College of Marin Career and Tech Ed. Gets $550K

Students in College of Marin Career and Technical Education programs will benefit from a $550,000 three-year grant to advance workforce development programs in multiple career pathways at Novato's Indian Valley Campus.

 The grant, announced this week, is part of a $15 million California Career Pathways grant in a six-county alliance designed to help students stay in school and move toward college and careers in high-demand fields.

 The three-year grant will create career pathway programs that connect K-12 schools, community colleges and local businesses.

The grant will create career pathways in high school that will smoothly transition to our community college career pathways, incorporating work-based learning programs such as summer internships.

 For College of Marin, the plan is to advance skills building in demand by local employers, such as its Computer Information Systems and Business Management programs. The College also plans to build out its 3D skill development Autodesk program and integrate it with Engineering Design. Students in the BioScience and AgriBusiness fields can look forward to new career pathways as well.

 “All of these are high-wage and high-demand opportunities for North Bay students,” says Nanda Schorske, Dean of the Indian Valley Campus in Novato.

 Implementation of the grant will begin immediately and start serving students in the 2014-15 school year.