By Greg Morris
In an effort to provide immediate and meaningful resolution to the skilled-labor shortages within the state, the West Virginia Community and Technical College System has launched the Tech Scholars Program. This new and innovative employer partnership program seeks to strengthen the quality of the state’s technical work force by providing scholarship funding to attract and graduate more students in technical programs that lead to employment in high-demand, high-wage occupations.
To understand the importance of the Tech Scholars Program, one must first understand the 21st century work force challenges facing our state and the potential impact if these challenges are not addressed.
Skilled Labor Shortages
For some time, business and industry leaders have been warning of a looming shortage of skilled labor within the state. In a recent report by the Southern Governors’ Association, their urgency was confirmed. In this report, employers reported a 14 percent increase from 2010 to 2011 in the number of employers having difficulty filling mission-critical, middle-skill positions. These middle-skill jobs—those jobs requiring training beyond high school but less than a four-year degree—represent a core sector of our state’s economy that, if left unfilled, could have long-term economic impacts.
Currently, middle-skill jobs in West Virginia account for 54 percent of the labor force, while only 45 percent of the state’s work force is trained in those skills. Although it is not uncommon to hear of declining blue-collar jobs within the state, high-tech, middle-skill jobs represent more than 58 percent of the new jobs being created in the state over the next five years. In West Virginia, these jobs are well-paying, in high-demand and in a broad range of fields across the sectors of allied health, manufacturing and energy.
Financial Barriers to College Access
In addition to growing gaps in the work force pipeline, the financial barriers that preclude many well-qualified West Virginians from pursuing a college education present yet another challenge that the Tech Scholars Program seeks to address.
In 2010, the Southern Regional Education Board ranked West Virginia 14th out of 16 states in the percentage of lower-income high school graduates who go on to college. For those West Virginians who do attend a community and technical college, nearly 60 percent are Pell grant eligible–a primary indicator of significant student need.
Although West Virginia’s  10 community and technical colleges offer the most affordable college options in the state, West Virginians from across the region who possess the drive, determination and aptitude for success in college are sometimes excluded from a college education that leads to gainful employment simply due to financial limitations. In the last four years, West Virginia’s community and technical colleges have invested in 107 new technical programs to meet growing work force needs. Still, for West Virginians working minimum wage jobs, supporting a family and dealing with everyday financial struggles, even the most affordable college options may be out of reach.
The Tech Scholars Program: How it Works
The Tech Scholars Program was developed on the premise of helping students achieve their education and career goals while addressing state work force challenges through college and employer partnerships. Through the Tech Scholars Program, eligible West Virginia community and technical colleges (CTCs) can partner with an employer to apply for scholarship funds that are then awarded to students who enroll in technology programs.
Eligibility requirements are designed to ensure the program accomplishes its core objectives.
First, scholarship funds must be awarded to students who enroll in CTC technical programs that lead to high-demand, high-wage occupations with beginning salaries of no less than $12 per hour. Students must enroll in a program that leads to an industry-recognized credential, a certificate in applied science, an associate’s degree in applied science or, on a selected basis, an associate’s degree in science in an applied technology program.
Second, being that the program promotes industry collaboration, community and technical colleges applying for these scholarship funds must obtain commitments from employers or other private sources who will match, dollar-for-dollar, the grant amount being requested from the West Virginia Community and Technical College System.
Third, the community and technical colleges must develop criteria for awarding scholarships that address such items as student eligibility, award amount and requirements for retaining the scholarship. Since college completion is a strong emphasis of the program, ensuring that students progress in a timely manner is an important factor in the scholarship awarding.
The Tech Scholars Program serves as a win not only for the student, but also for employers in the state. The benefits for the student are simple. The student who receives scholarship funding gains much needed financial assistance for college and is provided an opportunity to focus on school, not on finances. This helps increase a student’s likelihood of completing college and entering the work force with an industry-recognized skill.
The benefits to the employer are also evident. An employer that invests in the Tech Scholars Program is investing in West Virginia’s work force while subsequently building a future skilled labor pipeline for their own company.
Moving our economy forward can only be accomplished through collective private and public efforts that focus on educating a home-grown, skilled work force who can then serve to underpin and support existing and new economies within the state. The Tech Scholars Program serves as a bold model for addressing challenges in the 21st century through innovative collaboration and meaningful allocation of private and public resources.
About the Author
Dr. Greg Morris serves as vice chancellor for the Community and Technical College System of West Virginia. Their mission is to promote and provide high-quality, accessible and responsive education and training opportunities that maximize student learning, improve the standard of living for West Virginians and contribute to the economic vitality and competitiveness of our state.
