Topeka, Kan. – Washburn Institute of Technology (Washburn Tech) has been awarded $400,000 from the National Science Foundation under Funding Opportunity NSF 23-528 Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity. Washburn Tech is one of five higher education institutions named to a new consortium to promote future relationships between workforce development programs and regional workforce needs.
As a member of Generating Regional Innovative Partnerships (GRIP), the cohort schools will seek to engage employers by implementing an advisory council model of a business and industry leadership team. This model places businesses in a co-leadership role for program development, giving employers direct input for the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to produce the work-ready graduates sought by employers.
“Washburn Tech is poised to become an even more vital player in the northeast Kansas manufacturing ecosystem through a partnership with the National Science Foundation and fellow cohort institutions,” said Chaz Havens, assistant dean, instructional services at Washburn Tech. “The GRIP collaboration will empower faculty to deepen their expertise in training individuals for cutting-edge technologies. In addition, we expect this initiative to enhance recruitment efforts and strengthen partnerships with the manufacturing industry.”
To revitalize and streamline the new partnerships, a work-based learning coordinator will also be employed, which will be a position funded in part by a GRIP grant.
Other members of the consortium are William Rainey Harper College, Palatine, Ill.; Ivy Tech Community College, Evansville, Ind.; Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Gauthier, Miss.; and WSU Tech, Wichita, Kan.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. 2331584.
-30-
For further information, contact:Lori Hutchinson
Exec. Dir. of Strategic Communications & Marketing
Telephone: 785-670-1711
Cell: 785-224-6212
Email: lori.hutchinson@washburn.edu
