In his State of the Union address on January 27, 2010, President Barack Obama mentioned that he wants to revitalize the nation's Community College system. Job creation and getting the unemployed back to work is a priority for President Obama's administration. Community Colleges have long been working partners in community education, workforce development, and job training.
In July, 2009, I began a pilot project to administer a Workforce Training Needs Survey at the Kiswaukee Community College District in Northern Illinois. I was not affiliated with any other organization in starting this project. I earned my doctorate in adult education and human resource development from Florida International University in 1992 and have been involved in designing this type of needs survey and collecting and processing survey results for years.
I offered my services, free of charge, to several Chambers of Commerce and to city governments in the community college district and two people joined me in working on the first half of the survey. After July, 2009, I no longer had the free time to support the project. I continued to develop the survey and have now made it available for purchase on eBay.
Organizations which purchase and use the survey are entitled to preferred pricing on many of the DrM-Resources services I provide in support of this survey.
Showing posts with label President Barack Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label President Barack Obama. Show all posts
Monday, February 8, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Jobs in the New Economy--President Barack Obama's Messages
President Barack Obama, in his first State of the Union address last night made jobs a number one priority and asked the Senate for a job bill incorporating what the House has already proposed. In the details below the headlines, President Obama spoke about creating new "green" jobs and talked about lots of construction, railroad, and nuclear jobs. He did not say much about jobs for the experienced middle manager who won't have a new job to go to nor an old job to go back to. Small Business can do much to create new jobs and the proposals of the Obama administration for Small Business are no where near as clear as the ideas for construction and energy jobs.
President Obama stressed that he wanted to support Community Colleges--they will play a critical role in helping adults adjust to new jobs.
A key area for growth for small businesses is for independent consultants with change management and training backgrounds to network in order to work with emerging technologies and to create the job training new employees will need for these jobs. As they do that they can look for contracts or grants from the Federal government to provide appropriate training to help people step into these new jobs as they are created.
Steve Jobs, in promoting the new iPad, spoke about many of the innovations Apple has provided since 1976. This kind of technology could well be the baseline for new training initiatives and for education in K-12, community college, and university systems.
President Obama stressed that he wanted to support Community Colleges--they will play a critical role in helping adults adjust to new jobs.
A key area for growth for small businesses is for independent consultants with change management and training backgrounds to network in order to work with emerging technologies and to create the job training new employees will need for these jobs. As they do that they can look for contracts or grants from the Federal government to provide appropriate training to help people step into these new jobs as they are created.
Steve Jobs, in promoting the new iPad, spoke about many of the innovations Apple has provided since 1976. This kind of technology could well be the baseline for new training initiatives and for education in K-12, community college, and university systems.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
President Barack Obama--First Year in Office--January 20, 2010
President Barack Obama completed his first year in office today, January 20, 2010. In an exclusive interview on ABC News Nightline, he speaks openly and frankly with George Stephanopoulos. President Obama reflected that he is concerned that it is difficult to have people continue to operate on shared vision and values. He was elected on a platform of change and has found it incredibly challenging to change the "status quo" in Washington, D.C. politics.
Too many people are enamoured of politics and their parties rather than on the real issues of the middle class of the USA. President Obama noted that he chose to put health care to the forefront of his agenda because of the horror stories about health care he had heard from people around the country during his campaign.
Regarding support for Haiti, President Obama said that the USA needs to be able to support people (especially neighbors) in need rather than just showing force in war.
I believe that President Obama is doing his best to deliver on what he proposed to do when he was elected. Jobs and health care are closely tied together. The present health care bill represents a compromise and, according to President Obama, about 90% of the Senate bill matches that of the House. While some people are opposed to the bill it is clear that we need to change health care in the USA.
Right now health care plans are affordable only while someone is working. Even COBRA payments (which run for 18 months when someone leaves work involuntarily) are too high to afford unless supported by the Federal Government.
Jobs are a major challenge. Many highly qualified people have been laid off and cannot find work that values their education and experience or that pays them enough to take care of their families. The government is helping to extend unemployment benefits and those benefits do not really pay all the bills. People need to work and are actively looking for work--and are still not finding it.
I believe that President Obama faces the dilemma that the public is impatient and finds it hard to maintain focus on shared vision and values. Because people are not getting their needs met in a timely way, they are upset with the government--even though the causes for their upset predate President Obama's administration by many years. The vote in Massachusetts shows that the public still wants change. That someone would run just to oppose what President Obama is trying to accomplish seems to fly in the face of reason--though that is the way much of the problem is created. People appeal to emotion and vested interest groups--for example, the Oil industry, the Health Insurance industry--know how to use media to stir up emotional response.
I believe President Obama is doing a good job and needs more help to "get it right" for the American people. The organizations he started during his campaign seem more like lobbying groups appealing for money than for real problem-solving resources. They just become another voice making what President Obama referred to as "noise" (think of it as static that you hear between stations when tuning a radio).
We need the kinds of changes President Obama is proposing and I strongly believe in his idea of having the USA show its concern and ability by supporting neighbors (and others) in need rather than trying to impose what we want on other nations. We need to defend ourselves, of course, and the way the terrorists are currently operating makes that especially challenging.
I wasn't particularly pleased by George Stephanopoulos' attitude expressed during the interview or by the way he seemed to cut the President off to make his points. Hopefully the President was allowed to communicate what he wanted to during the interview and I thank ABC News for its efforts on behalf of the public.
I also want to thank President Obama and his family for their dedication and commitment throughout this first year of his Presidency and to wish them well for the years ahead. I believe history will show President Obama to have been an exceptional leader working in exceptional times.
Too many people are enamoured of politics and their parties rather than on the real issues of the middle class of the USA. President Obama noted that he chose to put health care to the forefront of his agenda because of the horror stories about health care he had heard from people around the country during his campaign.
