| | UAHuntsville launches workforce development initiative for veterans(3/23/2009)Vets to the Valley program provides training, while filling gaps for engineers, essential jobs In an effort to use one of our nation's most valuable assets—technically-trained, ex-military personnel, and to answer a tremendous need facing the U.S.—a shortage of trained technicians and engineers graduating from the nation's universities and colleges, the Tennessee Valley Corridor, along with The University of Alabama in Huntsville, are launching a bold new workforce development initiative called "Vets to the Valley." The initiative will initially focus on two areas within the Tennessee Valley Corridor—Huntsville and Oak Ridge, Tenn. — with two slightly different, but locally tailored programs designed to bring talented, military veterans together with each region's top technical organizations and employers. The Non-Commissioned Officer Enhanced Workforce in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (NEW-STEM), is designed to attract more technically trained NCOs (Ranks E5-E9) exiting the Army, Air Force and other services to Huntsville. NEW-STEM will provide at least 10 NCOs with the opportunity to earn their engineering degree at UAHuntsville in its pilot semester this fall. "We have evaluated the needs in the engineering field and worked with our partners to create a specific orientation, curriculum and program to meet the needs of these servicemen and women as well as the needs in the engineering field," said Dr. David Williams, President of UAHuntsville. "The NEW-STEM program is designed specifically for NCOs, and it will not only help our region bring talented young engineers to our communities to fill jobs that are essential to our success, but it will help our nation as it continues to compete on a global scale." While pursuing their degree, students will participate in a co-op program being offered by the DoD/U.S. Army commands located on Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala. The participating commands in the NEW-STEM program include the DoD's Missile Defense Agency (MDA), and the U.S. Army's Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC). The participating commands will provide the NCOs with a co-op/work-study program, allowing them to work in an engineering job while in school, and then permanently fill that position upon graduation. Additionally, the NEW-STEM program is working with local industry to participate in the program and offer more co-ops and jobs. "The number of new scientists and engineers emerging from U.S. universities is declining, and we will not be able to meet the demand created as our experienced engineers and scientists retire unless we address this problem," said Lucia Cape, Vice President of Workforce, Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce. "These highly trained NCOs are mature, have technical expertise and hands-on experience, and NEW-STEM can help fill the ever-increasing gap in engineering to keep Huntsville and the nation competitive, while at the same time providing a financially secure plan for NCOs and their families." Participants in the NEW-STEM program will initially begin their paid co-op positions this summer and enter UAHuntsville in the Fall. The NEW-STEM team is currently working with DoD and the Department of Labor's Transition Office to begin the NCO candidate selection process, and deadlines for applications for the initial pilot program are April 2. NCOs accepted into the program will be responsible for using their GI bill benefits to pay for tuition expenses. "The jobs that we are gaining as a result of BRAC will be here within two years, so we don't have time to start from scratch to fill our immediate needs," said Cape. "By accessing the NCOs who are leaving the service, we capture workers who can start in some capacity right now while they complete an engineering program to bring them up to full speed as BRAC is completed." NEW-STEM's counterpart in Oak Ridge, Tenn., America's Veterans to Tennessee Engineers, focuses on veterans from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and is geared specifically to attracting veterans interested in Nuclear, Chemical, Electrical, Mechanical, or Civil Engineering. The America's Veterans to Tennessee Engineers pilot program began January 2009, and participating agencies include B&W Y-12, Tennessee Valley Authority, B&W Clinch River, UT-Battelle/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Energy Solutions, Science Applications International Corporation, Wackenhut Corporation, Pro2Serve, Bechtel, USEC, EnergyX, and GEM Technologies so far. "Our participants have already proven they are dedicated, talented men and women and we expect them to be a perfect match for the energy companies here in the Oak Ridge-Knoxville area," said Kevin Smith, interim program Steering Committee Chairman of the America's Veterans to Tennessee Engineers consortium. Ideally, both programs will grow to 30 participants per year and should be fully implemented by 2010. Candidates wishing to participate in either program may find out more about the requirements and qualifications needed and apply at tennvalleycorridor.org. A portion of the funding for the NEW-STEM program is being provided by a grant from the Department of Labor's Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) program which is administered by the Valley Innovation Alliance. The Tennessee Valley Corridor is a multi-state regional economic development organization dedicated to promoting the Tennessee Valley Corridor as one of the nation's premier science and technology centers, and to leveraging the Valley's abundant research and technology assets and institutions for maximum regional economic development and new job creation. Building relationships and strong collaborations among our federal institutions, world-class research universities and dozens of corporate leaders in science and technology, the Tennessee Valley Corridor has helped showcase the Valley's superior quality of life and the people, business, natural and scientific resources needed for high-tech research, development, business and investment in the 21st Century. These strong federal and regional assets include: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center; the U.S. Army's Redstone Arsenal; the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center; the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex; the Tennessee Valley Authority; the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education; the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; the National Transportation Research Center; the Center for Rural Development; the National Safe Skies Alliance; several world-class research universities; and dozens of corporate leaders in science and technology. For more information: Ray Garner, (256)UAH-NEWS |
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