PURPOSE
UND’s Office of Workforce Development is a
unit of the Division of Continuing Education. The
office has two primary functions:
- to work internally within the University to plan,
coordinate and deliver professional development
programs and services to staff and faculty (“University
Within the University” or “U2”)
and
- to work externally with business, industry
and governmental organizations to develop customized
educational and training programs & services
that meet the workforce challenges of today
and the needs of tomorrow.
Outreach operations began in December 1997.
The office provides a variety of services to the
University’s external clients to include identification
of training resources and enhancing the overall operation
of an organization’s training program. Other
services include needs analysis, grant writing, human
resource consulting, management of training initiatives,
report writing, strategic planning, and training
plan development.
Benefits to clients include customized services and delivery; professional
trainers; just-in-time training; solutions to training issues; and ultimately
increased organizational output. The office is designed to be self-supporting
and costs of services are negotiated on an individual contract basis with clients.
Services and programs are available to public and private sector businesses,
industry and governmental organizations of all sizes. Non-profit agencies also
receive services.
The office is located in the University’s
Skalicky Tech Incubator, the State’s leading
research technology center. The Incubator is a fully-operational
facility which offers such high-tech capabilities
as video conferencing, interactive video network,
a television production studio, meeting rooms for
workshops & seminars, and conference facilities
(i.e., catering, registration, parking, event staffing,
etc.). Training rooms are available in three sizes
to accommodate clients and there is also access to
a 250-seat auditorium. The Incubator allows the Workforce
Development office to support business, industry
and organizational clients, through training sessions
customized to meet their workforce needs.
Since outreach operations began, UND's Office of
Workforce Development has facilitated workforce training
for more than 3,000 individuals and has assisted
regional businesses with expansions and the development
of over 1,000 new primary sector jobs for Grand Forks.
Grant writing efforts have also been very successful
with the office bringing more than $800,000 to the
region for the support of various workforce development
projects. Helping businesses recover from the 1997
flood has also been a key function of the office.
The 1999 state legislative session made workforce
training - on a statewide level - a top priority.
A task force representing business, education and
government spent six months examining North Dakota's
workforce training system and researching best practices
of other states. The task force established a goal
of providing business and industry in North Dakota
with the most competitive workforce in the nation.
As a result, the state legislature created a new
workforce training system for North Dakota. The centerpiece
of this plan is the establishment of four defined
service regions. As part of this system, Northeastern
North Dakota is being served through a partnership
between UND and Lake Region State College in Devils
Lake.
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