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Seven Colleges Pursue Incentive Projects to Integrate Skill Standards into Curriculum

February, 2009 - Seven colleges have been approved to pursue Program Year (PY) 2009 Skill Standards-Based Curriculum Development Incentive Projects, which include integrating skill standards into their programs’ curriculum and fulfilling the requirements for Texas Skill Standards Board (TSSB) Program Recognition.

Del Mar College administers the projects through a grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) out of Perkins state leadership discretionary funds. In September 2008, Del Mar College released a Request for Applications for three types of incentive projects. As incentives, all three project types provide a monetary award upon completion of the deliverables, rather than on a cost-reimbursement basis.

Type 1 awards provide a $5,000 incentive to integrate skill standards into curriculum and apply for program recognition. Three colleges were approved to pursue Type 1 awards. Brookhaven College of the Dallas County Community College District, led by project director Lauri Collins, is integrating the National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies’ (NWCET) Web Development and Administration skill standards into its Web Design and Development AAS degree program. Lone Star College-Cy Fair, led by project director Anne Albarelli, is integrating the Manufacturing Logistics and Inventory Control skill standards into its Logistics Management Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree program. In addition, Visual Communications faculty member, Julie Brasher at Cy-Fair, is collaborating with colleagues, Donna Monteferante-Johnson and Kay Pallavicini at Lone Star Colleges Kingwood and North Harris, respectively, to integrate the NWCET Digital Media skill standards into their Visual Communications-Multimedia AAS degree programs. Finally, Wharton County Junior College, led by project director, Stephanie Dees, is integrating the NWCET’s Programming/ Software Engineering skill standards into its Computer Programming AAS Degree.

Type 2 awards provide a $20,000 incentive to translate job analysis data into skill standards, receive TSSB recognition for the standards, incorporate them into the curriculum, and apply for TSSB Program Recognition. TSTC Waco, led by project directors Sidney Bolfing, Renewable Energy and Fuel Cell Technology Coordinator, and Meagan Cooper, Instructor in the Laser Electro-Optics/Nanotechnology Department, was approved to fulfill these requirements for its Solar Energy and Nanotechnology AAS degree programs, respectively.

Type 3 awards provide a $1,500 incentive for colleges to adopt the curriculum of a TSSBrecognized program and receive program recognition under the TSSB’s replication policy. The replication policy allows colleges to adopt the curriculum of a recognized program, enabling a streamlined application process and the creation and proliferation of a common, skill standardsbased technical core. Thus, employers are assured that graduates from a TSSB-recognized program in a given occupational area will have learned the same skill sets, regardless of the college.

Three colleges were approved to pursue Type 3 awards. Alvin Community College will replicate the Petrochemical Process Technology program at College of the Mainland, which is integrated with the Chemical/Refining Process Technician Skill Standards. Brookhaven College of the Dallas County Community College District was approved to replicate the Visual
Communications-Graphic Design AAS degree program at Lone Star College, integrated with the NWCET Digital Media skill standards. And Lee College will replicate the Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) AAS degree at Del Mar College, integrated with the GIS Technician skill standards.

The colleges are required to use the TSSB’s technical assistance manual, A User’s Guide: Incorporating Skill Standards into Community and Technical College Curriculum, in pursuing the deliverables for the awards. College staff may also take advantage of the TSSB’s Skill Standards Usage Workshop, conducted on site at a college’s campus, which guides them through the six-step process for integrating skill standards into curriculum. Project deliverables must be completed by the end of PY 2009 to receive the incentive awards.

For more information, please contact Anne Dorsey at 512/936- 8100 or tssb@io.com.