Bridging the Education / Workforce Gap: Community Colleges and Beyond
July 28, 2021 @ 10:00 am
This event is complete – you can view the recorded sessions here.
The pandemic brought home an urgent need: the best-educated are prospering but we are leaving too many behind. Community Colleges are a rich resource for educating higher skilled workers that industry is now demanding. However, schools, working with employers and policymakers, must do more to bridge the gap between education and employment.
This conference hosted thought leaders from all parts of the education-workforce equation to discuss how we can expand and create new training opportunities that prepare students for quality jobs.
The conference was hosted by MIT Open Learning and MassBridge, a state-wide effort to build new education models for advanced skills.
Day 1
Welcome: George Westerman (MIT) and Christine Nolan (MassTech)
Panel 1: The Changing Face of Community College Education
Yves Salomon-Fernandez (Moderator), President of Greenfield [MA] Community College
Terri Sandu, Dean – Director, Talent and Business Innovation (Lorain [OH] Community College)
Matthew Janisin, Program Director, Skilled Trades & Industrial Technology (Gateway Technical Community College [WI])
Kathy Rentsch, Associate Vice President for Strategic Academic & Workforce Initiatives (Quinsigamond [MA] Community College)
Panel 2: The role of education policy
Bob LePage (Moderator), MA Assistant Secretary for Career Education
Jennifer James, Undersecretary For Workforce Development (MA)
Maria Flynn, President JFF
Panel 3: A broader look at industry education needs
Farhad Vazehgoo (Moderator), Director, Advanced Technology Programs & Workforce Development Center for Advanced Manufacturing (MassTech)
Jessica Buechli, Senior Director, Learning & Development (UPMC)
Joanne Pokaski, Senior Director of Workforce Development and Community Relations, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Brenna Nan Schneider, Founder and CEO, 99Degrees
Keynote speakers – co-authors of ‘Workforce Education: A new roadmap’
William Bonvillian, Lecturer, Science Technology & Society, and Senior Director, Special Project, (MIT)
Sanjay Sarma, Vice President for Open Learning (MIT)
Day 2
Panel 1: Manufacturing Education
Craig McAtee (Moderator), Executive Director and CEO (NCATC)
Gail Norris, Director,SITRAIN Digital Industry Academy (Siemens)
Michael Cook, Director, Global Academic Partnerships (Rockwell)
Tom Fitch, BETE Performance Spray Engineering
Frank Field, Senior Research Engineer (MIT)
Panel 2: The Student Perspective
John Liu (Moderator), Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering and Digital Learning Scientist (MIT); Kaitlyn Fricke; Gregory Harris; Jean Bazile; Marissa Nye; and Mussie Demisse.
Keynote speaker
V. Celeste Carter, Lead Program Director – ATE (NSF)
Panel 3: Statewide Agency and Collaboration
Meghan Abella-Bowen (Moderator), Senior Program Manager Center for Advanced Manufacturing (MassTech)
Marilyn Barger, Executive Director (The Florida Advanced Technological Center)
Sue Griffith Smith, Vice President for the Technology & Applied Sciences (Ivy Tech [IN] Community College
Amy Firestone, Vice President of Apprenticeship Carolina (South Carolina Technical College System)