Forum Report: Partnering to Build a Quality Workforce -

Critical Issues in Environmental Technology Education at Two-Year Colleges

Critical Issues Menu

This report reflects the excellent leadership in environmental education being provided by the Advanced Technology Environmental Education Center (ATEEC), one of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Centers supported through the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program.

Just as the world is changing, so must the nation's approach to the education of the technological workforce. First, there must be a community which values excellence in teaching and scholarship and is committed to the reform of technological education at both the secondary school and undergraduate levels. NSF is working hard to stimulate and encourage this community because it is from here that new ideas must emerge and experimentation be done. Second, only with a blend of core mathematics and science competencies which complement technical skills can we hope to have a technological workforce prepared to deal with not only today's challenges, but also those of tomorrow.

In addition, the community must be ready to commit to changes that constitute systemic reform in environmental technology education. More than ever before, individuals, colleges, and other institutions must cooperate if these objectives are to be achieved. Many walls exist between disciplines, academic institutions, governmental agencies, and business and industry. These walls are ill-suited to educating the many different individuals seeking preparation to help protect our environment and make our country a more competitive, safer, and a nicer place in which to live and work. For these reasons, there must be systemic changes in technical education and to accomplish this, there must be collaboration.

Our task for the community is a daunting one. We must have leaders who are ready to suggest, explore, and implement new approaches to the tasks at hand and to do this with some speed, so that we can achieve the reform of the system that we must have to serve national and global needs.

NSF is committed to supporting both productive experimentation and systemic changes. The communities brought together by this national forum represent the diverse groups that must be involved in improving technical education in the United States. People worked hard at the conference, as well as before they came and after they left, to prepare this report. We welcome these ideas and expect that many of the recommendations of the working groups will be turned into actions. The individual elements of reform must be joined and a collaborative community built. This is required if our nation is to become better able to address the many complex problems in environmental education. This resolution will further increase the quality of life for its citizens while serving to make the United States more globally competitive and simultaneously environmentally concerned.

July 17, 1995

Our nation's focus on environmental concerns has shifted over the last few decades. In the seventies we saw a concentrated effort on the "end-of-the-pipe" issues. The eighties were devoted to embarking on the physical cleanup of waste sites. Today the emphasis has evolved into changing the way we manufacture products_that is, reducing or stopping pollution at its source. This recent philosophy of pollution prevention is having a positive impact on all sectors of our economy.

The challenge before us is much greater than reducing our output of waste or slowing the earth's deforestation. Our challenge is to find a way to prosper as a nation without impairing future generations. As Thomas Jefferson said, ". . . No generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence."

How do we achieve an environmentally sustainable economy? The National Science and Technology Council's document, Bridge to a Sustainable Future, states, "Our nation's future strength will in large part be built on the viability of our nation's communities. We must make choices today that increase the sustainability and desirability of our cities, towns, and rural areas if we are to preserve our natural environment and build a strong domestic economy."

To succeed nationally we must begin to act locally_in communities. We must begin with education and retraining, and there is no better source for this than two-year colleges. The two-year college system is the fastest growing sector of educational institutions in the United States. The nation's two-year colleges currently collaborate with local businesses, making them ideally positioned to advance environmental technology programs and to build a quality workforce.

But the collaboration must not be limited to businesses. To achieve sustainability requires the building and melding of partnerships among educational institutions, industry, labor, communities, nongovernmental organizations, and state and federal government. These groups must move forward together with a common vision, building on the strengths of each to achieve the goals of all.

What does the future hold? As Alan Kay of Apple Computer Inc. said, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." Our challenge is to come together as a community of concerned individuals to define our destiny and fulfill our dreams and the dreams of the generations who follow after us.

Sincerely,

Ellen J. Kabat, PhD

Director, ATEEC

The National Forum on Critical Issues in Environmental Technology Education at Two-Year Colleges was a natural extension of recent workshops, studies, and reports supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education in the United States. The 1986 National Science Board report, Undergraduate Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education (NSB 86-100), identified serious problems in undergraduate education and included recommendations for improving the quality of science, mathematics, and engineering problems in two-year colleges. NSF then convened a workshop that resulted in the report NSF Workshop on Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Education in Two-Year Colleges (NSF 89-50). A variety of groups then undertook studies that served as resources for a subsequent NSF workshop that produced the report Matching Actions and Challenges (NSF 91-111). This report contained specific recommendations for two-year college faculty, professional organizations, and college administrators to foster improved interactions among organizations, faculty, and federal funding agencies.

