West Campus adopts new program through SME for Workforce Pipeline Challenge
TJC West has adopted a new three-year pilot program as part of SME, a nonprofit organization. SME was established in 1932 and formerly known as the Society of Mechanical Engineers. The program creates a workforce pipeline to help with challenges that students face when pursuing a manufacturing career. The goal of this program is to boost the workforce in the manufacturing industry.
TJC West offers tours like the Main Campus, Monday through Friday, for any potential students. The Regional Training and Development Complex facility offers on-site registration. For more information about the West Campus visit, tjc.edu/tjcwest.
“We recently were chosen as one of 27 schools in the nation to be a part of a pilot program with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. This pilot program, we aim to get 1,000 students every single year out into the manufacturing workforce,” said Adam Palacios, director of business and industry partnerships at TJC West.
TJC West offers welding, industrial maintenance, and energy systems courses. TJC is also exploring the introduction of new programs to better align with the region’s workforce demands.
These types of pipeline programs assist students in helping them prepare and push into a career. According to SME data, 8 million students ages 18 to 25 are not entering college after high school. TJC West collaborates closely with the Workforce Development Board to ensure that the educational offerings meet the needs of local employers and contribute to the economic growth of East Texas.
“We know that we have a very robust workforce, and we want to make sure that we’re meeting their needs, and we want to bring in a lot more employers that can let East Texas flourish,” Palacios said. “That’s our goal, is to make sure that we have a workforce program here that is meeting their needs, and to continue to grow East Texas.”
Photo courtesy to Adam Palacios on Linkedin. Adam Palacios started as a student assistant at TJC and spent time in The DrumBeat. He chose to come back and is helping students who pursue workforce programs.
Palacios is a TJC alum and has helped grow TJC West by searching for new programs that are in demand in East Texas. Throughout the expansion and renovations at the West Campus, stakeholders and the advisory boards are able to have a say to see what is needed from students. This sparked a need for this initiative to help fill in the growing gaps of the manufacturing industry.
“Currently, we’re looking at our manufacturing programs that we have, which include our welding program, include our industrial maintenance as well as our energy systems programs,” Palacios said. “But we’re also looking at starting and implementing new programs that would also deliver for this kind of program.”
Because it is a pilot program, SME is working in close cooperation with the White House to take information from all the schools involved in this program and find the best way to implement it so every institute can deliver a workforce to meet the demand of the world. TJC will be one the colleges that will be studied nationwide.
“I would encourage everybody to maybe challenge your perception of the manufacturing area and just skilled trades in general, and stop by at TJC West,” Palacios said.
TJC West is located on West Loop 323 in Tyler and includes programs for Industrial trades such as welding and automotive, the Small Business Development Center and The School of Skilled Trades and Continuing Studies.