CEDIA recently hosted members from the Adult Education Division of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) at our headquarters in Fishers, Ind. for a tour and partnership exploration discussion. The discussion centered around the feasibility of CEDIA working with one or more of DWD’s Indianapolis-area providers to create an Integrated Education and Training (IET) program.
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IET programs include adult education activities (high-school equivalency diploma exam prep and/or English as a second language classes) coupled with work readiness training, and occupational skills training that leads to industry-recognized credentials. All three components are delivered concurrently and use occupationally relevant instruction materials. IET approaches are effective because they provide working adults with opportunities to acquire basic skills in a job-related context that has an immediate application, enables credential attainment, and can ultimately increase earning potential.
While the partner exploration phase is very much in the beginning stages, the DWD team members present were enthusiastic about working with CEDIA. There was also consensus that the Cabling and Infrastructure Technician (CIT) and Integrated System Technician (IST) certifications were sound credentials that could help put folks on viable career pathways in a growing industry. IET programs are universal programs adult education and workforce development agencies in every state are tasked with creating. Consequently, the possibility of Indiana being the first state in the nation to work with CEDIA on something that could be replicated in other states was an intriguing bonus for our guests. Follow-up conversations will be taking place over the coming months.
For more information about this and other local partnership opportunities that CEDIA is working on, please contact Tommy Tabor, Director of Workforce Development at ttabor@cedia.org.