 "Photo: Mike Paschal/The Daily Texan")
The Austin Community College District will expand training programs to strengthen the green-job workforce in hopes of obtaining federal stimulus funds.
The Green Corridor Collaborative, a partnership among five Texas schools, aims to further educate students interested in environmentally friendly jobs. The initiative, signed last week, will allow the schools to share selected course curricula and apply for federal stimulus money.
“By going after funds as a team versus individually, we greatly increase our chances of getting funding,” said Hector Aguilar, department chair of electronics and advanced technologies at ACC. “Funding would be crucial so that we would be able to expand our training into areas that are critical in renewable energy.”
The new program allows the colleges to apply for grants worth up to $500 million from the federal government, said Michael Midgley, ACC vice president of workforce education and business development.
“There are definitely a short-term goal and a long-term goal in mind,” Midgley said. “We are hoping to first see results by attracting some stimulus money, and then we are expecting an ongoing sharing of resources between the schools.”
The other school systems partnering with the ACC District are the Alamo Community College District, the Dallas County Community College District, Temple College and the Texas State Technical College system. Under the agreement, these institutions can share information regarding energy conservation and the generation of new energy.
Some of the courses ACC will contribute cover topics such as solar energy, wind energy, green building, weatherization and alternative fuel vehicles, Midgley said.
“It is important we come together in these efforts because everyone has the same goal in mind,” Midgley said. “By sharing these curriculums, we can cut down on the cost it takes to duplicate a program.”
Midgley said a major issue these regional colleges face is trying to implement a new program with limited resources. This initiative aims to eliminate subpar course duplicates by allowing the five schools to share information and materials.
ACC representatives said they wished the program could have arrived sooner. Its aim to let students train and develop the skills needed to work in an emerging green economy could not have come at a better time, Midgley said.
“This partnership is an unprecedented yet common-sense approach to education,” said ACC President Stephen Kinslow. “By working together, these five colleges will better serve the needs of their communities and industries.”