To provide a base for future activities and projects designed to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education in two-year colleges, NSF convened a workshop, Partners in Progress, on October 29-30, 1992. The report from this workshop, Partners in Progress (NSF 93-64), stressed the importance of using the resources and networking available from professional societies to help the educational community improve the quality and effectiveness of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education at all levels.

The workshop Gaining the Competitive Edge: Critical Issues in Science and Engineering Technician Education (NSF 94-32) was in response to a nationally recognized need for a well-educated technical workforce in the high performance work place of advanced technologies. Both Congress and the White House emphasized the technical workforce in their 1992 and 1993 initiatives. Congress passed and the Administration supported the Scientific and Advanced Technology Act of 1992. This Act called for the National Science Foundation to establish a national program to improve the education for technicians in advanced technology fields using the resources of the nation's two-year colleges. In August 1993, NSF announced the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program as a cooperative effort between NSF's Division of Undergraduate Education and the Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education. These efforts have created a sound foundation for cultivating innovative programs to advance technician education in the United States.

With the experience of several workshops that addressed science, mathematics, and engineering education in institutions that traditionally educate technicians, NSF supported the proposal of the Advanced Technology Environmental Education Center (ATEEC) and the Hazardous Materials Training & Research Institute (HMTRI) for an invitational forum to address environmental technology education in depth. The 43 participants from across the country who attended the forum represented business and industry, two-year colleges, four-year colleges and universities, secondary schools, professional societies, and federal agencies with an interest in the education of environmental technicians. Over the two-day period, participants worked to develop recommendations that provided a basis for future activities, initiatives, and projects designed to improve environmental technology education.

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and the Partnership for Environmental Technology Education (PETE) joined ATEEC, HMTRI, and NSF as co-sponsors of the forum. The recommendations developed at the forum are being used to provide direction for ATEEC, which is funded through a grant from NSF. The grant, which is admininstered by HMTRI, brings together institutions from throughout the nation to promote and assist environmental technology credit programs. The ATEEC partners are HMTRI, PETE, the University of Northern Iowa, and NSF.

This project was supported, in part, by the Advanced Technological Education program at the National Science Foundation. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the forum participants and do not necessarily represent NSF policy. The recommendations are under review at NSF.

The National Forum on Critical Issues in Environmental Technology Education at Two-Year Colleges, held March 2-4, 1995, in Washington, D.C., addressed critical issues relevant to environmental technology education in the United States. The purpose of the NSF-sponsored forum was to identify critical issues in environmental technology programs; to develop recommendations for academia, industry, and government; and to assist these communities in implementing the recommendations. These recommendations are timely because there is broad agreement that if the United States is to maintain a position of economic and political leadership in the world, there must be fundamental changes in the workplace and the educational programs which support the workplace.

The 43 participants from across the country who attended the forum represented business and industry, two-year colleges, four-year colleges and universities, secondary schools, professional societies, and federal agencies with an interest in the education of environmental technicians. Deliberations during the forum focused on ways to create a national, world-class network of two-year colleges supported through public-private partnerships to produce and maintain an environmental technology workforce that addresses the diversified needs of industry and promotes the transition of transfer students to higher education.

Planning and implementation of the forum was a cooperative effort involving the Advanced Technology Environmental Education Center (ATEEC), the Hazardous Materials Training & Research Institute (HMTRI), the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the Partnership for Environmental Technology Education (PETE), with participation, funding, and guidance from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Principal Recommendations

The participants were divided into five working groups to examine the following issues:

• Professionalization of environmental technician education as well as preparation, credentials, professional advancement, and continuing education of faculty;
• Curriculum and program development and implementation in environmental technician education;
• Environmental equity and human resources;
• Current and future employment needs; and
• Transferability of credits (2+2+2).

