Clark University Highlights Apprenticeship Week

Press release from Clark University:

Nov. 5, 2020

Next week Clark University will join business leaders, educational institutions and other partners to celebrate National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) and recognize the value apprenticeships add to a skilled workforce.

Clark University President David Fithian has signed a proclamation that “call[s] upon the Information Technology Industry to recognize the value of apprenticeships, and to promote industry awareness and expansion during the sixth anniversary of National Apprenticeship Week, from November 8 through November 14.”

Apprenticeships offer workers paid, relevant workplace experiences while they acquire the competencies and credentials valued by employers, providing affordable paths to secure, high-paying jobs and careers. Apprenticeship programs also help employers recruit and develop a diverse and highly-skilled workforce to help them grow their business, and improve productivity and profitability. Through apprenticeships, employers increase staff loyalty and worker retention.

Last year Clark University received a $12 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration to provide business technology training nationwide to people struggling with unemployment and underemployment, and to those who seek to master relevant technology skills in an evolving workplace. Through the Tech Quest Apprenticeship Clark is working with the Public Consulting Group (PCG) and a national consortium of workforce development boards and higher education institutions to provide 4,000 pre-apprenticeships and 1,000 IT and IT-related apprenticeships to unemployed, underemployed, and incumbent workers through 2023.

“Clark has been working with our partners to match workers with employers and provide them with on-the-job and related instruction, leaving them gainfully employed and enabling them to increase their wages as they improve their skills and move up the career ladder,” said John G. LaBrie, dean of the School of Professional Studies and associate provost for professional education. “Our program seeks to register at least five new technology-focused apprenticeship programs and is expanding IT-related apprenticeships into new areas.”

Even during a pandemic, apprenticeships still provide opportunities.

“With the transition to greater levels of remote learning due to COVID-19, apprenticeship providers are turning to online platforms. Providers have begun using technology to efficiently and effectively engage both learners and employers remotely,” said Tech Quest program manager Dug Jones. “This should stimulate greater levels of innovation in this sector more quickly than previously anticipated.”

Hundreds of NAW events and activities will be held across the country next week; several organizations are planning events in Central Mass. To learn more about Tech Quest Apprenticeship visit the web; to inquire about Clark University’s program, contact Dug Jones at the School of Professional Studies at dugjones@clarku.edu or email techquest@clarku.edu.

National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) is a nationwide celebration that brings together business leaders, career seekers, labor, educational institutions, and other critical partners to demonstrate their support for apprenticeship. The week-long celebration highlights the benefits of apprenticeship in preparing a highly-skilled workforce to meet the talent needs of employers across diverse industries.

Founded in 1887, Clark University is a liberal arts-based research university that prepares its students to meet tomorrow’s most daunting challenges and embrace its greatest opportunities. Through 33 undergraduate majors, more than 30 advanced degree programs, and nationally recognized community partnerships, Clark fuses rigorous scholarship with authentic world and workplace experiences that empower our learning community to pursue lives and careers of meaning and consequence. Clark’s academic departments and institutes develop solutions to complex global problems across the disciplines, and the University addresses the behavioral health of adolescents and young adults through the Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise. clarku.edu

This press release was produced by Clark University. The views expressed here are the author's own.