Business Meetings & Professional Development Programs

The following is the 2010-2011 Calendar of Events for MACIC:

• Friday, September 10, 2010 – 9:00am-11:00am – Business Meeting
• Friday, December 10, 2010 – 9:00am-11:00am – Business Meeting/Professional Development Program
• Friday, February 11, 2011 – 9:00am-11:00am – Business Meeting
• Friday, May 13, 2011 – 9:00am-11:00am – Business Meeting/Professional Development Program
• Wednesday, June 15, 2011 – Celebrate Internships! Employer Appreciation Social (TENTATIVE)

Meeting Hosts Request

The September 10^th Business Meeting will be hosted by UW-Milwaukee.  We are looking for hosts for the other three meetings for 2010-2011.

If you are willing to serve as host for any of these three remaining events – Dec. 10^th, Feb. 11^th, or May 13^th – please email Laura Jacobs, Secretary.

Committees

We are also looking forward to a year of active committee participation.  The Leadership Team discussed the following committee structure for 2010-2011:

• Professional Development Committee
• Social Committee
• Branding Committee – NEW
  • This committee would be charged with developing and maintaining a brand and image for MACIC, including logo development, promotional materials development, newsletters, employer outreach, etc.
• Intern of the Year Committee – NEW
  • This committee would be charged with developing an “Intern of the Year” program for MACIC, potentially modeled after MCEIA’s Student Scholarship Award program.

We will be looking for members to join at least one committee at the September 10^th Business Meeting and for each committee to determine Committee Co-Chairs for the year either before or at that time.  At least one committee co-chair will be asked to attend Leadership Team meetings, as outlined in the Organizational Design.

If you have questions on the above information, please contact any one of the Leadership Team officers.

NACE President Shawn VanDerziel sent an email to membership highlighting the work done to date by the organization in developing a position statement on this issue. Employer and college members nationwide were surveyed on their practices and thoughts surrounding unpaid internships, and a roundtable was held at the NACE 2010 Annual Conference held in early June.

Based on NACE principles, beliefs, and assumptions along with information from the membership, NACE developed the following position statement:

“The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), representing more than 3,000 higher education institutions and employing organizations, recognizes the enormous value of internship programs to individual student participants and both the higher education and employer communities. We believe that the U.S Department of Labor criteria for assessing whether internships in the for-profit sector may be unpaid must be reviewed and further clarified to ensure they account for the incredible diversity of students, higher education institutions, and employing organizations involved in such programs. Further, all interns, regardless of their compensation, should enjoy similar, basic protections in the work setting consistent with all laws, ethical considerations, and sound business practices.”

NACE will be taking an active role with this issue as it moves forward, including hosting a webinar concerning unpaid internships on July 26 (more details to come). Legal advisers to NACE are also developing a FAQ document to assist us (employers and colleges) as we work with internships.

MACIC will continue to post information and developments as they arise.

Guest Speaker:
Paul Kilp, Vice President of Elite Human Capital Group

Speed networking is a type of business networking activity and, very much like speed dating, it is about making initial contact with as many people as possible in a short amount of time.

The attendees of the event will have a series of mini-meetings with new contacts. The idea is that within a few minutes of talking to someone new, it is possible to work out if you want to meet again, whether there is the possibility of a future business relationship, or simply to understand more about what your new contact does.

• With Speed Networking, you can make more new business contacts in an hour that you would make in three months!
• Network with other professionals, one-on-one, a few minutes at a time.
• Leave with a pocketful of business cards and a ton of new business connections!
• $5 per person includes continental breakfast

Sign up today! Space is limited, so don’t miss out!

Agenda

7:15-7:30am – Registration & Breakfast
7:30-7:45am – Keynote
7:45-8:30am – Speed Networking (5 minute intervals)

RSVP by August 3, 2010

For more information, contact:

Rachel Noe
414-937-3997
rachel.noe@mcfi.net

* Information reproduced from handout provided at the 2010 Celebrate Employers Social.

The following information was provided as a handout at the event:

RWA/WIRED Overview

The Regional Workforce Alliance (RWA), a partnership of workforce development organizations and other partners from the seven Southeastern Wisconsin counties (Kenosha, Ozaukee, Milwaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington, and Waukesha), was created in 2003-2005 as part of Gov. Jim Doyle’s GROW Wisconsin (Growing Regional Opportunities in Wisconsin) program.

RWA administers a U.S. Department of Labor $5M WIRED (Workforce Innovation Regional Economic Development) grant that addresses the critical role that talent plays in regional economic development, particularly in key economic driver industries: Manufacturing, Financial Services, Health Care, and Water. The Water Boundaries Project was funded by WIRED. It started in October 2009 and concluded in March 2010.

Water Team

Team members included representatives from the M7 Water Council and other regional water experts: Dean Amhaus, Dick Buschmann, Claus Dunkelberg, Dominique Fisher, Michael Mortell, Elizabeth Thelen, Sammis White, and Pat Adrian.

