WATC gets grant to boost worker training
Wichita Area Technical College has received a nearly $800,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to help develop better-qualified workers.
The project – the Manufacturing Alliance Keeping Education Relevant to Technical Employee Competence – will create a network in Kansas and other states to help strengthen the education for science, technology, engineering and math careers.
The idea is to align the school’s curriculum with the specific needs of various STEM-related industries. The school will build its curriculum so that students will be better prepared to take tests for industry-accepted credentials upon completion.
“It will be a network that has a better understanding of the competencies needed to fill open manufacturing jobs,” said Dana Schirer, WATC’s project manager.
WATC is partnering with Eastern Florida State College and SpaceTEC on the grant. It runs through 2020, and roughly 30 percent of it will go to the Florida school, Schirer said.
Dan Voorhis: 316-268-6577, @danvoorhis
This story was originally published October 10, 2016 at 5:55 PM with the headline "WATC gets grant to boost worker training."