Name, Title and Company of Business & Industry Members Present

Name, Title and Company of Business & Industry Members Present

Janet Beets, Uniweld Products, Inc.

Edward Cayia, Edward Cayia, Public Attorney

Kathleen Watson, Healthcare Consultant

Name, Title and Work Location of District and School-Based Support Staff/Guests Present

Di Ramnath-Jadulal, Sheridan Tech Center

Linda Tobin, Atlantic Technical Center

Brian King, Broward County District Office

Meeting Agenda Item1:

Welcome and Introductions.

Meeting Notes/Minutes:

Kathleen Watson, Advisory Chair, welcomed all members and thanks the business partners for taking time to give input and advice to the public school system.

Meeting Agenda Item 2:

Mission and Purpose.

Meeting Notes/Minutes:

Brian King relayed the mission of the committee and the importance in gathering the input from the business professionals to ensure the program curriculum is the most current and preparing our students for success.

Meeting Agenda Item 3:

Approval of minutes from last meeting

Meeting Notes/Minutes:

The September 23, 2011, meeting minutes were reviewed and approved with twochanges noted: Page 2, Agenda Item #8, under Edward: experienced changed to entry-level. Under Next Scheduled Meeting, time changed from 8:00am to 8:30am.

Meeting Agenda Item 4:

Employment outlook for program graduates

Meeting Notes/Minutes:

Advisory members said that the employment outlook is still guarded.

Edward mentioned that he thought it was looking up slightly, but employment now seems to be in a set-back. He noted that at the Ft. Lauderdale Art Institute, students are taking one class at a time, not committing to an entire program.

Janet mentioned that getting applicants who are qualified are difficult. While it appears that employers are looking for a more versatile worker, they cannot be a “jack of all trades and a master of none”. With people not leaving their jobs, there are fewer openings.

Kathleen stated that in the Medical Field it has slowed some, but not completely stopped. She commented that in the hospital setting, Doctors are doing many more of their data-entry tasks at the point of patient care.

Edward said that as an attorney, he has been doing much more of his own clerical work as well.

Linda Tobin asked the advisory to assist in leads toward non-paid internships for students, in order to give them experience on their resume.

Meeting Agenda Item 5:

Technical Center Program update

Meeting Notes/Minutes:

Sheridan: The school is moving toward more on-line courses, attempting to get many programs 100% on-line. The Medical Administrative Assistant program has not had enough interest to run the program in 4-5 years. Enrollment is full, however, with a mixed class of Administrative Assistant and Legal Administrative Specialist programs.

Atlantic: The school has not embraced the on-line program delivery model to the degree that Sheridan has. Linda Tobin commented that the school has many student who want the face-to-face delivery and they have kept this option available for students. Both the Medical Administrative Specialist and Administrative Assistant programs are full. The advisory discussed the use of e-books, Linda commented that the school is looking at using them where they fit, but there are many variables to consider in each case (financial aid resources, funding sources for the materials, etc.).

Meeting Agenda Item 6:

Curriculum update: Student achievement of industry Certifications.

Meeting Notes/Minutes:

Linda Tobin reported that she has been working on a committee with the FLDOE to re-write the curriculum frameworks for the Administrative Assistant programs. She had not heard anything from the DOE Program Supervisor in a few months. Brian to follow-up with the FLDOE to see where the updates are going.

Brian gave an update of Broward student achievement on industry certification exams during the last school year. The passing rate for all students who were enrolled in a CTE program and took that identified exams was 70%. The overall passing rate of all exams taken by all students in the district was 51%. Brian commented that he thought the passing rate was excellent for the first year of the program.

Adjournment and Date/Time of Next Scheduled Meeting

The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for October 6th, 2011 at 8:30 am. It will be held at Atlantic Technical Center.

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