By Paul Karr
WORKING IN TECHNICAL education can sometimes be a little bit like developing a photograph in a darkroom: You know what you've done, but you don't always know exactly how well you've done it until you turn on the light.
Well, someone just flipped the switch. And it turns out that Georgia's technical training programs are getting some pretty illuminating — and uplifting — news about their value to Georgia employers. A 1997 study conducted by the University of Georgia polled employers about how well services offered by the Department of Technical and Adult Education measure up to employers' needs and expectations.
DTAE administers the statewide network of technical institutes and college-based vocational programs that provide, among other services, custom-designed training to companies in many subject areas, such as computer use, industrial technology and management. In addition, DTAE's Quick Start program offers an array of customized services to new and expanding Georgia firms, especially manufacturing companies. These services range from pre-employment training and company orientation to specialized training designed to increase the quality of a client's products and services.
Clients Extremely Satisfied
Conducted by the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government in fall 1997, the study polled more than 4,000 companies to evaluate business and industry customer satisfaction with DTAE programs. Specifically, DTAE wanted to know how satisfied clients are with Quick Start services, custom-designed training delivered by the technical institute system and the job performance of technical institute graduates. Results were promising, indicating both great successes and a few areas for continued development.
"I would summarize these findings as good to excellent, with an opportunity to improve still further," said Larry Gess, the Vinson Institute's associate director for applied research and publications. "Not only can DTAE hold its head up, but it can hold it high. This is an underappreciated and underfunded — yet effective — workforce development organization for the state of Georgia."
Most significant among the findings was that respondents singled out Quick Start as especially effective. More than half of the surveyed companies — who had to have used multiple Quick Start services to participate in the survey — said the presence and reputation of Quick Start played a major role in their decisions to relocate to Georgia. And they weren't disappointed.
"Employers are very to extremely satisfied," Gess said. Another section of the survey, distributed to employers who have used custom-designed services from their local technical institute in the past two years, also revealed that clients are very satisfied with those programs' effectiveness. Some noted a few problems with employees’ communication skills, but Gess pointed out that the programs in question weren't designed to teach communication. "Employees in a computer training program or a program that trains employees to operate machinery are there to learn a particular proficiency," he said. "Communication isn't the skill being taught by that program."
However, that finding is useful because instructors now plan to integrate elements of workplace communication into all programs.
The third part of the survey queried employers with firsthand knowledge of employees who have received technical training through state technical institutes and college vocational programs. Again, satisfaction was indicated in most cases — highest for health professionals, slightly lower for maintenance, automotive and manufacturing workers.
"In terms of candid feedback, I felt the process was extremely valuable," Gwinnett Technical Institute President Sharon Rigsby said of the Vinson Institute study. "For example, we learned that local employers are particularly happy with the quality of our business science graduates. Furthermore, they applauded our efforts to address the dearth of workers in health sciences and industrial technologies."
Studies as a Stepping Stone
What's next? DTAE has commissioned the Vinson Institute to conduct another study, this time of 10-year graduates of training programs and technical institutes. Early word indicates the group has been surprisingly successful at the daunting task of tracking down 10-year grads. Results began to filter in this summer for compilation and analysis.
Meanwhile, Gess and other Vinson Institute researchers travel the state, presenting individual response data from their first survey to technical institute presidents and conducting seminars to inform them about how to use this data.
"They need, at each institute, to look over their specific feedback," he said. "When we bring it to them, they look over each program, area by area, and learn what they are doing well — and what they might do even better."
Rigsby, for one, felt the survey was especially valuable for those reasons. It both reinforced Gwinnett Tech's existing administrative philosophies, she said, and pointed out areas that could be improved. In essence, she and other presidents will use these responses as stepping stones to enhance program quality.
"We were able to confirm some of our previous assumptions," Rigsby said, "such as the need to offer students more scheduling options and flexible delivery formats — Internet, self-paced multimedia and distance learning, to name a few. The business community also sent a clear signal that we need to continue improving the quality of our auxiliary services, such as job placement."
"These are high marks — as high as I ever have seen a state agency receive," Gess concluded. "This is wonderful news."
Paul Karr is a prize-winning journalist and the author of two books.
RELATED LINKS:Quick Start
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