The Rural Community College Initiative challenges colleges in economically distressed regions to become catalysts for economic and community development and improved access to education. Led by college-community teams, the 24 sites have experimented with strategic approaches that include leadership development, entrepreneurship education, small…

This paper explores the landscape of training and development in the Republic of Ireland, a country with an impressive economic record in recent years. Both the Irish economic context and business context are explored. The national system for training and development and the surrounding policy and strategy context are set down. Survey data are…

The Illinois Community College Board provided more than $3.3 million to community colleges during fiscal year 2008 to provide workforce and economic development services through their Business and Industry Centers. The workforce development activities conducted under this grant include customized job training on campus or on-site at a business;…

Education has a place of high priority on India's development agenda. The technical/vocational education (TVE) system is multisectoral with each ministry responsible for labor force development in that sector. The TVE programs in the formal education system are either state delivered or financed. The higher secondary vocational education program…

Signed into law in May 1994, the School-to-Work Opportunities (STWO) Act provides states and communities with funds to develop systems that connect academic knowledge with technical skills and workplace competencies. The Act links the Goals 2000: Educate America Act with workforce and economic development and is designed to help the nation prepare…

This bulletin focuses on the integration of school-to-work systems into a comprehensive set of economic development services that can help address a critical need articulated by businesses, spur economic growth, and equip young people with the skills necessary for further learning and work. It first describes these strategies to integrate…

According to the Advisory Board of the National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce (EQW), young people in the United States are losing out in the job market, too often having to settle for intermittent, part-time jobs, routinized work, low wages, and few if any benefits. This circumstance has been the result of a net loss of 1.65…

The proposals for work force training put forth by the Clinton Administration offer unprecedented opportunities as well as risks for community colleges, particularly for community colleges in Illinois. These proposals are grounded in a world view that recognizes the need for public investment in employment and training, although this agenda for…

A review of long-term international economic trends and the literature linking education and training (ET) to economic performance reveals no evidence of deindustrialization or falling labor productivity in the United States. Over the last 40 years, the nation has experienced lower growth rates in gross domestic product and productivity but…

As part of an effort to identify ways in which Midland College (Texas) and local businesses can respond to the economic needs of the community, these three papers by the Midland's Business and Economic Development Center offer various perspectives on the economic climate and labor market of the Permian Basis. The first report, "Midland's…

Presentations made at a 1987 forum on continuing higher education leadership sponsored by the National University Continuing Education Association include: "Shifting Demographics: Implications for the Community and Higher Education" (David Hayes-Bautista); "Minority Issues: Central Theme or Footnote" (Sarah Melendez);…

The conference brought Southern state and local leaders together to discuss ways to revitalize depressed rural areas and to improve citizens' quality of life. Papers discussed: (1) goals for rural educational improvement; (2) human resource barriers to community and economic development in the South; (3) survey results indicating that Alabama…

U.S. industry and the U.S workplace are changing. More highly skilled jobs are replacing unskilled and semiskilled jobs, and more jobs require higher-order thinking skills. At the same time, the education system is failing to educate young people to fill those jobs in the future. Although a higher percentage of students graduate than ever before,…

Canada's Official Development Assistance (ODA) program is discussed, along with the contributions that universities can offer. Issues include: (1) the rationale and goals for Third World aid programs; (2) priority projects and areas of the world; (3) whether political and economic interests should be reflected in aid programs; (4) decision-making…

Urban universities have a definite role to play within the context of strategic economic development. Coordination between state and local government, the private sector, and the academic community can lead to effective partnerships to formulate and implement economic development plans. Declining university enrollments and fewer dollars available…