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The grant awarded to Ivy Tech Community College, for a partnership with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, will develop new ways to prepare low-skilled adults for the workforce and improve adult literacy in the state.
Ivy Tech plans to create a college for working adults that would enable full-time workers to complete college with an intensive part-time schedule over about a two-year period. In addition, Ivy Tech and its partners will develop a data system that can be used to design future programs and rapidly respond to employer and worker needs.
“We’re working hard to help Hoosier workers to boost their skills so they can be better prepared for the jobs coming in Indiana. Collaborative efforts like this one are another important step toward that goal,” Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels said.
In June the Joyce Foundation, based in Chicago, launched its “Shifting Gears” initiative, a three-year, $10 million effort to improve the education and skills training of the Midwest workforce and promote regional economic growth. As part of the initiative, the Foundation received proposals from Midwest states to provide stronger links between the often-fragmented systems of education and job training, so that workers get postsecondary credentials that qualify them for jobs in today’s economy.
“Nothing is more important for our economic future than making the match between employers’ needs and workers’ skills,” said Joyce Foundation President Ellen S. Alberding. “But too many Midwest workers lack basic qualifications – workplace literacy, math, computer skills, and the like – that are essential for 21st century jobs. Systems to train them, while often strong in themselves, lack coordination and focus. We can do a much better job of linking training and education efforts and connecting them to labor market demands. Through the Shifting Gears initiative, we are partnering with states to do just that.”
“This is another example of Ivy Tech Community College striving to achieve its goal of increasing Hoosiers’ skill attainment by creating an educational opportunity for each Hoosier worker to move at least one step up the talent scale. We are grateful for the investment the Joyce Foundation has made in Ivy Tech Community College and the state of Indiana," Ivy Tech Executive Vice President Carol D’Amico said. “We also thank the Indiana Department of Workforce Development for its continued collaboration with our community college. Our partnership with the department of workforce development continues to increase the opportunities for our students and the residents of Indiana."