Our students deserve the best
Good jobs should not go unfilled during periods of high unemployment. According to the latest ManpowerGroup annual survey, 52 percent of American employers are finding it difficult to find qualified employees for key positions. A study at the end of last year by the Conference Board, an independent research group, found almost 120,000 unfilled jobs in Massachusetts because applicants lacked the proper skills.
The nation’s education system has failed to prepare Americans adequately for the world of work. Students understand this deficiency and a deviation in the normal path of postsecondary education is emerging. It is common now for students to transfer multiple times from their original school before acquiring a bachelor’s degree or certificate.
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center has conducted a survey of almost all students who began college in September 2006 to determine their frequency of changing schools. They found that more than a third of the students changed schools at least once and 43 percent transferred into a public two-year college.
A number of concerns induce students to transfer schools, but a common interest is to acquire the skills that will qualify them for meaningful employment. Community colleges provide a natural location for such a curriculum, but the enhancement of industrial technology programs sometimes creates a conflict. The faculty and administration of some community colleges seem to be so committed to teaching the arts and humanities that they fear expanding industrial arts might create the ambiance of a trade school.
However, there is a national crisis. Good jobs go begging while willing American workers expand the ranks of the unemployed because they lack the necessary skills. Both President Obama and Governor Patrick have launched programs to provide job related education at community colleges. Government funds provided will enable the programs to be launched without scavenging funds from the liberal arts curriculum.
It is clear from the data that postsecondary students are turning more to community colleges for educational opportunities. Also, enlightened companies are establishing cooperative training programs with community colleges. Roxbury Community College should be in the forefront of providing these emerging opportunities to their students.
Kudos to Sir Allen
Members of the nobility are rare. One is either born to the purple or attains that status through extraordinary achievement. From ancient times, European kings and queens have anointed as knights or dames those who have performed special service for humanity or for the kingdom.
As one might expect, very few African Americans have ever been knighted. However, last May Dr. S. Allen Counter, a Harvard professor and director of the Harvard Foundation, was dubbed “Knight of the Order of the Polar Star First Class,” an appointment from Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden. This Swedish order of chivalry was first created by King Frederick I of Sweden in 1748.
Counter, who is Consul General of Sweden in Boston for New England, was recognized for his great diplomatic service and for his years of collaboration with medical scientists at the Karolinska Nobel Institute in Stockholm.
There is no telling how high you can go when you are talented and you work hard.
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