Apprenticeships are growing in importance to industry and our workforce development system here in California. The Chancellor’s office has shown it's support of apprenticeships through continuing CAI grants, and the governor’s office has set a goal of 500,000 apprentices by 2029. To reach this goal, the colleges will need help.

The RD-A’s mission will be to act as a resource to colleges, industry, WDB’s, and others in the region to help build stronger apprenticeship programs. This person will be a resource on how to establish and build apprenticeships, and will work with Dean’s and sector RD’s, DAS, DOL, IACA, CAC, CCCCO, Go-Biz, and others to help our colleges enroll more apprentices through FTES and create more apprenticeship programs.

We are also talking with other regions in the state who are looking into creating an RD-A for their area. Our goal is to show the benefits that such a position can have so that the position is funded long-term by the state.

The Regional Director-Apprenticeship (RD-A) will be a key resource / consultant for industry, colleges, K-12, WDB's and other stakeholders in the Bay Area to assist them with apprenticeship across all sectors.

The RD-A will focus on the follow items:

• • Increase apprenticeship enrollment in college programs

  • Assist industry in establishing apprenticeships

  • Develop new apprenticeship programs

  • Increase student employment in living wage jobs

A key part of the RD-A's role during the first two years of the job will be to create a vision and strategy for the Bay Area Community Colleges on how they integrate apprenticeships into the CC system to achieve the stated mission and goals.

Cloud computing is a paradigm shift in the way applications and data are created, distributed, and maintained. Jobs requiring cloud computing skills and knowledge are the largest, and fastest-growing tech jobs in our region. For example, The Emsi Q1 2020 Data Set reveals that between 9/16 and 12/19, there were 1,042 unique Bay Area job postings that specified the hard skill of Amazon Web Services (AWS), with a median salary of $119.6K. (AWS Job Posting Analytics, 2/20)

When our criteria are expanded to include all relevant job descriptions and occupations, which have a median hourly wage of $54.58, we see a regional labor market gap of 16,334 students annually through 2022. (Cloud for Business Occupations LMI Report, 12/18)

Current CS and IT programs in the Bay Area are not meeting this demand because (1) existing curriculum has lagged behind current industry standards, and (2) new courses and certifications need to be added to validate students’ relevant skills and knowledge.

Expand our current local share collaboration to (1) ramp up employer engagement for internships and jobs; (2) expand professional development into a robust community of practice; and (3) align and articulate area K-12, adult ed, and nonprofit feeders into college tech pathways.

A group of Bay Area colleges began this project by adapting an LA Region sequence of courses, culminating with a cloud computing certification. This next phase proposes to: (1) Expand curricular efforts to extend the reach and variety of cloud courses and programs, with associated faculty professional development; (2) launch employer engagement efforts to provide work-based learning and employment outcomes; and (3) align K-12 and adult ed pathways with regional college technology programs.

Cybersecurity workers are in high demand nationwide. In the San Francisco Bay Region, there are over 180,000 jobs projected for Cybersecurity/Information Communication Technology (ICT) positions by 2022 (Centers of Excellence). In 2018/2019, Bay Region community colleges with cybersecurity focused or related programs issued 379 certificate or degree awards (DataMart).

Building on the success of summer BACCC CyberCamps, we will increase participation in Cybersecurity/ICT pathways and year-long cybersecurity competitions to enable interested campers to continue learning at our colleges and better connect students with workforce opportunities.

We plan to grow grades 7-14 participation in Cybersecurity/ICT pathways by: 1) Upgrading/Augmenting summer CyberCamps, 2) Increasing Community College student participation in Cyber Competitions - extracurricular activity patterned after athletic programs), and 3) Hosting five SubRegional “Industry Advisory & Student Showcase” to better connect students with Cyber Careers - to increase visibility of our Cybersecurity/ICT programs and highlight our talented students to local/regional employers.

There are many important elements happening:

• • Colleges have more performance funding requirements to increase employment in their students’ field of study with a living wage.

  • Employers can’t find enough qualified applicants for quality middle-skill jobs.

