The State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors has approved a nine-month study to be undertaken in consultation with various state agencies and private industry groups to identify educational and training needs of Pennsylvania businesses and to recommend how System universities can help to meet them.
The study will produce a report that will include recommendations on new programs State System universities could offer to help address the workforce demands of companies in high-tech and other emerging industries in the Commonwealth. Those recommendations will include ways the universities can work together to develop joint programs.
Among the groups that will be invited to participate in the process will be the state departments of labor and industry, community and economic development and education, the Pennsylvania Business Roundtable, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association, the Governor’s Office of Policy and Planning, Human Resource Investment Council, Technology 21 and Team Pennsylvania.
An advisory cabinet will meet periodically to guide the study. It currently is designed to include three members of the Board of Governors and representatives from each of the other groups that will participate in the study. The cabinet is expected to be in place by mid-February and will help finalize a work plan.
The study is to include interviews with the chief executive officers of the 25 largest corporations in Pennsylvania and up to 25 additional CEOs of small to medium-sized companies.
Focus groups with regional representatives of senior human resource officers representing diverse sectors of the Pennsylvania business and corporate communities also will be conducted.
It is anticipated that the final report will be presented to the Board of Governors in October. The recommendations will then to be considered as part of the State System’s ongoing strategic planning process.
“The State System wants to be more responsive to the needs of Pennsylvania employers,” said Chancellor James H. McCormick. “Through this nine-month study, we hope to learn more about the workforce needs in the Commonwealth and what we can do to help ensure they are met. We want our students to be well prepared to enter the job market after they graduate and to be able to serve the needs of society into the 21st century.”
The State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, offering more than 215 undergraduate degrees and more than 100 graduate degree programs. Nearly 350,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.
The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh.