Research conducted by the Montana University System is a key driver of economic development in the state of Montana. Scientific research conducted in Montana has the potential to solve today's problems in rural health, agriculture, nutrition, materials science, energy and computational/engineering science. Research also prepares the next…

This article describes the activities of the tribal colleges and universities in building programs aimed at helping students and energy companies acquire the skills needed for employment in the natural resource industries around the Native nations. Students are learning many skills--welding, construction technology, and safety. Students are also…

Partnership evaluation typically occurs during the final stages either to assess why a collaborative effort did not work or to identify the indicators of success. Partnerships are rarely evaluated at their incipient stage, which is a critical time to assess their potential for long-term sustainability. In this paper, we present an early-stage…

This paper examines evidence from the HESA DLHE six-month Censuses and 3½ year ('longitudinal') surveys relating to three aspects of the flows of those who have left university with Higher Education Engineering qualifications, to test the robustness of the conclusions of SKOPE Research Paper No. 122 (Dixon, 2015), which showed strong evidence that…

With the renewed emphasis on higher education as an agent for development and economic growth, Australia has joined other Western countries in contributing to increasing the intellectual workforce of Africa[1]. While Australia has provided scholarships to Africans for more than three decades, since 2005, the Australian Government has dramatically…

Committed to fulfilling the promise of the green economy, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) launched the Sustainability Education and Economic Development (SEED) initiative (www.theseedcenter.org) in October 2010. The project advances sustainability and clean energy workforce development practices at community colleges by…

Almost half of all students entering higher education now do so through the community college sector. These institutions are a trusted and vital source of education, training, and information for their communities. They are also at the front-line in the society's never ending battle to provide the skills and capacities necessary to ensure…

Community colleges have long been destination No. 1 for American workers looking to upgrade their skills in search of new opportunities. In this article, the authors highlight how partnerships in three industries--automotive, biotechnology, and energy--are buoying efforts to support local economies. They discuss how business and nonprofit partners…

This paper reports a problem-based learning model for the training of university students in the area of industrial energy efficiency, and discusses its context, contents, and the results from its implementation. The impact has been significant, with hundreds of university graduates trained and many of them now working in industry, leading their…

The U.S. energy sector has become highly innovative in developing and applying new technologies. These innovations often require higher-paid, more-highly skilled labor, yet many employers in the region report that they have difficulty filling jobs, particularly for medium-skilled (or semi skilled) positions that require only a high school…

This is the first in a series of Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) playbooks intended to assist companies, higher education institutions, private philanthropies, membership associations, professional societies, government agencies, and other stakeholders seeking to understand the potential value of investing in coordinated strategic,…

The emerging green economy will create not just jobs, but--if done right--career opportunities across the United States as green manufacturing, green products, and green services fuel demand for workers at all skill levels. Sixty-one percent of the members of the Association of Energy Engineers report a growing shortage of qualified professionals…

The Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) is committed to aligning education and the workforce to create the talent and capacity for innovation necessary to keep regions, states, and the nation economically competitive. As part of that work, BHEF strives to analyze the factors that contribute to effective business and higher education…

The California Community Colleges Workforce and Economic Development program (WED program) helps students, incumbent workers, business partners and industries develop skilled competencies in critical industry sectors. As a source for developing and implementing training and curriculum, the WED program is instrumental in helping the community…

With Arizona's mining industry in decline and its construction and housing market racked by economic upheaval, workers in rural regions across the state are enrolling in community colleges at a record clip. At Central Arizona College (CAC), administrators have reported 16 percent to 20 percent growth each semester for three years running. Georgia…