honors Convocation. This year, the Honors Convocation will be held on April 18 at 2:00 p.m. in the HSB Multi-Purpose Room at the Shelby-Hoover Campus.

Congratulations to the nominees!

Nominate Someone for Outstanding Alumnus

Jefferson State Now Accepting Nominations for Outstanding Alumnus Award

The Office of Community Relations is now collecting nominations for Jefferson State’s 2013 Outstanding Alumnus Award.

If you know a worthy recipient, please email their name, occupation and a description of why they are deserving to dbobo@jeffstateonline.com. If you have their contact information, please include it in your email.

The deadline for nominations is Monday, March 11, 2013.

Let It Snow

Snow Pictures 

Below are a few snow photos from Cammie Hallmark's house in Hayden. This is her "Cabin at the Lodge" where Cammie offers a Bed and Breakfast and a venue for weddings. Enjoy the photos!

A Comparison

Community college grads out-earn bachelor's degree holders

By Jon Marcus at The Hechinger Institute @CNNMoney February 26, 2013

Nearly 30% of Americans with associate's degrees now make more than those with bachelor's degrees, according to Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce

Berevan Omer graduated on a Friday in February with an associate's degree from Nashville State Community College and started work the following Monday as a computer-networking engineer at a local television station, making about $50,000 a year.

That's 15% higher than the average starting salary for graduates -- not only from community colleges, but for bachelor's degree holders from four-year universities. 

"I have a buddy who got a four-year bachelor's degree in accounting who's making $10 an hour," Omer says. "I'm making two and a-half times more than he is." 

Omer, who is 24, is one of many newly minted graduates of community colleges defying history and stereotypes by proving that a bachelor's degree is not, as widely believed, the only ticket to a middle-class income. 

Nearly 30% of Americans with associate's degrees now make more than those with bachelor's degrees, according to Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce. In fact, other recent research in several states shows that, on average, community college graduates right out of school make more than graduates of four-year universities. 

The average wage for graduates of community colleges in Tennessee, for instance, is $38,948 -- more than $1,300 higher than the average salaries for graduates of the state's four-year institutions. 


In Virginia, recent graduates of occupational and technical degree programs at its community colleges make an average of $40,000. That's almost $2,500 more than recent bachelor's degree recipients. 

"There is that perception that the bachelor's degree is the default, and, quite frankly, before we started this work showing the value of a technical associate's degree, I would have said that, too," says Mark Schneider, vice president of the American Institutes for Research, which helped collect the earning numbers for some states. 

And while by mid-career, many bachelor's degree recipients have caught up in earnings to community college grads, "the other factor that has to be taken into account is that getting a four-year degree can be much more expensive than getting a two-year degree," Schneider says. 

A two-year community college degree, at present full rates, costs about $6,262, according to the College Board. A bachelor's degree from a four-year, private residential university goes for $158,072. 

The increase in wages for community college grads is being driven by a high demand for people with so-called "middle-skills" that often require no more than an associate's degree, such as lab technicians, teachers in early childhood programs, computer engineers, draftsmen, radiation therapists, paralegals, and machinists. 

With a two-year community college degree, air traffic controllers can make $113,547, radiation therapists $76,627, dental hygienists $70,408, nuclear medicine technologists $69,638, nuclear technicians $68,037, registered nurses $65,853, and fashion designers $63,170, CareerBuilder.com reported in January. 

"You come out with skills that people want immediately and not just theory," Omer says.
The Georgetown center estimates that 29 million jobs paying middle class wages today require only an associate's, and not a bachelor's, degree. 

"I would not suggest anyone look down their nose at the associate's degree," says Jeff Strohl, director of research at the Georgetown center. 

"People see those programs as tracking into something that's dead end," Strohl says. "It's very clear that that perception does not hold up." 

The bad news is that not enough associate's degree holders are being produced.
Only 10% of American workers have the sub-baccalaureate degrees needed for middle-skills jobs, compared with 24% of Canadians and 19% of Japanese, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reports. 

Over the last 20 years, the number of graduates with associate's degrees in the United States has increased by barely 3%. And while the Obama administration has pushed community colleges to increase their numbers, enrollment at these schools fell 3.1% this year, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reports. Graduation rates also remain abysmally low. 


Meanwhile, many people with bachelor's degrees are working in fields other than the ones in which they majored, according to a new report by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. 

"We have a lot of bartenders and taxi drivers with bachelor's degrees," says Christopher Denhart, one of the report's coauthors. 

Still, the salary advantage for associate's degree holders narrows over time, as bachelor's degree recipients eventually catch up, says Schneider. 

Although these figures vary widely by profession, associate's degree recipients, on average, end up making about $500,000 more over their careers than people with only high school diplomas, but $500,000 less than people with bachelor's degrees, the Georgetown center calculates. 

As for Omer, he's already working toward a bachelor's degree. 

"Down the road a little further, I may want to become a director or a manager," he says. "A bachelor's degree will get me to that point." 

This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education-news outlet based at Teachers College, Columbia University. It's one of a series of reports about workforce development and higher education.