RESOURCES:
Washtenaw Community College (WCC)
TRANSCRIPTION:
Caroline MacGregor: This is 89.1 WEMU. I'm Caroline MacGregor, and today, we're talking about a world-class skilled trades program at Washtenaw Community College. This program trains more than 12,000 trade professionals across the U.S. and even from other countries. My guests today are Kyrsten Rue and Marilyn Donham, both deans at the College of Academic Skilled Trades Programs. Welcome to both of you!
Marilyn Donham: Thanks for having me, Caroline!
Kyrsten Rue: Yes. Thank you for having me!
Caroline MacGregor: Kyrsten, I'll start with you. Could you give me an overview of WCC's skilled trades programs in relation to training the workforce?
Kyrsten Rue: Sure. In our areas, I kind of think about something that we're really working on at Washtenaw Community College in kind of what we're thinking about at the skilled trades because we want to make sure that we are in line with how the state of Michigan and how kind of nationally skilled trades are defined. So, that encompasses kind of more than I think what traditionally people think of in the skilled trades, which includes advanced manufacturing, automotive, construction, energy-related programs, health care and information technology. So, at Washtenaw, we kind of capture those under career and technical education. So, we have associate degrees and certificates that train students in these career and technical educational programs within each of those categories.
Caroline MacGregor: I think when people think of skilled trades, they automatically think of electrician, welding, carpentry, that kind of thing. But there's so many more programs on offer today.
Kyrsten Rue: Absolutely! Right!
Caroline MacGregor: What are the top areas of need that you're seeing in the industry today? What is the demand on the part of employers and the industry itself?
Kyrsten Rue: I think that probably health care is highest demand in our region. You know, we have a high demand for transportation technologies and health care. And then, that aligns with state of Michigan labor market information. I think we're probably moving into a time where, especially right now, industry changes very quickly. We have rapidly changing technologies, and we get newer career fields that are popping up that are integrated in many spaces. So, for example, electric vehicle and electric technologies, connected internet of things, those are areas in our region that we may not even be able to accurately predict a 10-year projection just because of how rapidly things are changing. We know that, right now, health care and transportation are very high in demand for our students.
Caroline MacGregor: You know, in the past, skilled trades, people would think of, like I mentioned, carpentry, electrician, welding. Today, what is the male-female student ratio in these programs? Or have you noticed an increase in more women enrolling in your programs?
Kyrsten Rue: It's still imbalanced. The ratio is still probably three to one in most of those areas, heavy on the male side to female, except for health care, where it's the inverse. And in computer science, it's a little bit more balanced. So, it might be really closer to 50-50. Whereas in our skilled trades, what you would kind of traditionally think of for manufacturing and welding and HVAC, we have pockets where we've seen a good increase in women enrollment in our welding department currently. Over the past four years, we've seen a 79% increase in women in our welding program. We've seen a 25% increase in our transportation technologies program. And we've seen a 55% increase for HVAC in our female enrollment. And that's over the past four years.
Caroline MacGregor: But how have the skilled trades evolved over time? It seems today there's a lot more math or coding.
Kyrsten Rue: Yes, changing rapidly. And especially if you think about advanced manufacturing, you're incorporating analytics. There's artificial intelligence and machine learning, vision systems to make things more connected to one each other, to have our manufacturing environments have more flexibility and just improving production and efficiency in our manufacturing facilities. And that's all in partnership with Industry 4.0 and the change in this all things connected type of move.
Caroline MacGregor: Is there anything else that you would like to add about your program?
Kyrsten Rue: Overall, I think that the partnerships between our K-12 systems and the community colleges and our industry partners, as well as the workforce development space in the state of Michigan, is essential to making sure that we align more with how many people are coming into our programs and how many are successfully completing our programs. So, that continued opportunity to work collaboratively to meet the needs of both the people that are coming in and where students are going after they leave us is essential to making sure that we're staying on the right track.
Caroline MacGregor: If you're just joining us, I'm speaking to Washtenaw Community College Deans of Skilled Trades, Marilyn Donham and Kyrsten Rue. Marilyn, I'd like to just ask you. You're the Dean of Skilled Trades Training at WCC and the person who is in charge of professional skilled trade union partnerships.
