|
|
 |
|
Photo
by Kristin Pottmeyer - John Magill, assistant deputy
chancellor of economic advancement for the Ohio
Department of Higher
Education, spoke to attendees of the Employer Appreciation Breakfast
about the
role the three area educational institutions are playing
within the state.
|
|
Inside Higher Education
Partners: Students,
employers, schools
Erin O’Neill, Marietta Times
Students, local employers and educators gathered Monday morning at
Washington State Community College’s Business and Technology Center to
talk about a partnership between the three groups to prepare the next
generation’s workforce.
An Employer Appreciation Breakfast was held in an effort to promote
Ohio Means Internships & Co-ops, with about 50 people in
attendance, including representatives from Washington State, Marietta
College and the Washington County Career Center, as well as employers
such as the Memorial Health System, Peoples Bank, Pickering &
Associates, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Southeastern Ohio Port
Authority.
John Magill, assistant deputy chancellor of economic advancement for
the Ohio Department of Higher Education, spoke to the room about the
role the three area educational institutions are playing within the
state.
“On behalf of the governor and the chancellor, I came to acknowledge
the great work these schools are doing and also the work being done by
Marietta City Schools to help build that pipeline into the institutions
and to really grow the working economy,” Magill said. “This is one of
the most unique relationships in the state, three institutions reaching
across the spectrum.”
Magill, who helps administer the Ohio Means Internships program, said
he was excited by the level of activity in southeast Ohio and the
turnout of area businesses at the morning’s event. He said he is also
encouraged by the training and education given to the area’s young
people.
“Southeast Ohio is right up there with everyone else,” he said. “The
variety of businesses here today — manufacturing, service, the hospital
— it’s indicative of the strong effort and commitment to a
public/private partnership equal to anyone in the state.”
Two local employers, Joe Grimm with Grimm Scientific and Bill Wilkinson
with Perry & Associates, joined two student interns for a panel
discussion, facilitated by Hilles Hughes, Marietta College’s Career
Center director. The discussion focused on the internship experience.
“I think a lot of students have no idea half of the companies that are
out there,” said MC student Trinity Schlabach, who has been interning
at Caron Products. “Being able to have a connection between the
(schools) and the employer is very helpful.”
Chandler Lang, a Washington County Career Center student interning for
Grimm Scientific, added that, as a student, you have to be willing to
learn.
“A lot of kids won’t go intern for a company because they think they
don’t know enough about it,” he said.
Employers can play a significant role in shaping students who come to
intern for their companies, and preparing them for, not just a job, but
a career.
“Students have reported getting a lot of satisfaction when they’re able
to shadow, observe and meet people at various levels of the
organization,” said Hughes.
Comments from the audience included those from local employer Mark
Schwendeman, with the Schwendeman Insurance Agency and Shale Crescent
initiative.
“We’ve had some really pleasant experiences with internships over the
years and those folks have gone on to successful employment,” he said.
Brenda Kornmiller, dean of Business, Engineering, Industrial
Technologies and Workforce at Washington State, said employers would
benefit greatly from establishing a relationship with the schools.
“We’ve talked a lot about the benefits of internships and, as you can
see, it benefits us, it benefits you, it benefits the students,” she
said.
Ohio Means Internships & Co-ops program is an investment of state
and private dollars to increase the number of internships and co-ops
for employers and students in key industries to close the skills gap,
increase student completion and give Ohio a competitive advantage in
the global human capital talent marketplace. Anyone who is interested
in participating is encouraged to visit ohiomeansinternships.com.
|
|
|
|
