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NJAPIE NEWSLETTER
Summer 1998
Exemplary Program Recipients Honored | Viewpoint | President's Message | Calendar
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Spring Conference Honors Exemplary Program Recipients At the Sixteenth New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA)/New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) Annual Spring Conference, three New Jersey Association of Partners in Education (NJAPIE) Exemplary Partnership Program Awards were bestowed. NJASA, in collaboration with NJAPIE, offer these awards through a statewide competition for outstanding school partnership programs. The three school systems and their business partners recognized this year for their exemplary school partnership programs are: Jersey City Public Schools Merrill Lynch, partner; Monmouth County Vocational School District Ocean Place Hilton Hotel, partner; and Totowa Public Schools HOWMEDICA, Inc., partner.
Viewpoint Creating a Flexible New Jersey Workforce In an economy which has transitioned from the industrial age to the information age, the most valued commodity which individuals can possess in order to fully participate in the workforce are the right skills and knowledge. In fact, since the 1980s, there have been 3 million layoffs per-year from the "old industries." On the other hand, one of the "new industries," information technology, has spent over $1 trillion on new equipment for the period 1983-1993 and cannot find enough qualified employees. In addition to technical knowledge associated with particular occupations, key skills which tomorrow's workforce must possess include:
The imperatives of such an atmosphere have led to a rethinking among businesses; primary and secondary schools; colleges and universities; proprietary and public vocational technical schools; state agencies; community-based organizations; and government about the way in which the New Jersey workforce is being educated. The ripple effect from this scenario has helped all stakeholders realize that they must collaborate for this rethinking to achieve results. Representative of the evolving new direction, the 1996 New Jersey Unified State Plan for a Workforce Readiness System groups the state's workforce into different categories and identifies category-specific and collaborative strategies and programs which are likely to produce tomorrow's flexible workforce. For example, the category of "New Workforce Entrants," children and youth in K-16 grades, now takes part in School-to-Work/School-to-Careers opportunities and is learning from revised curricula related to Core Curriculum Content Standards, which industry is helping to develop. And the category of "Employed Individuals" now benefits from on-the-premises training programs partially funded by direct grants to companies by the New Jersey Workforce Development Partnership Program, and from on-the-job training grants authorized by county-based Workforce Investment Boards (WIBS) on whose committees all stakeholders sit. Other examples of partnerships and collaborations among stakeholders to educate the New Jersey workforce can be found on the New Jersey Department of Labor web site (http://www.wnjpin.state.nj.us). Further, with analysts crediting information technology as one of the most important enabling technologies in New Jersey's economy, special emphasis is beginning to be placed on educating and training for jobs in this area. In fact, New Jersey is now home to the sixth largest concentration of software development companies in the United States. Due to the demand for computer contract labor, consulting services and software development for business clients, New Jersey has also become America's second highest importer of foreign high-technology workers. Different strategies are addressing the information technology skill gap for "New Workforce Entrants" versus "Employed Individuals." For example, New Jersey youth in the former category are the audience for a recently released Request for Proposal from the New Jersey Department of Education to establish a 5-year Tech-Prep Program for Engineering Science and Technology. A number of consortia representing K-12 schools, higher education and industry have already submitted proposals with the winner to be announced shortly. In contrast, the category of "Employed Individuals" is being served by the continuing education arms of New Jersey's higher education system through innovations in timing, locations and formats of their academic degrees and noncredit programs. For example, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) uses Internet to offer, on a 24-hour basis, Bachelors degrees in computer science and in information systems (in partnership with Rutgers University-Newark) and Masters degree in this area, as well as stand-alone Graduate Certificates in such "hot tracks" as Object-Oriented Design, Client/Server Architecture and Telecommunications Networking. The "hot tracks" training areas evolved from NJIT's partnerships with many leading New Jersey companies including National Starch and Chemical, Bell Atlantic, Merrill Lynch, Dendrite International and Dialogic. Critical to the use of Internet in conducting these programs is the philosophy that quality education can be "just-in-time" and can proceed quickly and in tandem with the demands of full-time employment. In the coming years, the ability of New Jersey's workforce readiness system will be tested to produce, retrain and retain a steady stream of skilled workers that meet industry driven standards and certifications. The challenge can be met, but given its magnitude and cross-cutting requirements, it will take partnerships among employers, educators, community groups, public agencies and government to produce a workforce who can push the envelop to innovate and to adopt new technology in order to stay ahead of both domestic and international competitors. About the Author Dr. Gale Tenen Spak is Executive Director of NJIT's Division of Continuing Professional Education. Throughout her career, she has been involved with higher education administration and in the development, marketing, funding, evaluation and implementation of educational programs which involve collaborations among academe, industry, and government and which use distance-learning techniques.
President's Message Jo Ann Dow Dear Colleagues: As we near the end of the 90s, we'll look back fondly or not so fondly on concepts that helped define the decade. We'll remember breaking all the Paradigms we could get our hands on, and our fascination with Power-Anything: power lunch, power workouts and even "the power of one." The concept of Partnerships, however, has survived many decades and is still alive and well. What's probably kept the idea alive is its flexibility, since partnerships are living, breathing relationships that can and must change over time. We've seen the best and worst of them. All start out as well intentioned; some flourish; others fade or leave the partners disappointed. Back when the concept began to catch on, a partnership was defined as two entities joined to accomplish a goal. For business-education partnerships, this sometimes involved a school preparing a wish list of physical resources. Business, relieved because it wasn't sure what to suggest anyway, reviewed the list and provided what it could. Schools were "adopted," even though they already had families of their own. Did these partnerships accomplish anything? Of course! And they will always have their place. That's why students involved in community service projects grow and mature from the experience. That's why business representatives who mentor students tell you they gained more than they gave. Partnerships, though, imply a sharing of resources and talents. Consider the high school art class that receives a computer from a company that's upgrading its equipment; in turn, the class designs a mural for one of the company's buildings. Those students learn they are true partners. Yes, education, government, business and community leaders will still sit around a table (or communicate via teleconference), asking, "How should we prepare students for the workplace?" The answers may not change dramatically, but that act of bringing people together to tackle the issue is what makes the difference. New types of partnerships sprout up daily. Our financial and health institutions are merging the strong and purging the weak. In nearly every work environment, projects are accomplished in teams, to capitalize on the strength and diversity of individual members. Nonprofit organizations often apply as one voice for grants, and are willing to share resources with each other. The New Jersey Association of Partners in Education (NJAPIE) is keenly aware of the changing needs of partnerships. Over the last year, we've revisited the type of organization we need to be to help students achieve educational excellence. After much soul searching, we still believe in our basic goals: to foster and promote effective partnerships; to provide technical assistance in partnership development; to link learning to the outside world; and to advocate policy that supports school/community partnerships. But we may try some different paths to get there. We recently took the pulse of business, education and government to find examples of successful partnerships what they look like and what makes them work. We'll make that information available on our web site, and in a future issue of this newsletter. And we'll continue to recognize effective partnerships through our Exemplary Partnership Program. We've also forged a new partnership of our own, with the New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA). We're tapping into the organizational resources and skills of NJASA to update and enhance our membership roster, to help us develop and plan partnership conferences and workshops, and to produce our newsletter and other publications. In turn, NJAPIE will share its expertise with NJASA, as well as financial responsibility for this collaboration. Although we remain separate entities, much can be accomplished by working together. It's an honor to serve NJAPIE as incoming president, and to work with our members as we learn from past experience and move forward with new ideas that will truly serve the needs of New Jersey students. Sincerely, Calendar 1998-1999
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