Whelen Engineering and CTE Leaders Working Together

Feb 28, 2018 | Article

Among several related objectives, one of the most important for the NH Association of Career and Technical Administrators (NHCTA) is to form meaningful partnerships with industry. One such partnership is with the Whelen Engineering Company, Inc, which will host a meeting on March 9 at its manufacturing facility in Charlestown, NH with CTE directors and principals from schools across the state.

According to Whelen Engineering’s Jerry Maslan, who noted their company’s leadership and management will also be present, the purpose of the meeting is three-fold.

“We can discuss what is currently working, what can be improved on, and how we can adjust the curriculum to better meet the needs of manufacturing,” he said.

According to Maslan, the need to continue to leverage—and build upon—current relationships with CTE centers, each of which is charged to prepare high school students for careers—has never been greater.

“As the industry becomes automated, there doesn’t seem to be enough people or students coming up prepared or willing to run the machines,” he said.

The question as to how they increase the technical pool of available students is as much practical as it is rhetorical, which Maslan attributes to several possible causes.

“It may be a lack of understanding of the current manufacturing world,” he explained. “It could be a stereotype where manufacturing facilities are seen as ‘old dirty machine shops,’ which is not true at all.”

He said what is true is that modern day manufacturing facilities are “state of the art and clean,” which he noted Whelen Engineering makes clear during periodic tours they host for students, teachers and administrators.

“A lot of the feedback we get from students is that this place is not what they thought it would be,” he said.

Headquartered in Chester, CT, but employing 1,000+ in Charelestown, Whelen Engineering expects the future in manufacturing to be as bright, if not brighter, than the present. Given this bright future, Maslan said it is critical they continue to work with CTE centers, administrators and various related agencies.

“It’s important to have these relationships so students, teachers and administrators can get a true understanding of current manufacturing needs,” he said. “We need to focus on the STEM education systems in schools so we can better prepare students for what lies ahead and get them excited for the opportunities that are there for them today and tomorrow.”

As for the agenda at this meeting, Maslan said they plan to cover a variety of topics that may be broken down into different areas:

From a general career pathways standpoint

• What does Whelen Engineering value in staff?
• What does Whelen Engineering value in skills including degrees and certificates?
• What background does Whelen Engineering seek for employees?
• How does Whelen Engineering support employees going on with their education while
• employed? What are current employees doing?
• What career tracks are available at Whelen Engineering? For example, from machine
• operator to programmer to product engineer? In addition, what kind of support careers
• and jobs are available (accounting, culinary…)?

From an employment standpoint?

• Who makes it at Whelen Engineering? Who does not?
• How does someone gain employment there? What is the process?
• How does the outside workforce align to Whelen Engineering’s needs?
• How do you recruit? What works? What does not?
• What does the future look like with regard to growth and possible needs?
• How does hiring from within work? What are career tracks at Whelen Engineering?

Math and Science at Whelen Engineering

• What examples of skills are worth hearing?
• What particular math and science skills are of interest? What needs emphasis?

General K-12 Education

• How can we better prepare students?
• What are we missing?
• What are we doing well? What is getting better?
• What message does Whelen Engineering want to send to public schools including school counselors? admin? teachers? parents? Kids? CTE?
• Cultural: Where do parents fit in to understanding advanced manufacturing?

How does Whelen Engineering educate their incoming and current workforce?

• Example: Knowledge of math – trig vs. calculus; reading, writing
• Retraining and refocusing?
• What does it look like? What does a training day like?
• Who is eligible – what skills are tested beforehand?

According to Maslan, various department managers will also be present at the meeting, which underscores Whelen Engineering’s belief in its fundamental importance.

“Having the people who run these departments at the meeting is very important,” he said. “They know current needs and can work with the CTE directors and principals to adapt their education systems to meet industry needs…It’s about getting the right people in the right room at the right time…we are all committed.”

To learn more about Whelen Engineering, visit www.whelen.com.

Vermont/New Hampshire Career Development Association to Host First All-Day Workshop

Feb 22, 2018 | Article

On Friday, April 13, the Vermont/New Hampshire Career Development Association (VTNHCDA)will host its first ever all-day workshop at Keen State College.

According to Doug Cullen, past president of the association, the gathering will be “a small event, but with great speakers,” each of whom will initiate conversations around Transition Planning for students and young adults in Vermont and New Hampshire.”

“Participants will hear from both local and national speakers about how others are looking at the career development frameworks and putting them into operational practices,” he said.

He said the workshop will also provide educators from New Hampshire an opportunity to learn more about what is happening just west of the state’s border.

“How much do N.H. practitioners know about what Vermont is doing?” he rhetorically noted. “Do New Hampshire practitioners even know about Vermont’s Act 77 and other related legislation that put career pathways into a very positive light? It will be especially good for us in New Hampshire to hear from and work with people from another state, which has been a fundamental aspect of the Vermont/New Hampshire Career Development Association since its inception in 2016.”

At the workshop, scheduled speakers will include:

• Julie Heinz, Senior Advisor at Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher Initiative at Civic Nation, will speak about her work and Transitions
• James Westhoff, NCDA Credentialing
• Ed Colozzi, Career Development and Counseling Services & President of the the Massachusetts CDA – Transitions
• Drew McDowell, Director of Adult Education/Assistant Director at Windham Regional Career Center – Workforce technologies and expanding the post-Secondary landscape

“The focus of the event with invites sent out throughout New Hampshire and Vermont is to get educators with a stake in developing career development competencies in their school and district engaged in best-practice conversations,” said Cullen. “It all complements the contemporary effort of developing robust career pathways across the region and across the ‘great divide,’ which is high school graduation.”

Noting one of the other central themes of the workshop relates to asking and answering, “How much are we operating with educators ‘across-the-border’ in ways that are earnestly considered collaborative?” Cullen cited other important concepts.

“We also want participants to hear a bit from Washington and the Reach Higher initiative, as it relates to understanding metrics being used throughout the U.S. that measure college ‘engagement’ and ‘retention’ rates,’” he said. “These are tactical measures that can translate into big-picture economic development gains if the efforts behind the metrics have follow-through and support.”

To register for the workshop, which includes breakfast and lunch, click or to register, visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSftW8V69tUPX4bj_CWKAcNwP2F41F8io4FkXur5bfD8EvAUog/viewform.

To learn more about the VTNHCDA, visit https://vtnhcda.org.