Opening Pathways to Employment through Nontraditional Geospatial Applications in Technical Education (OPEN-GATE)

通过技术教育中的非传统地理空间应用打开就业之路（OPEN-GATE）是阿肯色大学系统中的四所社区学院和阿肯色大学费耶特维尔分校之间的合作项目，将为当地工业和政府培养具有特定工作地理空间技能的劳动力。区域调查显示，雇主对拥有基于位置的服务和其他地理空间技术技能以及行业特定技能的员工非常感兴趣。OPEN-GATE将在目标商业部门和新兴产业中发展地理空间技术技能，通过在四个两年制机构中增加相关的和特定行业的地理空间应用的现有研究项目。该项目将利用由美国国家科学基金会资助的GeoTech中心开发的教育材料，以及阿肯色大学已经开发的在线内容。传统上，受过良好地理空间教育的人的主要就业市场是在大城市。将这些技能与特定行业的培训相结合，将有助于提高农村中心地区企业和政府的效率、竞争力和可持续性。跨多个领域对地理空间技术人员的需求不断增长，说明需要一个理解和利用空间思维和分析的劳动力，同时，地理空间技术的快速发展和融入日常生活需要一个具有空间素养的社区。OPEN-GATE项目的目标是在全州范围内增加地理空间技术的采用，并扩大地理空间技术的教育和培训机会，以支持工业和政府，包括交通、石油和天然气、地方政府等。通过共同努力，UA系统的合作伙伴将正式制定协议，为共享学位、技术证书和/或熟练证书开发一个系统范围的结构，以清楚地阐明多种教育途径。每个学习项目的雇主咨询委员会，由行业代表和当地雇主组成，将为教育课程的发展提供建议，以确保它符合行业需求，并作为行业和教育工作者之间的联络人。一年一度的工业-教育合作会议将促进工业、教师和学生之间的持续互动，而与中学教师和学生的接触将培养对地理空间技术的早期认识，塑造该地区未来的劳动力和经济发展。通过提高该地区教育机构的能力，该项目将扩大该州目前没有服务或服务不足的地区的教育和培训机会。

Opening Pathways to Employment through Nontraditional Geospatial Applications in Technical Education (OPEN-GATE) is a collaboration among four community colleges in the University of Arkansas system and the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville that will enable the development of a workforce with job-specific geospatial skills for local industry and government. Regional surveys have shown a strong interest among employers for employees with skills in location-based services and other geospatial technologies as well as their industry-specific skills. OPEN-GATE will develop geospatial technology skill sets in targeted business sectors and emerging industries by augmenting existing programs of study at the four two-year institutions with relevant and industry-specific geospatial applications. The project will leverage educational materials developed by the GeoTech Center, an NSF ATE-funded center, as well as online content already developed by the University of Arkansas. Traditionally, the primary job market for people with strong geospatial educations has been in large cities. The selected integration of these skills with industry-specific training will help increase efficiency, competitiveness, and sustainability of businesses and government in the rural heartland.The growing demand for geospatial technicians across multiple domains illustrates the need for a workforce which understands and utilizes spatial thinking and analysis, at the same time that the rapid evolution and incorporation of geospatial technology into daily life demands a spatially literate community. The goals of the OPEN-GATE project are to increase adoption of geospatial technologies statewide and to expand access to education and training in geospatial technologies in support of industry and government, including transportation, oil and gas, local government, and others. Working together, the UA system partners will formalize agreements to develop a system-wide structure for shared degrees, technical certificates, and/or certificates of proficiency to clearly articulate multiple educational pathways. Employer Advisory Boards for each program of study, made up of industry representatives and local employers, will advise the development of educational curricula to insure that it meets industry needs and act as liaisons between industry and educators. Annual industry-education partnership conferences will facilitate ongoing interaction between industry, faculty, and students, while outreach to secondary school teachers and students will foster early awareness of geospatial technologies, shaping the future workforce and economic development of the region. By enhancing the capacity of educational institutions in the region, the project will expand opportunities for education and training to regions of the state that are currently unserved or underserved.