I am a proud alumnus of Los Angeles Valley College, one of the nation's 1,200 community colleges. Last week President Obama praised community colleges as "the unsung heroes of America's education system," critical to our success in the "global competition to lead in the growth industries of the 21st century."
That seems a tall order for schools that, as the president acknowledged, don't often get the same resources as four-year colleges and universities, even though they educate nearly half the student population -- some 12 million students -- each year. How can they meet the challenge, and where are they going to get the resources to do so? Here's how they did it in The Dalles, Oregon, a small town at the center of farm country 90 miles east of Portland.
Four years ago, when U.S. and international windpower companies began flocking to north-central Oregon, Columbia Gorge Community College saw a gap between the local workforce and the technical skills needed to build and operate the turbines. The 5,800-student college quickly set up a six-month training course to meet the industry's short-term needs, then worked closely with employers to develop a renewable energy technology program including a two-year degree. This is exactly the type of opportunistic challenge that community colleges are in a unique position to address. Today hundreds of Columbia Gorge graduates are working for the area's constantly-expanding windpower companies, and the national windpower industry recognizes the college as one of the premier workforce development programs in the country
To read the full, original article click on this link: Community Colleges and the Green Economy - Yahoo! News
Author: Ed Begley Jr.
