Congress: Higher education is a critical guardian of tomorrow’s workforce and economy
In order to revive the nation’s economy, Congress believes higher education institutions play a crucial role in successfully preparing students to join the workforce and to develop partnerships that facilitate job growth.
“As members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, we are keenly aware of how closely related education is to the strength of the workforce. A student’s success in the classroom will help determine his or her success in the workplace. The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that individuals who fail to advance in their education are more likely to be unemployed and earn lower wages. In fact, today, workers with a high school diploma have a nearly 1 in 10 chance of being unemployed while college graduates have only a 4.4 percent chance of being unemployed,” stated Committee Chairman and U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-MN, in a recent press release.
The committee recently publicized its stance during a series of congressional hearings this spring entitled, “Reviving our Economy: The Role of Higher Education in Job Growth and Development.” Guests panelists attended three separate hearings in March and April. These panelists, which included multiple educators, identified a number of growing industries where higher education — together with Congress, community leaders and businesses — can strategically focus funds and programmatic resources to better educate students to develop tomorrow’s workforce.
“America is facing historically tough economic challenges,” said U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-TN, in a statement presented at the April 21 hearing held in Columbia, Tenn. “We need to rethink how we educate our workforce … [and] colleges and universities need the freedom to adapt to the ever changing needs of local businesses.”
Boost high-level skills in lieu of remediation programs
During the series’ March 22 hearing held in Utica, N.Y., Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. emphasized to Congress in his written testimony that higher education and community partnerships must develop programs designed to engage lifelong learners, not “one-shot training.”
“Employers are now demanding — and needing — employees who cannot be trained in days or weeks, but require months or in some cases years. I believe that efforts to help regions build the capacity to deliver high-level skills training and postsecondary education are every bit as essential as the training provided to people in need,” said Picente.
“Just as the jobs of the Industrial Revolution grew up around natural resources such as water, the jobs of the knowledge revolution of the 21st century will cluster in regions that can provide a diverse, trained, highly motivated workforce,” he added.
Yet basic skills, such as reading and writing, must first be addressed at the K-12 level should higher education stand a chance to successfully prepare internationally competitive workers, noted Dr. Reynold Verret, the Provost at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The nation must not expect higher education to focus its energies on remedial programs while international partners maximize “the talents of their young,” said Verret during his testimony delivered at the March 21 hearing in Wilkes-Barre.
“As a nation, we must expect that all college graduates have acquired the ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing, that they have the requisite mathematical ability, that they understand history and society, [and] that they can reflect critically on complex matters,” he said.
Prepare for tomorrow’s job growth
The conglomeration of hearing panelists seemed to unite their voices by calling on the Education and Workforce Committee to urge Congress to help higher education focus on innovative programs addressing industries where job growth is imminent within both the public and private sectors.
The geospatial profession is one such industry, noted panelist Susan Marlow, Chief Executive Officer of Smart Data Strategies, Inc. in Franklin, Tenn. The geospatial profession, she explained on April 21, involves the technological and electronic “collection, storage, utilization, application and analysis of geographic information.” Google Earth™ and Microsoft Bing™ Maps are examples, as well as Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
“From the family planning the route for its summer vacation, to McDonald’s determining the best sites for it next restaurants … to analyzing the relationship between chemicals at a factory with the incidence of cancer in neighboring communities, geospatial information is an exploding field,” emphasized Marlow during her hearing testimony.
“There is a critical need for a strategic and inter-sector partnership approach to meeting the demand for a trained, qualified and productive workforce in this expanding field,” she added. “Whether its licensed professionals who have advanced degrees, or technicians who are trained in community colleges and technical schools, there is a growing demand for workers in the geospatial market.”
Dr. Judith Kirkpatrick, Provost for Utica College, stressed the importance of cybersecurity education in her March 22 testimony. She said the significance of this industry is clear from the increased awareness by private and public entities, including the Obama Administration which, she noted, appointed White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Tom Schmidt, a University of Phoenix Organizational Management alum.
“The field is seeing heightened demand for information technology specialists and computer and information research scientists who can create methods of monitoring and defending networks and devices and integrate those applications into older systems,” said Kirkpatrick. “Corporations and other private sector agencies and organizations are adding departments and employees to help anticipate and fight cyber crime, which can cost them millions of dollars per day.”
What’s next?
The hearings’ value has not yet revealed specific congressional outcomes to dat. However, Kline indicated in one of his press releases that these hearings are the first step toward helping Congress understand how education plays a role in the nation’s economy and workforce.
“Understanding the challenges and opportunities facing local communities is critical to ensuring Washington does not stand in the way of growth and prosperity,” said Kline. “Business and education leaders described local efforts to promote a competitive workforce and shared concerns about overly intrusive federal regulations. As we work to improve education and foster a growing economy, the ideas and feedback we received … will prove invaluable.”
