Building a Career Pathway from High School into the Workforce for Skilled Technicians in Electrical, Industrial, and Process Engineering Technology

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Engineering and manufacturing industries have a growing demand for workforce-ready technicians. To help fill this need, Southern University at Shreveport intends to provide critical technical education that enables students to develop industry-needed skills. To do so, this project will build an educational pathway that spans from high school to the workforce, and that provides multiple entry points into engineering and manufacturing technician careers. The project will strengthen collaboration among academic and industry stakeholders to decrease time to degree for workforce-ready technicians in Electrical, Industrial, and Process Engineering Technology. The new academic pathway will include dual enrollment options for high school students that can result in a technical certificate and can be applied to two- and four-year degrees in Engineering Technology. This project intends to accelerate students’ academic and technical skills to fill middle-skill jobs, thus preparing skilled STEM graduates to contribute to the nation’s productivity and innovation.In this project, Southern University at Shreveport intends to address the local and national workforce shortage for engineering technicians, the absence of underrepresented populations, and the need to strengthen their collaborative network to support student success. The project will leverage four dual enrollment courses through which high school students will be able to earn a Certificate in Engineering Technology. Certificate completers will be able to transfer their credits as they enter any of three Southern University System colleges in Louisiana. Professional development for high school and community college faculty will allow for course revisions that will further align learning outcomes with employer expectations. Southern University at Shreveport expects to maintain a strong enrollment of students in their Engineering Technology programs by offering a summer bridge activity, internships, and mentorship opportunities. Project outcomes will be shared through regional and national conferences as well as through the Advanced Technical Education Central repository. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.