Marilyn Donham: That's right! And it's very different from what Kyrsten does and very different from her area. It's more reflective of what you originally thought. These are building trade unions. So, they're the building trades, which is traditionally plumbers and pipe fitters, electricians, iron workers, plasterers, roofers, those sorts of skilled trades that have to do with construction. So, we have strong partnerships with these international building trade unions at the international level. So, the people that I deal with are mostly out of Washington, D.C. and represent their membership across the country, the United States, Ireland, and Australia. Some of them come that far. And every year, thousands of their members travel here from those areas to take part in hands-on training and its unique partnerships.
Caroline MacGregor: Tell me a little bit about the unions. Approximately how many union members come to train at WCC?
Marilyn Donham: Sure. Each summer, it's around 5,000 members who come here from the different trades over the course of five, not necessarily consecutive weeks. So, it takes up about eight weeks of our summer. In a lot of cases, they take over every classroom on campus, and they come from all over the world. And there's really two key purposes. They come here to strengthen their teaching skills. So, back at their locals, these individuals are instructors, for the most part, that come here. So, they come here, and we have core teaching skill programs that take four years for each of the groups--some five years--that teach them basically how to teach and become more effective instructors. And second, they come to gain hands-on experience with the latest technologies and equipment, so they can take their knowledge back to their locals and train others.
Caroline MacGregor: How did WCC position itself to be so attractive to these unions and members that are coming each year?
Marilyn Donham: So, there's a historical reason. We were a strong partner with Local 190, which is the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. And they even had their training center here on campus back in the 70s and 80s. Their international instructor training program was at Purdue, and they were looking for a new home. And we had such a strong partnership with 190, and administrators from Washington had come to see our campus. And they were so impressed. That's when we signed our first contract with the labor union back in 1990. That program, the UA, is internationally renowned as the best instructor training program, probably one of the best in the world. And so, the other building trades sort of followed. I think the iron workers came 15 years ago. IBEW has been here for 10 years. And more recently, we have the roofers and the plasterers. They really choose WCC because we really get what they need for their programs to succeed. Our facilities are built to feel like their job site. We have the latest tools and technologies that they use every day. Plus, our staff is unique. They know the trades. Many of them are tradespeople themselves, and they know how to support these instructors when they come to learn. From the president on down, they know that these partnerships matter to us, and everyone treats them great when they came here on campus. It's like a second home for many of them. And I get a lot of support from our upper administration.
Caroline MacGregor: Have more women been joining the ranks of these people coming onto your program to WCC as part of the training?
Marilyn Donham: Yes! So, I would say I've definitely seen an increase in women attending in these events for all groups. To be frank with you, back in the 90s, you wouldn't see many women at all. And the difference between unions and non-union job sites, you can see that building trades unions have been working really hard to make construction jobs more inclusive and accessible to women. And while they're still underrepresented in all the trades, I think, we're seeing the strongest growth and most intentional support in these union systems.
Caroline MacGregor: So, the need is definitely there, and the growth forecast appears to be quite healthy.
Marilyn Donham: Oh yeah! And I think that the unions understand that if they don't include women, they're really going to be hurting when it comes to recruitment and retention. They have to be more inclusive, and they've stated such. And they're trying very hard.
Caroline MacGregor: There's clearly quite an economic incentive. I mean, these programs are attracting people from all over the world, like you mentioned, so a big boost, yes, to the local economy! Would you agree?
Marilyn Donham: Right! When these members come in, they rent thousands of hotel rooms. They eat out every night at local restaurants. Some of them bring their families, so that their wives and kids or husbands and kids can have a week here, and they shop at local businesses. The financial impact is very significant, and the attendees always talk about how much they love Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area and how they feel welcomed when they come here.
Caroline MacGregor: Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Marilyn Donham: Yeah, I would just like to say that, like you mentioned, there's a huge demand for skilled trades right now, regardless of what's going on in Washington. The current workforce is nearing retirement, and it's creating a real urgency to train the next generation. And we're seeing more infrastructure projects, regardless--more energy work. And it all requires highly trained workers, and that's why it's such a big deal that these unions come to WCC for the training. It's not just that they're brushing up with their skills. They're preparing to go back and train thousands of other apprenticeships and journey workers across the country. And what happens here at WCC directly impacts the job site quality, safety, and workforce readiness across the countries. So, I feel like what we do here really has an impact nationwide.
Caroline MacGregor: I've been speaking with WCC Deans of Skilled Trades, Kyrsten Rue and Marilyn Donham. Thank you for joining me today!
Marilyn Donham: No problem!
Kyrsten Rue: Thank you!
Caroline MacGregor: This is 89.1 WEMU-FM Ypsilanti.
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