The forum report presents issues and recommendations relevant to the education of environmental technicians. The audience for this report includes: (1) administrators and faculty of academic institutions at all levels, but particularly in two-year colleges; (2) employers of technicians, such as companies and government agencies; (3) leaders of professional societies; and (4) federal, state, and local government officials who have responsibilities for the quality and quantity of the nation's technical workforce.

The recommendations in the final report are also being used to provide direction for the Advanced Technology Environmental Education Center (ATEEC). Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), ATEEC has three primary goals: first, to nationally validate environmental curriculum models and advanced instructional materials; second, to establish comprehensive programs of professional development for educators; third, to build an electronic clearinghouse to serve as a national center of environmental education information and as a hub for networking environmental educators, business and industry, federal agencies, and professional societies.

The recommendations in the report are clustered under the charges of the five working groups. Because there are many cross-cutting themes, a few highlights of the recommendations are given in this summary.

Educators, employers, professional societies, and government working together must:

• Define the "environmental technology" field and the occupations it encompasses;
• Establish job classifications based on voluntary skills standards;
• Recognize and promote environmental technicians as professionals that contribute valuable skills and expertise in the workplace;
• Develop a national strategy for marketing environmental technology programs as well as the profession to business and industry, government, parents, teachers, counselors, and students;
• Identify and standardize the core competencies required in environmental technology programs: (1) establish the general education component, encompassing mathematics, science, oral and written communication, employability skills, and computer skills; (2) establish the technical component, encompassing knowledge and skills that are common across all environmental technology occupations; and (3) establish occupation-specific components which cover specialized knowledge and skills;
• Ensure that environmental technology programs/curricula are competency based;
• Incorporate critical thinking skills into curricula by having students apply knowledge and skills to real-life situations;
• Incorporate the concepts of "environmental justice and equity" into environmental technology programs;
• Establish formal mechanisms to facilitate communication and coordinate curricula across institutions and educational levels;
• Require experiential learning/internships as a program completion requirement;
• Develop a national accreditation program for two-year environmental technology programs;
• Integrate environmental issues into traditional elementary, secondary, and post-secondary curricula;
• Establish alliances that will provide paid professional development opportunities for faculty such as summer internships, sabbaticals, conferences, and workshops;
• Develop and maintain partnerships with business and industry, labor, government, professional organizations, and other academic institutions in order to improve environmental technology programs and better serve students, employers, and the community as a whole; and
• Recruit and train non-traditional students, recognizing that many persons entering the field will be returning for new or additional skills.

The Future

It is paramount that a major national effort be launched to assist two-year community and technical colleges in meeting the increasing need for environmental technicians. This field is continually subjected to the impact of technological advances, new information and regulations, and mounting community activism. Global environmental issues and competitiveness require the development of a quality American workforce in the environmental technologies. The institutions best suited to meet these demands are two-year community and technical colleges.

Implementation of the recommendations in this report requires that all groups involved in technical education, regulatory and compliance oversight, and employment work collaboratively. Increased accountability and the movement toward skills standards necessitate competency-based programs emphasizing a solid foundation in the basic math, sciences, and technical specialties. Technical education is a priority for the NSF as well as other governmental agencies. Federal support for technical education is evidenced by legislation which authorized NSF to create the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program. The ATE program is supporting projects in curriculum and laboratory development, faculty preparation and enhancement, and a selected few Centers of Excellence, one of which is ATEEC.

The requirements to develop and maintain a highly qualified workforce in environmental technologies requires that all stakeholders work cooperatively and become agents of change. Two-year colleges must enhance their working relationships with employers in government, business and industry, as well as professional societies to ensure high quality educational programs. These environmental technology programs must address faculty enhancement, student recruitment and retention, and a comprehensive curriculum which incorporates the concept of environmental equity and which meets the needs of the existing and future workforce.

Moreover, articulation agreements with secondary schools and four-year colleges and universities must be developed to ensure the smooth transition of students from one level to the next.

The recommendations in this report provide the framework by which the nation's two-year colleges can move forward in meeting the diverse needs of the expanding environmental workforce. This must be a deliberate and cooperative effort; two-year colleges cannot work in isolation. Collaboration is essential to respond to the multitude of challenges confronting this vision for a world-class workforce striving to provide a safe and clean environment.