Workforce development the focus of new institute

What started as a conversation about what Binghamton University could do to support local workforce development in a way that makes sense has turned into a new initiative: the Institute for Workforce Development Advancement in Research and Programming (iWARP), under the direction of James Pitarresi, vice provost for online and innovation education.

For Vice President for Research Bahgat Sammakia, the institute will fill a gap in training for the workforce needed as the Southern Tier works to revive manufacturing. In addition, there is a federal push on workforce development.

Last summer, Binghamton University’s divisions of Research and Academic Affairs developed SPREE (Strategic Research Enterprise Evolution) to look at what the new federal administration priorities for research funding were, said Michael Jacobson, director of the Office of Strategic Research Initiatives. “Of the four SPREE subcommittees, the one that focused on climate change identified workforce development as a critical issue,” he said. “We have the technological setup, but we just don’t have the workforce to install it. And part of this, too, is to increase diversity in the workforce. The National Science Foundation said this lack of diversity is hindering us and we need to provide workforce development.”

Pitarresi and Sammakia have already met with some local industry and healthcare leaders and are continuing to do so. The common message is that these industries struggle to recruit and retain the workers they need. Talks are continuing to determine what is needed, and the institute will scale up to provide continuing education to help, Pitarresi said. “We’ve had incredibly informative talks with the leadership in these areas and they are desperate for help.”

“But this is broader than continuing education,” said Sammakia. “Workforce development is about a broad range of things. Part is for engineering and manufacturing; we’re already talking with industry about how to bring their workers up to date and how to prepare them. These meetings we are having with the community are about understanding what the local and national needs are and how we can help people get ready; what can we offer to them do to new things.”

But we also need to make sure the programs we have and what we offer are preparing our students to enter the workforce, Sammakia added. “A really integral as part of our mission as a public university is to prepare our students to be good employees who fit well, so, when we talk to Lockheed, for example, we need to know what is it that Lockheed employees need in terms of education and what are they looking for in newly graduated employees?”

Meera Sampath, associate dean of research for the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science, echoes Sammakia’s definition of workforce development. “There are many different dimensions to workforce development and touch points along the value chain, from skills training for non-traditional learners in community colleges or reskilling those who are already part of the workforce as part of a life-long learning program,” she said. “Workforce development directly connects with our education mission and our contributions to our region’s economic development, but one piece that’s not always talked about is the connection to research.

“By providing our students valuable research experiences, we are training the next-generation advanced workforce, often for jobs that may not even exist today,” she said.

Donald Nieman, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, sees the institute as a natural fit with what the University is already doing in online education.

Pitarresi agreed that workforce development is what we do in higher education. “We’re taking a good hard look at what we do in terms of preparing students for success and what areas are there where the University could help place-based industries, government organizations and NGOs,” he said.

Pitarresi is also perfectly positioned on campus oversee the institute, Nieman said. “He knows the online world and our assumption is these will be delivered almost exclusively online because that’s what working people and professionals want. He is at the nexus of the development and delivery of these, and best suited to facilitate them.

“He also has a keen understanding of our capacity and right now, because we have so many online programs approved, he’s the one who can direct traffic on that and figure out the timeline for delivering these new programs,” Nieman added. “What we will do, what we will offer these customers is the expertise necessary to upgrade the skills of their employees and ensure that they have the knowledge and skills demanded by industries that are evolving quickly.”

The courses will also present an opportunity to the campus, Nieman said. “They will offer the opportunity for departments, faculty and schools to generate revenue, and that’s always attractive.

“In this environment, no one feels they have enough resources, so this can help generate revenue to allow us to do more than if we’re limited to state allocations,” Nieman said. “Programs could be developed and offered by adjuncts or others since they will be offered online, making it easier to expand the roster of experts we have to deliver them.”

“I don’t have an elevator speech for the institute yet, but for right now, what I’ve told people is that we want to position ourselves as a partner to help them upscale and re-skill people to help with their current and future needs in terms of the training and support we can provide,” Pitarresi said.

Some initiatives are part of the continuum the institute will support are ongoing at Binghamton, such as through the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science Office of Industrial Outreach, which offers continuing education/lifelong learning courses for students, professionals and engineers, in person or online.

Outreach has also been made to a number of offices on campus, indicating a broad interest in supporting the work of the institute: the Center for Learning and Teaching, Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development, Office of Microcredentials, Center for Civic Engagement and Harpur Edge among others.

It’s expected that iWARP will be a collaborative with other agencies beyond the campus as well, said Sammakia. “We will be working with others. For example, maybe SUNY Broome will be better suited for a particular need, so we can bring that under the iWARP umbrella.”

Pitarresi sees the institute as offering flexible, online courses that can be adapted for different industries as needed. “Say someone in manufacturing needs a program on blockchain and we are able to develop a course for them, and then, someone in the healthcare industry needs a similar program,” he said. “We need to build our programs in a modular fashion that allows us to take our basic blockchain program and pull the pieces we don’t need, add some new pieces and remix it for different industries. That’s the philosophy.”

The programs will have to be high quality, online and asynchronous with examples that are meaningful to adult learners, not theoretical stuff,” Pitarresi said. “Once you get your head around that, you can build it and you could market it anywhere.”

The institute framework already fits into the continuing education professional development space that Pitarresi has grown into, but will be unique in one way: “I want us to do research in workforce development,” he said. “Not just, ‘What do you need and we’ll provide it,’ but ‘What’s the best way to go about this? What’s effective? What isn’t effective?’ I think that’s a unique aspect. That’s what we do at a university.”

For now, Pitarresi said, “We’re having the conversations and we’re going to move forward with a needs assessment. We’re at the start of the beginning.”