Regarding support for Haiti, President Obama said that the USA needs to be able to support people (especially neighbors) in need rather than just showing force in war.
I believe that President Obama is doing his best to deliver on what he proposed to do when he was elected. Jobs and health care are closely tied together. The present health care bill represents a compromise and, according to President Obama, about 90% of the Senate bill matches that of the House. While some people are opposed to the bill it is clear that we need to change health care in the USA.
Right now health care plans are affordable only while someone is working. Even COBRA payments (which run for 18 months when someone leaves work involuntarily) are too high to afford unless supported by the Federal Government.
Jobs are a major challenge. Many highly qualified people have been laid off and cannot find work that values their education and experience or that pays them enough to take care of their families. The government is helping to extend unemployment benefits and those benefits do not really pay all the bills. People need to work and are actively looking for work--and are still not finding it.
I believe that President Obama faces the dilemma that the public is impatient and finds it hard to maintain focus on shared vision and values. Because people are not getting their needs met in a timely way, they are upset with the government--even though the causes for their upset predate President Obama's administration by many years. The vote in Massachusetts shows that the public still wants change. That someone would run just to oppose what President Obama is trying to accomplish seems to fly in the face of reason--though that is the way much of the problem is created. People appeal to emotion and vested interest groups--for example, the Oil industry, the Health Insurance industry--know how to use media to stir up emotional response.
I believe President Obama is doing a good job and needs more help to "get it right" for the American people. The organizations he started during his campaign seem more like lobbying groups appealing for money than for real problem-solving resources. They just become another voice making what President Obama referred to as "noise" (think of it as static that you hear between stations when tuning a radio).
We need the kinds of changes President Obama is proposing and I strongly believe in his idea of having the USA show its concern and ability by supporting neighbors (and others) in need rather than trying to impose what we want on other nations. We need to defend ourselves, of course, and the way the terrorists are currently operating makes that especially challenging.
I wasn't particularly pleased by George Stephanopoulos' attitude expressed during the interview or by the way he seemed to cut the President off to make his points. Hopefully the President was allowed to communicate what he wanted to during the interview and I thank ABC News for its efforts on behalf of the public.
I also want to thank President Obama and his family for their dedication and commitment throughout this first year of his Presidency and to wish them well for the years ahead. I believe history will show President Obama to have been an exceptional leader working in exceptional times.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Good News for people on COBRA--Reduced Rate Extended 6 more months
President Obama recently signed legislation that allows the continuation of the COBRA Premium Subsidy for six more months--following the terms of the coverage. This means that qualified individuals pay 35% of their COBRA payments for 15 months rather than 9 months.
This legislation goes a long way to assist people to maintain adequate levels of health insurance protection while they are changing jobs.
The link does not have information about the extended coverage--perhaps that is too new for the website.
This legislation goes a long way to assist people to maintain adequate levels of health insurance protection while they are changing jobs.
The link does not have information about the extended coverage--perhaps that is too new for the website.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Job Training Contracts for the New Economy
Today Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn announced a jobs initiative to provide job training for veterans with a special emphasis on "green" jobs. This initiative is aligned with President Barack Obama's
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Windows of Opportunity
Today President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. The committee saw a window of opportunity to support the new American President in the early days of his first term of office, focusing on his commitment and intention. President Obama, while accepting the prize, also acknowledged his responsibilities to the American public with regard to armed conflict in such places as Afganistan and Iraq.
Windows of opportunity exist for all of us. Sometimes we take advantage of these windows of opportunity and sometimes we ignore or miss them.
Our priorities interact with the windows of opportunity we choose to act on and, sometimes, to skip. For example, if family is a high priority for a certain period of time, we can choose to skip on opportunities which may show up which would have a negative impact on that priority for the family.
Sometimes people place their priorities in their careers and miss opportunities to share with their families. The desire for "work-life balance" reflects the impact of these trade-offs.
Sometimes technology and economies interfere with what might otherwise be a window of opportunity. The history of computing shows examples of the early devices that allowed programming and calculations. Many of Leonardo DaVinci's ideas became a focus for invention and research long after his death. Benjamin Franklin was another inspired inventor who pointed the way for later developments. H.G. Wells and Jules Verne wrote about scientific inventions which were developed many years after the authors introduced them in literature.
One of the challenges for research, invention, and discovery is that there may be no demand for the product of the research, invention, or discovery at the time it is created. The "window of opportunity" is not present yet. In some instances, sufficient numbers of people need to go through the awareness-acceptance-action process in order to create a tipping-point where there is a significant demand for something new.
Windows of opportunity exist for all of us. Sometimes we take advantage of these windows of opportunity and sometimes we ignore or miss them.
Our priorities interact with the windows of opportunity we choose to act on and, sometimes, to skip. For example, if family is a high priority for a certain period of time, we can choose to skip on opportunities which may show up which would have a negative impact on that priority for the family.
Sometimes people place their priorities in their careers and miss opportunities to share with their families. The desire for "work-life balance" reflects the impact of these trade-offs.
Sometimes technology and economies interfere with what might otherwise be a window of opportunity. The history of computing shows examples of the early devices that allowed programming and calculations. Many of Leonardo DaVinci's ideas became a focus for invention and research long after his death. Benjamin Franklin was another inspired inventor who pointed the way for later developments. H.G. Wells and Jules Verne wrote about scientific inventions which were developed many years after the authors introduced them in literature.
One of the challenges for research, invention, and discovery is that there may be no demand for the product of the research, invention, or discovery at the time it is created. The "window of opportunity" is not present yet. In some instances, sufficient numbers of people need to go through the awareness-acceptance-action process in order to create a tipping-point where there is a significant demand for something new.
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