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

这是一个跨以下机构的合作项目：霍巴特和威廉·史密斯学院、缅因州法明顿大学、奥尔巴尼药学院和健康科学学院、蒙哥马利学院、本杰明·富兰克林·卡明斯理工学院和俄亥俄卫斯理大学。根据美国劳工统计局的数据，未来十年，STEM职业的增长速度预计将超过所有职业的增长速度，到2029年，STEM行业将出现近350万个就业岗位的人才短缺。此外，STEM专业学生在大学里学到的东西和雇主期望新毕业生能够做到的事情之间的脱节越来越大。一些雇主发现应届毕业生缺乏解决问题、批判性思维、书面和口头沟通等软技能；其他人发现学生不熟悉他们日常工作所需的实用和技术技能。这个协作的EPIIC项目定义了一个过程，在参与该项目的学术机构中解决这些问题。同组院校将共同努力，发展行业伙伴关系，改善项目课程与行业需求的一致性，并提高教师技能和新兴技术知识。通过这个EPIIC项目，合作机构将与行业专家和政府机构建立关系，以了解他们所在领域的STEM工作所需的技能和知识。这个群体将利用这些信息来修改和加强大学课程和课程结构，以满足行业需求，这样学生就可以在大学毕业后为就业做好准备。与此同时，必须为教师提供技能培训，以便教师准备好教授增强的课程内容，并且必须创建多种学位途径，以便学生在不同的准备和生活情况下毕业。项目参与者还将与学生进行清晰有效的沟通，说明他们的教育如何以及为什么会为他们想要的STEM职业做好准备，从而培养这个国家所需的劳动力。不同群体中的每个学术机构，包括两所小型文理学院，两所两年制技术学院，一所主要是本科的州立大学，以及一所提供本科和研究生专业学位的四年制学院，都制定了实施这一过程的个性化计划。参与机构将交换信息，共同努力，提高各自机构建立外部伙伴关系的能力。这一过程将使这些机构能够进一步深化与工业界的接触，并增强它们对区域创新生态系统的贡献。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.