Why the Summit Matters
Some call it a crisis; we see an opportunity.
The available workforce in Vermont has shown little growth in recent years and will begin to shrink in 2012:
- Census data continues to show a decline in the 20-34 year old population
- There will be an 18% decline in Vermont's high school population over the next ten years
- Vermont's workforce is older than the average in most states, and as the baby boomers retire, a large number of skilled workers will leave the workforce[1]
Couple these Vermont statistics with the unprecedented workplace changes in the last few decades and the rise of a new economy characterized by global migration, technological innovation, and the centrality of "soft skills" such as critical and creative thinking, complex problem solving and out of the box thinking, intercultural competence, flexibility and emotional intelligence, it becomes evident that the Time is NOW to create a game changing model of workforce preparation and stakeholder collaboration that will ensure the vitality of our businesses, organizations and state.
Likewise, the manner in which work is performed will likely change drastically over the course of the next ten years. According to the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) "HR systems and processes will adapt to a world with more project work, independent contractors, customer career tracks and virtual collaboration."[2] How can Champlain College facilitate this new working model for employers who have these needs as well as for graduates and alumni who seek the work?
As a professionally focused college with a long history of listening to and responding to the needs of industry and preparing students ready for work on day 1, we are once again convening stakeholders from around the State and beyond in order to leverage our collective wisdom, insight and expertise and create a unique collaboration/synergistic model across groups to deliver the best prepared graduates to serve as employees and become employers in Vermont, across the U.S. and around the world.
This summit is about the creating a competitive advantage for the state, the nation, and our graduates by identifying workforce needs and developing new models for working together in order to equip organizations with human resources solutions that meet these needs. We are talking about a fundamentally different way of engaging cross stakeholder partnerships and preparing the new workforce demanded by the new economy.
By convening this summit, we are promising to serve as an anchor for the long term success of our graduates and as a driver of economic viability and sustainability for the State and its businesses.
Champlain faculty has long excelled at learning new trends in business/industry. Successful avenues for this have included advisory boards and interaction with national and international thought leaders, some of whom are members of our own Champlain community as well as at our sister schools.
However, these conversations and efforts have been ad hoc and largely department or division specific. The Summit provides the opportunity to leverage and expand this foundational work by bringing the whole system into the room- students, faculty, staff, business, government officials, k-12, alumni, parents and many others. Imagine! What if as a result of the conversation, businesses and governmental officials realize that the creation of a gaming industry in Vermont is not that farfetched and commit to putting the structures in place so VT is the home of more gaming companies? What if prototype projects are funded? What if we create something that makes our college, our city and our state a national leader in this area?
We are embarking on a journey that we believe will change the way workforce preparation and the economic sustainability in the State looks forever.
We are Champlain, this is who we are. This is what we do.
[1] Evans, Allen, "Vermont Workforce Development Council: Annual Report 2010"
[2] Fox, Adrienne, "At Work in 2020: Shape your organization for the future by measuring workforce needs, analyzing trends and being open to new working relationships" HR Magazine, January 2010 VOL. 55, Number 1
Game Art work created by student Dan Peavey