The Water Quality Management Technology department at Red Rocks Community College in Denver, CO received a National Science Foundation grant and converted 24 courses from a face-to-face format to online and hybrid formats. The courses were converted to meet a growing employment need within the water industry. The online and hybrid options gave…

This chapter discusses the relationship between the labour market and vocational education and training in England. For decades British governments have emphasised the need for more people to stay longer in the formal education system and at the same time have attempted to improve work-based training. They have also emphasised the centrality of…

Although calls continue to establish certification, several certifications for human resource development (HRD) practitioners already exist, although none use the name HRD. This Forum explores what those certification programs are and what their availability means to the development of the HRD "brand" (the impressions of the service derived from…

Purdue University--Mechanical, Engineering, and Technology (MET) faculty and Purdue Technical Assistance Program (TAP) staff partnered with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) to create a new workforce training program and certificate exam in the field of green manufacturing. This article describes how the body of knowledge for the…

In 2006, WHO alerted the world to a global health workforce crisis, demonstrated through critical shortages of health workers, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa (WHO in World Health Report, 2006). The objective of our study was to assess, in a participative way, the educational needs for public health and health workforce development among potential…

The fact that many companies outsource jobs and contracts for manufactured products can be attributed to the shortage of technically trained and skilled workers in America's workforce. Today, business and industry, educators, parents, and students are significantly interested in STEM education and technological literacy. With the majority of…

Despite the heavy investments in the economic development of East German industry, the region still faces immanent structural challenges that affect the provision of vocational education and training (VET), in particular apprenticeships, and the availability of a well skilled workforce. In this article the situation of the economy as well as new…

As community and technical colleges work to train workers for green-energy jobs, they face myriad challenges. Among them are the recession and the financial strain it places on institutions' ability to develop programs, trying to meet the demand for trained workers that is a projection and not a certainty, and training low-skilled individuals for…

The Philippines has a population of more than 94 million. In addition, 10 million Filipinos work and live overseas. Filipino talent is ubiquitous overseas, working in offices, universities, hotels and restaurants, factories, shopping malls, theaters and arenas, and private homes around the world. The country's projected high rate of economic…

In a competitive workforce it is not just having the right qualification or technical skills that will land an individual a job; it could very well be their interpersonal skills. How someone communicates is often the first impression an employer has of a possible worker. Yet, it is precisely communication skills that employers feel applicants are…

The best learning and development organizations support business initiatives tactically "and" help drive strategic change. Verizon did just that, earning it the No. 1 spot for the first time on the Training Top 125. Verizon and the other 2012 Top 125 winners continued to invest in training, collectively dedicating a mean of 4.52 percent of their…

The Geriatric Scholar Program (GSP) is a Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) workforce development program to infuse geriatrics competencies in primary care. This multimodal educational program is targeted to primary care providers and ancillary staff who work in VA's rural clinics. GSP consists of didactic education and training in geriatrics…

This paper discusses the importance of effective training and workforce development programs as part of a broader strategy to increase the competitiveness of American workers. Although rapid technological change and increasing global competition have delivered great economic benefits to the U.S. economy overall, the development of new and more…

Even before the Great Recession prompted policymakers to take a closer look at public programs designed to help unemployed Americans re-enter the workforce it had long been clear that federal, state and local government workforce development programs have not always effectively prepared low-income individuals to obtain decent-paying jobs. Job…

Recent state policy and federal funding initiatives are driving the demand for clean energy in both the short and long term. This increased demand has created the need for many more workers trained or retrained in a variety of clean energy jobs. In response, states are utilizing funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009…