Posted by bposton on November 9th, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online
Here’s an interesting news story I can across. East Carolina University (in my home state of North Carolina) just awarded eight scholarships to recruit students who were seeking careers in libraries.
EDU’s Department of Library Science and Instructional Technology presented the scholarships, the first for Library Science majors, to eight (and very happy) bookworms in NC. 
The scholarship provides full tuition in ECU’s master’s in library science, which is a completely online degree program. Over the next 3 years the plan is to award a total of 45 scholarships.
The mulaa for the scholarships came from a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. The goal of the grant is to allow existing librarians to continue working in their local communities while going to school to become licensed media specialists. This in turn allows school districts in rural areas to have licensed media specialists on staff that they may not otherwise be able to recruit.
Pretty Cool, huh?
Ben
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Posted by bposton on October 22nd, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online
One reason why technical training is seeing a comeback is the increase in partnerships among community/technical colleges, high schools, and employers.
Here’s a great example of that in my home state of North Carolina:
There’s a company in Greensboro, NC called RF MicroDevices. They’ve hooked up with Guilford Technical Community College. Together they’ve developed several programs to help train student operators in “wafer fab”, which turn out integrated computer circuits.
“There’s no place else around here where someone can learn the skills necessary to perform efficiently in our facility,” says Ralph Knupp of RFMD. “Someone who graduates with a bachelor of arts would not arrive bringing the specific experience we need. So vocational training is critical for us to maintain our manufacturing strength in Greensboro.”
North Carolina is probably best know for our textile and furniture industries (High Point Furniture Market, for example). But we’ve seen those industries shrink dramatically in the face of foreign competition. So the state has relied alot on the community college system, which was started in 1958, to retrain displaced workers.
“We did a major study with industry and found that for two-thirds of all bio-tech jobs in this state, no four-year degree was necessary,” says Martin Lancaster, president of the North Carolina Community College system.
So I think there’s a hugh trend here:
First of all, families are struggling to afford the traditional college education. So they’re looking a technical training to learn a hi-tech skill or trade.
Second, employers are struggling to find qualified hi-tech labor. So that has increased the demand for skilled US workers in fields such as aviation mechanics, computer technology, electronics, global positioning, and trades ranging from culinary arts to construction.
It’s a combination that will only grow over time.
Ben
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