By providing an affordable way to build and maintain a knowledgeable and skilled workforce, noncredit courses add value to people and their communities. Still, government leaders and other decisionmakers want to know: Exactly how much value do they add? Who benefits? What is the return on investment? Which programs are most effective and most…

"Linking Workforce Development to Economic Development: A Casebook for Community Colleges" is a compilation of best practice examples, which illustrate what it takes for community colleges to achieve their goal of helping people acquire education and skills, helping employers, supporting communities, and building the nation. The book is…

As President Obama said in advance remarks about the American Graduation Initiative: "[T]he hard truth is that some of the jobs that have been lost in the auto industry and elsewhere won't be coming back. And that only underscores the importance of generating new businesses and industries to replace the ones we've lost, and of preparing our…

This booklet highlights the role of Michigan's community colleges in meeting the state's economic development and job training needs. First, background information is presented on the state's 29 community colleges, investments in the colleges, enrollments, the changing student profile, and program areas in which students are enrolled. The next…

After careful review Workforce Strategy Center has articulated a policy assessment of President George W. Bush's Community-Based Job Training Grants initiative. WSC called the $250 million Community-Based Job Training Grants plan right on track by emphasizing: A Strong Role of Community Colleges in Workforce Development: All available research…

A study examined six cases where job training and economic development had been successfully linked through an interorganizational arrangement. Cases were nominated by U.S. Employment and Training Administration officials, job training and economic development experts, and published reports. The six organizations of primary focus were Pima County…

A cooperative program in Benton Harbor, Michigan, joins schools, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and a university to address local work force issues and needs identified by area employers and to place program graduates in jobs with a livable wage in an area of high unemployment and crime. The program consists of two major instructional…

In June 1985, a survey was sent by the Industrial Technology Institute to 397 Michigan automobile supplier firms concerning their industrial training in modern manufacturing technologies. The purposes of this survey were to investigate the training needs of Michigan automobile suppliers, with particular emphasis on how they met their training…

Developed by an advisory board of industry and education representatives to raise issues for the consideration of policy makers, community college administrators, labor leaders, and managers in Michigan, this report discusses the increasing significance of training to industry; the challenge to public education and, in particular, to community…

This study investigated the characteristics, the socioeconomic benefits, and the strengths and weaknesses of a Michigan business/education partnership that provided a microcomputer application training program for adults. Three sites--Ferndale, Taylor, and Grand Ledge--all part of the Metropolitan Education Commission (MEC), were selected for…

A discussion is provided of how breakthroughs in the application of computers in the manufacturing of automobiles affect the development of community college programs, with particular emphasis on how Michigan community colleges have developed a capacity to respond to changes in this field. First, the paper explains what computer-based…

A National conference was held to examine State policies and practices for helping disabled youth make the school-to-work transition more successfully. The focus of the first day of the conference was on transitional programs currently in existence in Maryland, Michigan, and New York. The first part of the second day's activities involved the…

The internships and cooperative education experiences offered at Michigan's 15 public universities were examined. The study focused on the following items: the organization of internships and cooperative education experiences on university campuses; ways employers and students access such work-based learning opportunities; the numbers of students…