Events
Wake Tech Awarded $2.9 Million Federal Grant
RALEIGH, N.C. (September 24, 2013) - Wake Tech Community College is part of an important higher education initiative aimed at training a “mission critical” workforce – preparing workers to handle structures and systems that are vital to keeping business operations running. Wake Tech is one of five colleges and universities sharing $23 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment Training Administration. Cleveland Community College (consortium leader), Nash Community College, Moultrie Community College in Georgia, and The University of North Carolina at Charlotte are the other participating institutions.
“The importance of this training cannot be overstated,” says Wake Tech President Dr. Stephen C. Scott. “As our operational systems become more and more complicated, our training programs must do the same. We must have people who know how to run the systems that run our world.”
With the funds, consortium members will develop training that prepares a workforce able to anticipate, prevent, mitigate, and respond to potential problems in mission critical functions. These functions include cyber security, infrastructure maintenance, communications, emergency operations, and any system component – equipment, process, procedure, or software – whose failure will result in an operational failure.
“This grant project is a huge win for Wake Tech and its students,” says Richard Sullins, Interim Dean of Sponsored Programs. “It will enable us to marry industrial processes with information systems in a way that’s never been possible before – a way that will create new job opportunities.”
The grant is part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training initiative. The initiative promotes skills development and employment opportunities in fields such as advanced manufacturing, transportation and health care – as well as science, technology, engineering and math – through partnerships between training providers and local employers. The U.S. Department of Labor is implementing and administering the program in coordination with the U.S. Department of Education.
Wake Tech’s share of the grant, $2.93 million, is the second-largest award in the 50-year history of the college. Last year, Wake Tech received $2.95 million from the same funder to develop its new Business Analytics program, which includes the nation’s only two-year associate’s degree in Business Analytics, two certificate programs, and two certificate upgrades as credentialing options.
