Meeting 2020 Workforce Goals: The Role of Industry–College Collaboration and Goals for Instructional Design

Abstract

Since the 1990s, federal programs for workforce training have aimed to transform the role of community colleges from narrow contract training to a broader role that encompasses strategic instructional program planning and innovation to support lifelong learning for a changing workforce and economic development (Jacobs & Teahen, 1996). Yet, to date, there has been no study of how this changing role has affected the ways community colleges and their industry partners collaborate. With rising pressure from policy makers to accelerate training to help American workers to adjust to rapid change in the workforce, it is critical to understand the cross-organizational dynamics of these collaborations.