Campus teams with STCC on MassGREEN workforce training effort
UMass Amherst faculty and staff are participating in MassGREEN, an initiative led by Springfield Technical Community College to train workers for jobs in the emerging green technology sector.
Established with a $1.8 million grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, the Massachusetts Green Energy Education Network (MassGREEN) Institute will oversee a single, standardized, statewide training effort that responds to the need for a skilled green collar workforce. MassGREEN is a regional training center network composed of the 15 community colleges and UMass Amherst.
Campus personnel directly involved with the partnership are Green Building Research Group faculty from the Natural Resources and Conservation Department, the Architecture + Design Program and Continuing and Professional Education. The campus partnership with STCC was initiated and coordinated by the Office of Research Liaison and Development.
As a partner in MassGREEN, UMass Amherst will develop curriculum and teaching materials for an online sustainable building and performance diagnostics workshop. The online workshop will deliver residential training programs in green design, energy auditing, air sealing, insulation, and weatherization specifically targeted at students, architects, building contractors, weatherization technicians, and workers at the crew and crew chief level.
The partnership with the MassGREEN Institute is also expected to create pipelines from community college-level training to bachelor’s and master’s degree programs at UMass Amherst, providing important career ladders for entry-level building efficiency technicians to pursue more specialized roles as building science professionals and green design specialists.
Along with the community colleges, other MassGREEN partners include Boston Carpenters Apprenticeship and Training Fund, Center for Ecological Technology, Conservation Services Group, Franklin Hampshire Regional Employment Board, Inc., International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers - Local 7 of Western Massachusetts, Massachusetts Association for Community Action, Massachusetts YouthBuild Coalition, National Grid, New England Regional Council of Carpenters, Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, Inc., Springfield Partners, Inc., Strategic Energy Systems and Western Massachusetts Electric.
July 20, 2009.
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