Issue 24, January 16, 2013
Welcome in the New Year with Great Tools!
Dear SEED Center Supporters,
The end of ARRA money for clean technology program development has forced many community colleges to take a step back and ask two pointed questions: 1) what is the real future of the green economy in our region?; and 2) what is my college's education and training niche within that?
At our college, Los Angeles Trade & Technical College, we are excited about tools that we've recently developed to help colleges better understand where their green competitive advantage lies. Whether a college is only beginning to explore the development of green programs of study; has specially funded green training programs and must soon decide to sustain them or not; or has some well-established green programs of study and wishes to explore adding additional ones, the process for determining the best course of action involves careful consideration of a number of factors to maximize success. Our tool, The Competitive Advantage Analysis Tool, summarizes and assesses key internal and external factors (e.g., energy prices, state industry incentives) that might drive growth in various clean economy sectors. Data, unique to each college, are presented graphically in a spider diagram and will assist colleges in identifying strengths and challenges, prioritizing green programs of study, and identifying strategies and next steps for maximizing their investment in this area.
We will be unveiling this tool at the SEED Center's 3rd annual training, entitled the NEW New Green Economy: Charting a Course for Community Colleges at the WDI Conference in San Diego, CA on January 30.
We hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Marcy Drummond
Vice President, Institutional Effectiveness & Innovation Los Angeles Trade & Technical College
|