A Community College Toolkit for Manufacturing Programs: Stakeholders Engagement and Collaboration

Abstract

This paper describes the original intent and curriculum design of two manufacturing certificate programs funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) award at a community college in Massachusetts. It also describes salient features of this project including a focus on recruiting Liberal Arts majors for emerging jobs in the manufacturing sector, as well as the requirement of an experiential learning component. The paper further discusses what the team learned about student recruitment and employer engagement over the next three years. It also discusses how the team responded to the emerging needs of the student and manufacturing community through collaboration and teamwork. Finally, the paper presents a set of tools and recommendations for institutions interested in developing new academic programs in manufacturing to engage with all the stakeholders including prospective students, departments and other partners.