How we close skills gaps

Skills gaps. Workforce education. These four words have made the rounds in our region for years. How do we close the skills gaps? How do we train people to fill much-needed positions in the workforce?

As a former professor, I’ll start with what these terms mean. The consensus definition of a skills gap is the difference between what employers are looking for in employees, and what skills or knowledge those employees have.

Now for workforce education.

Basically, there are two definitions: the federal and the common-sense. The federal definition says that workforce education occurs at levels no higher than through the Associate in Science degree, which is a two-year degree. I’m sure that attorneys, CPAs, medical doctors, nurse anesthetists, and engineers might disagree, and instead embrace the common-sense definition: if a given occupation or career path requires more than a high school diploma, then by definition it is the product of workforce education.

How do we go about closing these skills gaps?

Hodges University is taking workforce education to the next level with the launch of our Workforce Readiness initiative. These are rapid, short-term, affordable courses that can typically be done at your own pace. These are all non-credit certificates that can be completed in a few weeks or a few months. That they don’t result in an award of college credit doesn’t mean they are not the real deal. They are.

Now you may be wondering why a university would go so far as to offer courses that don’t end with a degree. It’s simple. For our region to continue to grow, diversify and thrive, a college degree isn’t always the answer.

Our Workforce Readiness initiative is organized in three, distinct areas: online, healthcare, and corporate training.

Online courses include insurance, real estate, robotics, EV Technician, automation, renewable energy, PLC technician, technology, criminal justice, software development, electronics, and more. There are also computer programming boot camps. We’re also offering classes in supply chain management and logistics, and water treatment. And, we have a fantastic entrepreneurship program, taught by a successful venture capitalist, that takes the entrepreneurially-minded students through the essentials – and necessary connections – in just 15 weeks and at very low cost.

As the region’s first Hispanic-serving institution, we have been teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) for over 20 years. Students have the option of taking their classes on campus during the day and in the evenings, along with classrooms at Goodwill of SWFL in Lehigh Acres and Bonita Springs. As part of Workforce Readiness, we have English Grammar Online, which was created by our ESL director. With our alliance with FleetForce, which offers truck driver training on our campus, we are building an ESL program designed specifically for those in truck driving so they are more confident communicating in English, and can take their CDL exam.

For healthcare, Hodges University currently offers two, on-campus programs. The first is Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training in seven weeks. The second is Foundations of Dental Assisting, a six-week course. More programs are coming in the near future.

In Corporate Training, we have professional development courses and workshops in the areas of leadership, customer service, Microsoft Office, and Quickbooks. We can design courses and workshops that specifically suit the needs of an organization, and they can be offered there or on our campus.

We welcome ideas from the community on areas where else training and education is needed to close a skills gap. You can find out more about our Workforce Readiness on the home page of Hodges.edu.

Dr. John Meyer is the president of Hodges University.