  • Students want more opportunities to be job ready through work-based learning.

  • With SWP funds, colleges are hiring more workforce staff and investing in technology and other supports.

Many colleges want to better understand how to harness these elements for student success. They have workforce services they want to better integrate, want to better use data and be more connected to external partners.

Each college has its own context, so there is no one solution, but there are best practices, and colleges want to work together to learn and implement them. By doing this work together, there can also be a more consistent regional approach, and students and employers, who often interact with multiple colleges, will be better served.

Continuing to build a workforce development community of practice for the region so colleges learn and work together to strengthen their systems, structures and relationships, leading to more students getting better jobs and colleges having improved outcomes.

We will build on the success of our initial RJV funding. People are asking for three levels of support:

• • Regionally: Develop a consistent approach to services and share resources (forms, work samples, job portal ...)

  • Topically: Go deeper on common needs, such as exploring different job boards, engaging employers, using data or supporting job developers.

  • On campus: Get assistance on implementation.

The work will be organized and facilitated by a project manager working with a steering group.

There is a labor market gap for biological, quality control and biomanufacturing production technicians. Per the 2017 LS/Biotech Middle Skills report, supply 324 vs demand 469. The BA Region needs more students in biotechnology programs to gain work-based and soft skills. Companies prefer students with work-based experience, yet there are not enough internships available. Therefore, BioSCOPE aims to provide practice of technical, analytical and soft skills needed to fill this gap. BioSCOPE serves as the students' stepping-stone to livable-wage jobs in the workforce. Students need to be competitively prepared to demonstrate required soft skills and knowledge/practice of a company manufacturing operation in an interview. Badges gained will confirm students’ job readiness.

Work-based learning for Biotechnology program students: Students will follow technical lab and soft skills to generate “life sciences laboratory products” for education through hands-on activities in a structured environment that simulates a company’s manufacturing operation.

This project provides real, hands-on work-based experience for all students in the classroom, meeting the goal of equity and accessibility. Students experience and explore different functions as those found in the workplace while producing products for lab practices. Products are distributed to high schools classes. The project relies on industry commitment for advice, faculty training, and audits. Student coordinators are mentored on project management and leadership.

Work-based learning (WBL) is a strategy proven to increase employability and reduce the skills gap. Unfortunately, educational institutions, WDBs, and CBOs have utilized competing processes; this creates a disincentive for employers. Commercially available off-the-shelf products lack measurable impact for students and do not meet employer demand for skilled workers. Dissemination of opportunities is insufficient and inequitable across the region, often resulting in underemployed graduates and frustrated employer partners. Data collection, tracking, and dashboard reporting—including job placement, retention, and career ladder advancement—has been inadequate. Earn and Learn has a revolutionary system designed by practitioners for practitioners to meet these varied and diverse needs. The goals of this RJV align with Strong Workforce, enabling more employer engagement, improving coordination with K-14 pathways and providing better reporting and creating a regional community of practice.

E&L is a proven WBL and employer engagement strategy implemented in Bay Area counties. We provide digital tools, a CRM and PD for colleges and K-12s to facilitate engagement with employers who provide WBL opportunities to increase equitable access to improve student outcomes.

Participating Community Colleges will receive:

• • WBL readiness assessment;

  • Onboarding and access to the CRM;

  • Detailed WBL toolset to support staff, faculty and employers;

  • Workshops (District Leadership Collaboration, Employer Engagement 101 & 102, Internship Planning, and Internship Implementation);

  • Monthly webinars on best practices;

  • Customized online forms (w/logos);

  • Connectivity to K-12 schools (if desired); and

  • Continuing PD to engage in the E&L community of practice.

During the BACCC Regional plan process across the subregional meetings, stakeholders identified the need for a system to address teacher shortages which threaten program implementation. Clearly, we need a system that not only addresses better CTE/CE Faculty Recruitment, but also support to ensure their success. The Bay Area Regional Plan states:

It did not take long, in each of the subregional meetings held to date for K12 and Community College (CC) participants to agree that the extreme difficulty of finding CE teachers is negatively impacting our ability to achieve our regions’ goals. Better recruitment strategies will not help if credentialing / accreditation / on-boarding and teacher support issues are not addressed. All of the above, and more, are desperately needed.

