Photo from Leadership Council Meeting at Martin Community College – Oct. 2017
The purpose of the Leadership Council is to align with the NCWorks Commission in developing “a business-led education innovation effort designed to build a seamless career pathway system that meets the workforce development needs of regional economies across the state. It works to combine rigorous academics with powerful technical education.”
The pathway work focuses on eight criteria established by the NCWorks Commission
- Demand driven, data-informed 5. Articulation and coordination
- Employer engagement 6. Work-based learning
- Collaboration 7. Multiple points of entry and exit
- Career awareness 8. Evaluation
The desired outcomes for the pathway work include:
- A clear system (pathway) for students from school to career
- More closely aligned secondary school innovation with readiness for careers and college
- Deepened ties between public schools, community colleges, workforce development boards and business/industry
The NENC Career Pathways Leadership Council oversees the selection and development of pathways identified as focus business sectors based on current, emerging and predicted future employment opportunities. From 2014-2016 key leadership groups worked with employers in identifying Health Care, Agriscience/Biotechnology, Advanced Manufacturing, and Business Support Services as the four priority business sectors on which to focus pathway development in the Northeast. The Leadership Council formally accepted the recommendations and gave approval to establishing strategic planning teams/committees to work on developing the pathways and implementation strategies.
The Leadership Council charged the pathway leadership team to recruit key stakeholders (e.g. focus business sector employers, workforce development board staff and members, community college/4-yr. college representatives, local CTE directors, regional CTE coordinator, school system administrators/educators/counselors, representatives from the chamber of commerce, Northeast Commission, and local government, etc.) to serve on the strategic planning team/committee.
To facilitate the work, each pathway strategic planning committee was divided into sub-committees to address the eight NCWorks certification criteria. Once the subcommittees completed their work, they presented it to the entire strategic planning committee for approval. Once approved, a report detailing the pathway with implementation strategies and recommendations was prepared and submitted to the Leadership Council for final approval.
The Leadership Council holds periodic meetings (once or twice per year) to approve pathways, assess implementation and develop strategies to strengthen and enhance–
- Employer engagement
- Career and College Promise opportunities
- Career guidance and counseling strategies
- CTE course/concentration sequences
- Teacher development