New Partnership Promotes Careers in Transportation and Engineering
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The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and the National Network for the Transportation Workforce (NNTW) are pleased to announce a collaborative working partnership to promote an increasingly skilled professional transportation and engineering workforce. The partnership agreement will allow ITE and the NNTW to formally address a looming national labor shortage: nearly half of the current transportation workforce will be eligible to retire within the next ten years.
To prepare current and new employees to fill emerging job opportunities in transportation and engineering, ITE and NNTW will work toward a number of common goals:
- Identify successful strategies to attract youth, veterans, women and underserved populations to career opportunities in transportation;
- Use data-based methods to forecast future workforce needs and to develop effective strategies to meet those needs; and
- Support educators at all levels as well as educator-industry collaborations to introduce and advance skills and training that will fill current and future workforce needs in transportation.
“ITE is pleased to be partnering with NNTW on this pivotal issue of workforce development. It is imperative that the transportation profession be forward-looking to be able to attract the diverse set of new and transitioning workers needed for the future transportation workforce,” said Jeffrey F. Paniati, ITE Executive Director and CEO.
In the near-term, the partners will begin with activities that include collaboration on national events and conferences, and the creation of joint education and industry outreach products.
ITE will also provide guidance and input to the National Transportation Career Pathways Initiative, led by the NNTW. The national career pathway program is the result of a $1.25 million Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) grant. Under the grant, the five regional centers that make up the NNTW will launch pilot career pathway demonstration programs focused on five strategic disciplines: planning, environment, operations, engineering, and safety. The goal behind the career pathway demonstrations is to engage post-secondary students to choose transportation career paths and to gain critical skills identified by industry and employers. ITE will participate on discipline advisory groups established by the workforce centers to garner industry insight to shape the development and implementation of career pathway demonstrations.
“The National Network is looking forward to working with ITE to identify the needs of the future workforce,” said Steve Albert, Director of the West Region Transportation Workforce Center; “we also want to provide clear and well-grounded pathways for meeting the needs we have right now.”
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About ITE:
ITE is an international educational and scientific association of transportation professionals who are responsible for meeting mobility and safety needs. Founded in 1930, ITE is a community of transportation professionals, including transportation engineers, planners, consultants, educators and researchers. ITE promotes professional development of its members, supports and encourages education, stimulates research, develops public awareness programs and serves as a conduit for the exchange of professional information. Learn more at: www.ite.org
About the NNTW:
The NNTW is consortium of five regional transportation workforce centers established by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to connect and empower the transportation workforce through research, education, and industry engagement. Each center serves as a resource to support, grow and maintain a skilled and career-ready transportation workforce in their respective regions, and the centers collaborate on the national level to provide for a more strategic and coherent approach to workforce development. Learn more at: www.nntw.org
To view the press release, click here.
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