Ring The Bell – September 2014

Mary Stanton is our Aerospace Industry Navigator at Spokane Community College. Mary has established the industry standard for what an Industry Navigator should be. She has been recognized by Air Washington, the aerospace industry, employers, students, peers, the Department of Labor, and our fund source as the role model Industry Navigator. If you were to look up Industry Navigator in a dictionary, Mary’s picture would be there. Mary has been relentless in her pursuit of excellence. She has been instrumental in creating a highly successful partnership with college staff, employers, and students. Interestingly, Mary doesn’t carry a traditional case load; she refers students to WIA practitioners for services. Her referrals result in program enrollments, fast placements and excellent wages, all of which are welcome contributions to practitioner and team goal attainment.

Mary has been an inspirational leader of the Air Washington team. Her impact can be seen in the following results:

• 389 students in Spokane’s five focus areas for aerospace: Aerospace Manufacturing Preparation, Aircraft Mechanics, Avionics, Composites, CNC/Machining and Electronics.
• 91.8% current employment rate for Spokane Air Washington graduates.
• 180% of goal attained for enrolling non-traditional students.
• 380% of goal attained for serving clients with disabilities.
• 31 Spokane area aerospace employers have hired Air Washington graduates.
• 63 incumbent workers trained.

Our hats go off to Mary for her commitment to excellence, passion for service, and her remarkable success.

Air Washington is a consortium of 11 Washington State community and technical colleges which have received a $20 million Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training (TAACCCT) grant to strengthen the state’s aerospace industry workforce. The grant began Oct. 1, 2011. A no-cost extension was approved with a limited scope of work, focusing on veterans and long-term program completion, extending the grant through Sept. 30, 2015.

Career Path Services proposed, and was funded to provide an Industry Navigator to support this project. Industry Navigators support multiple constituencies. Services include:

• Assisting colleges with
  • Recruiting students to fill classes
  • Student retention rate
  • Course completion rate
  • Graduation rate
  • Placement rate
  • Wage at placement
  • Relevant course offerings
• Assisting students with
  • career planning
  • college enrollment
  • financial aid and financial assistance
  • academic success
  • course completion
  • placement
• Assisting employers with
  • Meeting short and long range hiring needs
  • Ensuring relevant training and skills
  • Reducing hiring time and cost
  • Reducing turnover and increasing employee retention
  • Understanding industry trends and issues