Business-Higher Education Forum Regional Workforce Projects Announced

Submitted by Michael Weston-... on June 12, 2012

On June 11th, the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) held a public launch of it's National Undergraduate Partnership Strategy and Regional Workforce Projects. Listed below are the projects that were announced.

The Business Leaders for Education (BLE) is going to address the difference in skill sets being produced by education versus the needs of businesses. They will work to align the degrees being earned with what is needed in the current workforce.
California Polytechnic State University is partnering with Northrop Grumman, Parsons, and Raytheon in order to establish a new undergraduate program focusing on cybersecurity, with a new lab, curriculum, and graduate-level certificate program.
Case Western Reserve University is partnering with The Sherwin Williams Company to develop a materials and polymer science program for first-year students to recieve internships and other opportunities. It is also partnering with the Eaton Company to help community college students with STEM fields, with an initial focus on information technology.
The City University of New York is partnering with IBM to offer new curriculums and opportunities for analytics, urban energy, and water sustainability.
Drake University is partnering with the Principal Financial Group to provide for Des Moines, Iowa a highly educated workforce to make the city a top metro area.
Miami Dade College is partnering with NextEra Energy to develop a new Bachelor of Science in Information Systems Technology so that students will gain the skills necessary to work with complex computer information resources.
The Ohio State University is partnering with Battelle Memorial Institute and Case Western Reserve University to increase students' interest in health sciences so that the state's health industry will have the workforce it needs. It will also work to retain STEM students, especially those from underrepresented minorities.
San José State University is working with many groups from the industry to the government to create a Silicon Valley Center for Cybersecurity that will create certificates for cyber professionals, as well as provide undergraduates with internships and other learning experiences.
The University System of Maryland (USM) has multiple partnerships. The University of Maryland College Park is partnering with Northrup Grumman to create a multidisciplinary cybersecurity honors program, while The University of Maryland Baltimore County is working to increase entrepreneurship in STEM undergraduates by linking their education to business and innovation.
The University of Massachusetts System is partnering with the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership to focus on community colleges and increasing the number of minority students acheiving STEM degrees.
The University of Wisconsin System is partnering with the Milwaukee Water Council to emphasize water sustainability through engineering, science, and technology education to increase the number of highly trained water industry professionals.
Washington University in St. Louis is partnering with regional companies and local colleges to increase the graduation rates, diversity, and quality of information technology students so as to provide for the increasing demand of IT positions in the region.