Following are the main steps in planning a program of work:  

Establish annual priorities:  The priorities that a committee undertakes will be based on the current and projected needs of the community and what has been accomplished in the past. Priorities could include curriculum review and revision, staff development, career development and work-based learning activities, marketing and/or advocacy of the program, student activities (recruitment, mentoring, placement), or program-specific resource needs.

Plan committee activities: Once the priorities are set, the program of work can become more specific.

Develop planning tasks: These tasks are steps to accomplishing specific activities. The advisory committee should consider time, costs, human resources, and other support needed for each step.

Assign responsibilities: This can be the most important step for accountability and follow-up. Even when the entire committee will work on the project, one or more individuals should be responsible for getting each task started, keeping it going, and providing progress reports. Be sure each person responsible understands what is to be accomplished.

Establish timelines: In addition to clearly understanding what is to be accomplished, each person assigned to a specific planning task should know when the task is to be

completed. Timelines allow the person(s) assigned to a given task to plan for its completion.

Program of Work Priorities 

Priorities for the advisory committee’s program of work usually fall into one of these categories:

• Curriculum
• Staff development
• Career development and work-based learning
• Marketing and advocacy
• Student recruitment, mentoring, and placement
• Program resources
• Evaluation (of the program and the advisory committee itself)
• Curriculum

Review of curriculum— Advisory committees can identify programs and content that are out-of-date or do not meet industry standards. Members should advise on academic, technical, and employability standards that the program and its students should meet.

Items to be reviewed include:  

Program objectives—Committee members should ask questions such as: Are the program objectives appropriate in light of current workplace trends? If achieved, will they produce graduates who will be able to enter employment at acceptable levels? Does the labor market’s demand justify the number of graduates that the program is producing?

Structure and length—After reviewing the structure and mechanics of the program, the committee should ask questions such as: Is the lab sufficient? Does the program provide adequate work-based learning activities such as internships and clinicals?

Curriculum frameworks and course descriptions—Does the framework or course sequence satisfy the requirements of business and industry as stated in national

standards and as determined through local employer needs assessment within Minnesota?

Modification of existing programs—Advisory committees help to develop educational objectives. Because they are directly involved with business and industry, committee members can provide a fresh perspective and new insights that program instructors often cannot. Fresh ideas help technical/occupational education administrators and instructors to align their programs with contemporary expectations. Committee recommendations should be stated in the form of motions that are then voted upon by the committee and recorded in the minutes.

Emerging fields—Advisory committees help to identify new or emerging technical/ occupational education fields. Because change is a constant in the technological

workplace, advisory committees are an indispensable source of up-to-date expertise on new and developing areas. They can identify areas in which new programs, or changes to existing programs, are necessary.

Program articulation with secondary programs—There is often overlap, or a lack of continuity, in the way programs at the secondary and community college levels affect students. Curriculum at the community college or technical college should not be developed in isolation from secondary schools. A career pathway system that recommends a 9–14 course sequence should be implemented. Likewise, options should be open for students who want to continue beyond the AAS degree.

Industry credentials—Advisory committees can help programs identify minimum industry standards and credentials for students exiting the program.

Safety—Advisory committees may be able to assist programs with safety concerns, safety training, or safety equipment.

Review, evaluate, and advise on course materials—Advisory committees can be helpful in determining whether texts should be updated or supplemented. It is usually not the advisory committee’s task to select course materials, but committee members are often able to suggest helpful occupation-related guides and catalogs.

Staff Development

Provide in-service activities for instructors—Advisory committees can review instructor professional development plans and make recommendations for their improvement. They can provide instructors with retraining, back-to-industry, and summer opportunities designed to help instructors upgrade their technical skills, or they can provide in-service activities on current business/industry methods and processes. Another area in which business partners can assist in staff development is math. Business and industry can help teachers infuse higher levels of mathematics into technical/occupational courses and enable faculty to deepen students’ understanding of algebra and geometry concepts as they are used to solve authentic workplace problems.

Open industry-based training to instructors—Advisory committee members may provide relevant employee training that could be made available to technical/occupational instructors.

Support instructors’ memberships or participation in trade associations—By underwriting instructor memberships in industry and trade associations, advisory committees help educators gain access to up-to-date technology and the expertise of working professionals in the field.

