On Nov. 10 President Becky Rowley, Ph.D., participated in The National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine’s virtual workshop series, “Meeting Regional STEMM Workforce needs in the Wake of Covid-19: A Virtual Workshop Series.” The program welcome and overview, as well as the summary were presented by Chair Jeff Bingaman, former United States Senator of New Mexico.
President Rowley was part of the panel, “Key services that support equitable access to workforce training.” The panelists were asked to “discuss higher education and social service strategies to connect displaced workers with training opportunities to meet local STEMM employment needs.”
She spoke about SFCC Foundation’s Emergency Student Aid, as one of the college’s rapid responses to helping students stay in college. She also spoke about the college’s commitment to helping students in the health care classes to attend in-person classes (when possible) to help them move forward to complete their programs, get their credentials and out into the workplace. She cited New Mexico’s shortage of health care workers.
Other panelists were Tamar Jacoby, President & CEO, Opportunity America; and Paige Shevlin, Director, Policy and National Initiatives, Skillful Central, The Markle Foundation.
Throughout the half-day workshop participants looked at potential policy changes at the federal level, as well as partnerships with the private sector to get the unemployed and underemployed working in their communities.
