Guest: Universities should be preparing the future workforce
It is critical that higher education continuously pose two simple, but vital, questions to industry leaders ― “What do you need?” and “How can we help?” In asking those questions, institutions of higher learning will equip students to meet the workforce needs of our communities. Employers are struggling to find an educated, prepared workforce. They want higher education to be a help rather than a hurdle for ingenuity and support.
So, it’s imperative that we tailor our degree offerings to provide world-class education aimed at meeting workforce needs in strategic arenas such as engineering, teacher education and nursing, as well as offering adult nontraditional students with accelerated adult degree completion programs.
Take for example our three new bachelor’s degree programs in mechanical, electrical and systems engineering. Leadership at Boeing, Kratos, United Dynamics and Tinker Air Force Base have all confirmed market needs for these three engineering programs, particularly in the field of aerospace. While each of the degree programs will be taught in a context that relates to the aerospace industry, the programs will equip students with the real-world skills and knowledge necessary to enter any industry requiring mechanical, electrical or systems engineering degrees.
An alarmingly high number of emergency teacher certifications in Oklahoma are filling the workforce gaps in our K-12 schools. One response is an online alternative teaching certification program to provide emergency-certified teachers with easy access to a speedy pathway to certification. Through Oklahoma Baptist University's community partnership with the Avedis Foundation, half-price tuition assistance has been made available for up to 50 teachers seeking alternative teaching certification who are serving in Pottawatomie County public schools, as well as Meeker, Chandler, Prague, Little Axe and Seminole public school districts.
Virtual options are also a vital way of meeting needs in our communities. We, for instance, created an online Bachelor of Arts in Christian Studies program. Courses are offered in eight-week sessions throughout the year, providing students at any stage of life the opportunity to start at any time and finish in as few as three years or less if they transfer in classes. In exploring new ways to reach communities, higher education cannot forget the ways it has served its communities with great loyalty in the past. We continue to educate future nurses to meet increasing health care needs in our communities and commit to equipping as many nursing students as possible by providing space for more students and incorporating interactive simulation technology along with their clinical rotations to provide increased opportunities for learning.
Our School of Nursing, with 71 years of history, does this with a cutting-edge program and state of the art simulation facility.
As we look at the education programs we currently offer and those we plan to create, higher education needs to be quick to listen, to learn and to focus our efforts to meet the needs of our communities.
We’re committed to providing a distinctively Christian liberal arts education to fulfill current and future workforce needs for the good of our communities, our state and our world.
Heath A. Thomas is president of Oklahoma Baptist University.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Guest: Higher education should be preparing the future workforce