Throughout the Bay and across systems, we have a shortage of CTE/CE teachers. This project would collectively design a strategic plan and pilot project with partners from industry, K12 and community college to address this challenge and create a robust CTE/CE teacher pipeline.

This is the first phase of the Career Education Teacher Pipeline Project (CETPP). Phase 1: Understanding the challenge and creating a strategic plan. Phase 2: Creating the first CETPP pilot. Phase 3: Bringing CETPP to scale. Phase 1: a series of three to four conversations to: a) outline the specific issues around recruiting and retaining CE/CTE teachers; b) brainstorm possible solutions; and c) create a strategic plan for a Bay Area regional system.

With 28 community colleges, over 800 K12 schools, and 17 new K12 Pathway Coordinators joining the regional structure, the Bay Region knows it is critical to have 2 K14 TAP positions to provide technical assistance, professional development, and support to the $31M dollars flowing to K12s in the region. With 2 K14 TAPs there are many ways we can bring value to the region - either through more support to partners, specializing in different areas, and emphasizing equity through data, program design, or professional development.

The K14 TAP provides regional leadership in the development and administration of K12 Pathways Coordinators. The K14 TAP collaborates with K12 partners to develop a regional technical assistance plan, focused on pathway design, and aligned with regional economic priorities.

The K14 TAP continues to build regional consistency and infrastructure through the promotion of college & career readiness (through early college credit, work-based learning and counseling supports), alignment of career education programs of study, and raising awareness of community college programs.

Bay Area Colleges joined together to establish a remotely shared information and communication technologies (ICT) lab facility to serve their ICT students who need hands-on skills demanded by ICT employers.

We need to maintain support. Our BACCC Netlab system has grown significantly. In 2015, we started with about 500 active students accounts. In the fall 2019 semester, we supported over 3,500 active students and have collected nearly 200,000 lab hours since the inception of the service, in the areas of computer support, cybersecurity, network administration, database management cloud computing, and operating systems including Windows Server and Linux.

We need to move to the next level. Netlabs 2.0 will provide instructors and students with a regional private cloud (RPC). The RPC is a self-service cloud computing infrastructure which will allow faculty and students to build and break down virtual machines in the same way that they would use AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, etc.

Requesting ongoing support for a project entering a sixth year. To include data center administrator, support and licensing, hardware update, outreach, and professional development. Netlabs 2.0 will provide an expansion of service to include a Regional Private Cloud (RPC).

Continued provision of 24/7 access to BACCC Netlabs to all participating colleges, including ongoing support for the project now entering a sixth year. The Netlabs 2.0 upgrade, will provide an expansion of service to include a Regional Private Cloud (RPC). The RPC will provide cloud computing and support our IT Infrastructure, Software Development, and Computer Science faculty and students. The main benefits of the RPC are guaranteed resource availability, strong security, and cost savings.

The Chancellor's Office recommends that regions augment the COE budget with SWP regional funds to meet the increased demands for LMI. The COE and BACCC will work jointly to prioritize data projects that benefit the region. For example, data may be needed in the start-up phase when colleges are deciding whether to invest in new programs. Or when regional projects are being implemented, data may be needed to support on-going work. Labor market data for emerging and evolving occupations, supply/program data, employment outcomes data, wage data, industry sector data, data on skills in demand are just some of the common types of data needed by colleges for decision-making related to SWP investments.

Centers of Excellence Regional Support for Data - A Chancellor's Office Recommended Project in Common. Expand Center of Excellence for Labor Market Research capacity to meet regional data needs.

The COE has a strong interest in supporting colleges with labor market data and workforce research. Funding will support a) Data Analyst/Assistant Director who will work with the Director to meet regional data needs, b) Completion of a Regional Data Dashboard for analysis of SWP program performance metrics, c) Primary research projects on priority and emerging industries and occupations in order to provide colleges with data related to decision making for new program development.