Project Background

Project Purpose: To build a talent development framework to assist in the Water Council’s goal of building a “Water Generation” as well as education and workforce development programs that are part of this network.

Project Deliverables:

• Proposed scope of water industry
• Talent development framework for high priority industries and occupations
• Methodology for evaluating all water industries/occupations knowledge/skill/ability (KSA) needs

The Plan

The team moved through a series of steps that considered the water industry from a high level view and then moved toward a more focused view. Project plan steps included:

• Review current water industry literature
• Identify regional scope: water cycle functions, water industries (NAICS codes), water companies
• Identify relevant water industry occupations (SOC codes)
• Determine the primary knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for water occupations
• Examine regional educational programs of study for water occupations
• Make recommendations for water education, career paths, curriculum

Results

Results of the Water Boundaries Project were presented to regional water industry stakeholders on March 10, 2010 at the Water Industry Talent Summit event held at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee.

From 1200+ industries, 84 water-related industries were prioritized into 3 groups, with the highest priority consisting of 15 industries in 5 clusters: public sector water utilities, water utility facility construction, plumbing, water utility consulting services (especially engineering), and waste/landfill.

Of 804 occupations, 71 water-related occupations were prioritized by the amount of water knowledge needed to perform the job tasks, with the highest priority consisting of 23 occupations that included water plant operators, inspectors, civil engineers/techs, chemical and environmental specialists.

Over 100+ knowledge/skill/ability characteristics were examined for commanality across 4 key career path occupations:

• Top knowledge characteristics: Mathematics, Customer/Personal Service, English Language, Public Safety/Security, Computers & Electronics, Administration & Management
• Top skill characteristics: Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Active Learning, Writing, Mathematics
• Top ability characteristics: Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Near Vision, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Problem Sensitivity, Written Comprehension

Educational programs of study were examined at the highest level for 23 occupations. Example observations/feedback included:

• Increasing accessibility to water programs across the region
• Leveraging existing water curriculum to avoid duplication of efforts
• Including a “Water 101″ early within water occupation curriculum
• Building water certificate “chunks”
• Including hands-on water industry experience

Next Steps

The Water Boundaries Project deliverables are being used by a group led by Dick Buschmann, Milwaukee Area Workforce Board, to inform and support efforts to develop workforce development planning and curriculum building for water occupation training.

For more information, contact Elizabeth Thelen at 262-893-3345/ethelen@wctc.edu or Dick Buschmann at 414-270-1769/dick.buschmann@milwaukeewib.org.

View the complete Water Boundaries Project Presentation online.

DRAFT #2
An internship is a form of experiential learning that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skill development in a professional setting.  Students earn academic credit, or there is some other connection to the curriculum of a degree-granting, educational institution.  This work/learning arrangement is overseen by a faculty or staff member of the student’s educational institution and by a designated employee of the organization.  The work/learning experience is usually the length of a semester, may be part-time or full-time, paid or unpaid.  A learning agenda or learning objectives, which include one or more forms of reflection, is integral to the experience to distinguish it from a volunteer position or job.

Please email your comments, thoughts, and/or suggestions to Michael True at mtrue@messiah.edu.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010
2:00-5:00pm
Manpower Inc. World Headquarters – Milwaukee

Get all of the details and RSVP.

Michael True, Director of the Internship Center at Messiah College, has drafted a definition and is asking for feedback from internship professionals. After gathering feedback from the larger internship community, he will take the definition to the the National Society for Experiential Education’s (NSEE) Internship Special Interest Group for their feedback before submitting a formal proposal to both NSEE and CEIA (Cooperative Education & Internship Association).

Below is the first draft. Please email Michael True with comments or suggestions – mtrue@messiah.edu.

An Internship is a work experience related to a student’s major or career goal for which the student earns academic credit, or there is some other connection to the curriculum of a degree-granting, educational institution. It is supervised by a staff or faculty member of the educational institution and by an employee at the organization. The work experience may be part-time or full-time, paid or unpaid, and primarily in an off-campus environment. A learning agenda must also be integrated into the experience to distinguish it from a volunteer position or job.

The survey only takes a couple of minutes to complete. To assist our colleague with this project, please take a moment to complete the survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PKDM263

Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act

From his conversations with the Dept. of Labor, Richard Bottner, President of Intern Bridge, states that, “The DOL is not currently on a mission of enforcement.” Most of the DOL’s enforcement of internship-related FLSA concerns is, and will be, complaint-driven. This current campaign to raise awareness of the issues surrounding unpaid internships is being targeted at for-profit organizations, and the DOL’ s position is that all for-profit internships should be paid.

This is a complex issue and the legal environment can only change if Congress were to pass internship-specific laws, such as those proposed by the Economic Policy Institute.

If you are interested in learning more about this issue, Intern Bridge is hosting a free webinar, “Paving the Way through Paid Internships,” on Tuesday, May 4, 2010. You can learn more about the webinar and register to participate at www.internbridge.com/workshops/epi.htm.

EPI-Reforming Regulation of Student Internships