Collaborative Research: EPIIC: EmpowerEd -- Building the Future Workforce Together

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This is a collaborative project across the following institutions: Hobart and William Smith College, University of Maine at Farmington, Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, Montgomery College, Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology, and Ohio Wesleyan University. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, over the next decade, STEM occupations are forecast to grow faster than the total for all occupations, leave a talent shortage for industries to fill nearly 3.5 million STEM jobs by 2029. In addition, there is a growing disconnect between what STEM students learn in college and what employers expect new graduates to be able to do. Some employers find recent graduates lack soft skills like problem solving, critical thinking, and written and oral communication; others find students to be unfamiliar with the practical and technical skills needed for their day-to-day work. This collaborative EPIIC project defines a process to address these issues at the academic institutions participating in this project. Cohort institutions will work together grow industry partnerships, improve alignment of program curricula with industry needs, and enhance faculty skills and knowledge of emerging technologies. Through this EPIIC project, the collaborating institutions will build relationships with industry experts and government agencies to find out what skills and knowledge are needed for STEM jobs in their fields. The cohort will use this information to modify and enhance college courses and curricular structure with industry needs in mind so students are prepared for jobs right out of college. At the same time, skills training for faculty must be provided so instructors are prepared to teach the enhanced course content and multiple degree pathways must be created so students with diverse preparation and life situations will graduate. Project participants will also communicate to students clearly and effectively about how and why their education will prepare them for the STEM careers they want, thus building the workforce this country needs. Each academic institution in the diverse cohort, which includes two small liberal arts colleges, two 2-year technical colleges, a primarily undergraduate state university, and a 4-year college offering specialized undergraduate and graduate degrees, has developed an individualized plan to implement this process. The participating institutions will exchange information and work together as a cohort to enhance each institution's capacity for building external partnerships. This process will position the institutions to further deepen engagement with industry and enhance their contributions to their regional innovation ecosystems.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.