Career Development and Work-Based Learning

Advisory committees can review career guidance activities and serve as a placement clearinghouse for the work-based learning component of your program.

Career awareness and career development activities—Advisory committee members

are perfect partners for work-based learning experiences for students. Members can arrange for occupation-related field trips or other career awareness activities such as job shadowing.

Work-based learning activities—The most intense work-based learning activities are internships (or clinicals) and apprenticeship programs. In most cases, these programs are highly structured and involve bridging the curriculum and the workplace so that students can see a connection between their academic studies and their work-based learning. Internships have definite time spans—typically a semester or a year. There is no guaranteed employment at the end; however, many interns have found employment at their internship sites. Apprenticeships take many forms, but all involve both secondary and postsecondary components. Business partners work with educators to define the curriculum. Most youth apprenticeships involve some type of postsecondary tuition compensation, and many involve guaranteed employment upon successful completion.

Part-time jobs—In lieu of a formal work-based learning program, advisory committee members can often place students in part-time jobs related to the program. Technical/ occupational education students welcome the opportunity to try out their new skills and make money while still in college.

Marketing and Advocacy

Interpret the program to the community—Acceptance and continued support of technical/occupational education often hinges on a community’s knowledge of career areas and related programs at the college. The advisory committee can heighten public awareness of local labor market needs and related technical/occupational programs at the college. For this reason, an advisory committee must initiate and maintain an effective public relations program. Advisory committees can also assist the college in developing or implementing the college’s marketing plan.

Serve as an advocate of technical/occupational education—Members can present technical/occupational programs to community groups, lending credibility and stature to the programs. Advisory committees can establish procedures for recognizing outstanding students, teachers, and community leaders. Advisory committees should seek ways to increase coverage of technical/occupational programs in newspaper, radio, television, and other media. In addition, members can help in the promotion of special college events.

Seeking legislative support for technical/occupational programs—Advisory committee members can be the college’s most effective spokespersons among political groups. The views of prominent business leaders tend to carry considerable weight with policymakers at local, state, and federal levels. Advisory committees can explain to legislators about the need for technical/occupational programs, provide tours for legislators, and promote legislation that supports technical/occupational education. Managing marketing and advocacy involves three main steps:

• Identify an “owner” for marketing activities—This may be a subcommittee or a person to work with the college public relations office.
• Develop a multimedia strategy. (Print,  digital (audio, video, and CD): student testimonials; employer testimonials, radio and television, PowerPoint presentations
• Promote the program and the committee’s work.

Students: Recruitment, Mentoring, and Placement

An advisory committee can play an important role in identifying available jobs, in recruiting and mentoring students in technical/occupational programs, and in placing program completers.

Recruitment—Advisory committees help “sell” technical/occupational education to students and recruit students into the program.  

Student outcomes—The advisory committee should review completion rates, placement rates, and (where required) state licensing examination outcomes for the program.  

Placement—Advisory committees can advise on the current and projected demand for program graduates. They are also good candidates for hiring program graduates/ completers and can notify instructors of job openings for which students are qualified.

Advisory committee members in the classroom—Members can serve as, or arrange for, guest speakers or substitute teachers in the classroom.

Mentoring—Members may serve as mentors for students and help students in making career choices. In addition, many advisory committees take on the task of assisting students in developing interviewing skills.

Resources (Equipment, Funding, and Personnel)

Advisory committees can advise the college on program resource needs, including equipment, laboratories, shops, staff qualifications, and specialized educational and training facilities. They can help leverage community resources and broker community partnerships. Many times advisory committee members donate materials, equipment, and services to technical/occupational programs.

Provide advice on new technology—To prepare students for a global workforce, technical/occupational education programs must use up-to-date equipment. Advisory committees should review existing equipment and consider how closely it matches equipment used in industry. Committees can determine what equipment is obsolete, what should be obtained, and whether the program provides sufficient student materials.

Facilities—An advisory committee can help to determine whether the physical layout of a shop or laboratory provides the best possible learning environment. At the community college level, the emphasis should be on hands-on instruction rather than simulated experiences. Development of manipulative skills requires a great deal of one-on-one time and much repetition. Experience in supervised laboratory settings is a must.  

Libraries of visual aids, books, and magazines—Advisory committee members may have access to training videos and related items that can help to give students a clearer idea of what goes on in the workplace.

Evaluation—See Sustainability section

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