Building Effective Green Energy Programs in Community Colleges

Workforce Strategy Center
This report discusses the challenges and the benefits of the millions of dollars of stimulus money being spent on creating "green job" training. The report highlights the role community colleges will need to play training low-income/low-skilled individuals to become part of this emerging workforce. At the core of the problem, however, is that green jobs don't yet exist in significant numbers; educational standards are not yet uniform and continually changing; and most green jobs will be beyond most low-skilled/low-income workers. Learn More.

Florida Schools Continue To Add Green Education Programs.

Schools across Northeast Florida are becoming increasingly "green," both in terms of the learning and the schools themselves. Jacksonville University, for example, "will offer a major and minor in sustainability in three different tracks - business, science and sociology," while the University of North Florida has introduced "a course in green building that analyzes how cities can reduce environmental impact by analyzing water consumption and alternate-energy sources." The University of Florida, meanwhile, "has an interdisciplinary minor in sustainability studies and a campus office devoted to environmental concerns." According to Paul Rowland, executive director of the nonprofit Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, "the field of 'green education' has been expanding exponentially for the past five years," and its expansion has been "driven largely by demand."

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Pennsylvania College Expanding Sustainable Energy Technology Certificate Program

Luzerne County Community College is planning to expand its Sustainable Energy Technology certificate program in the fall. "The one-year, 32-credit program provides a foundation of college math and science, but expands to specific technical areas about technologies used in the industry. The program is better than going to a trade school because it trains for more than just a single job, said Mark Rutkowski, an engineering technology professor."

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Women in Green: Opportunities in Environmentally Responsible Occupations

On March 9, 2010 and again on June 2, 2010 the Illinois Center for Specialized Professional Support, in partnership with the Illinois Community College Board, the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor, and the Illinois State Board of Education will examine the programs and initiatives which are in place to support the development and advancement of green occupations in Illinois. Please join us for as we explore the unique role of women in “greening” many existing careers and examine examples of effective practices in “going green.”

To learn more and to register visit http://www.icsps.ilstu.edu/services/pd/green/index.html