Encourages statewide replication of Joliet Community College program
JOLIET – Sept. 9, 2014. Lt. Governor Sheila Simon today celebrated a new partnership between Joliet Junior College (JJC) and the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters that will help boost career readiness. Simon encouraged colleges around Illinois to consider similar partnerships in order to better prepare students to enter the workforce.
"This cooperative arrangement brings together the best of skills training by the carpenters and academic training by JJC," said Simon. "Combining these training programs provide a way for the carpenters union to be recognized for their training, and for individual carpenters to expand their opportunities. And the state is a winner as well, gaining a more able workforce."
Joliet Junior College president Dr. Debra S. Daniels and Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters President Frank Libby hosted the event at JJC Tuesday thanking Lt. Governor Simon for her support of the newly-launched program.
"Partnerships with community organizations, businesses, and other educational institutions are central to our mission," Joliet Junior College President Daniels said. "They are a valuable way to connect individuals with opportunities. This partnership truly exemplifies that."
"On behalf of the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters, I sincerely thank Lt. Governor Simon for her longstanding commitment and dedication to the carpenters," said President Libby. "She has helped to provide an opportunity to many individuals who may never have even dreamed of being able to attend college, let alone earn a degree."
Apprentices or journeymen now have a number of options available through JJC to translate their on-the-job training into college credits and certificates. Options include an associate's degree in general studies that incorporates apprenticeship program completion and on-the-job training, with 20 hours of JJC course credits. JJC also offers several construction management certificates that count on-the-job proficiency toward completion.
Several Illinois colleges, including City Colleges of Chicago, Triton College, the College of DuPage, the College of Lake County and Waubonsee Community College, have either begun similar programs or are currently in talks to launch them. JJC has had about 90 applicants this year.
Applicants have a wide variety of previously earned credits under their belts, from architects looking for career changes, to students with 160 college credits but no degree.
Previously, Simon visited the state's 48 community colleges and 12 public universities to see how the schools are working to improve completion rates and workforce development, and gather ideas on how the state can help schools overcome barriers to completion goals.
As the chair of the Joint Educational Leadership Committee, Simon is working to increase the proportion of working-age adults in Illinois with meaningful college degrees or certificates to 60 percent by 2025.
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