S3217

An Act establishing the Statewide Skills Academy Network, supplementing chapter 64A of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and making an appropriation.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. The Secretary of Higher Education, in consultation with the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development, shall establish the Statewide Skills Academy Network. It shall be the purpose of the network to improve communication and collaboration among county colleges, vocational schools, and union training providers to better meet the skills needs of the State’s workforce. The network shall comprise of regional skills academies approved pursuant to section 2 of this act.

b. The network shall:

(1) support the ongoing exchange of best practices and resources in skills development among county colleges, vocational schools, and union training providers;

(2) identify opportunities for improving geographic equity in access to training opportunities throughout the State;

(3) identify any gaps between the industry-recognized credentials required by employers and the availability of training programs needed for acquiring those credentials; and

(4) advise and assist the secretary in the development of an integrated, Statewide credentialing system that supports career mobility and labor market success.

c. The Office of the Secretary of Higher Education shall provide such stenographic, clerical, and other administrative assistants, and such professional staff as the network requires to carry out its work.

d. The network shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available for its purposes.

2. a. To be eligible for consideration to establish a regional skills academy, a county college, vocational school, or union training provider seeking to participate in the Statewide Skills Academy Network shall submit an application to the Secretary of Higher Education, in accordance with application procedures and requirements prescribed by the secretary.

b. (1) The secretary, in consultation with the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development, shall establish criteria for the selection of skills academies and the awarding of grants available pursuant to this act.

(2) The secretary shall select skills academies and award grants to skills academies based upon review of the applications and subject to the limit of funds appropriated or otherwise made available for this purpose.

(3) Priority for grants awarded pursuant to this act shall be given to skills academies that will offer training opportunities in evening hours and on weekends.

c. Grants provided pursuant to this act shall be used for the development and maintenance of accessible training sites, including, but not limited to, costs associated with facilities, curriculum development, equipment, staffing, and ongoing operating costs.

3. A regional skills academy approved pursuant to section 2 of this act shall:

a. support the Statewide Skills Academy Network in the fulfillment of its work; and

b. develop a training site that provides short-term, stackable credential programs in high-demand sectors that will improve employee readiness and job placement outcomes of participants.

4. The Secretary of Higher Education shall annually apply for any federal, State, and private grant funds or other assistance which may be available to be used for the Statewide Skills Academy Network and regional skills academies established pursuant to this act.

5. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education the sum of $1,000,000 to effectuate the purposes of this act.

6. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes the Statewide Skills Academy Network and appropriates $1 million to the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education for the bill’s purposes.

Under the bill, the Secretary of Higher Education, in consultation with the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development, is directed to establish the Statewide Skills Academy Network. The purpose of the network is to improve communication and collaboration among county colleges, vocational schools, and union training providers and to better meet the skills needs of the State’s workforce. The network would be comprised of regional skills academies and:

(1) support the ongoing exchange of best practices and resources in skills development among county colleges, vocational schools, and union training providers;

(2) identify opportunities towards improving geographic equity in access to training opportunities throughout the State;

(3) identify any gaps between the industry-recognized credentials required by employers and the availability of training programs needed for acquiring those credentials; and

(4) advise and assist the secretary in the development of an integrated, Statewide credentialing system that supports career mobility and labor market success.

The bill requires a county college, vocational school, or union training provider interested in establishing a regional skills academy to submit an application to the Secretary of Higher Education, in accordance with application procedures and requirements prescribed by the secretary. The secretary, in consultation with the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development, is directed to establish criteria for the selection of skills academies and the awarding of grants available pursuant to the bill. The secretary is further directed to select skills academies and award grants to skills academies based upon review of the applications and subject to the limit of available funds. Under the bill, priority for grants would be given to skills academies that offer training opportunities in evening hours and on weekends. Grants are to be used for the development and maintenance of accessible training sites.

Under the bill, a skills academy is required to:

· support the Statewide Skills Academy Network in the fulfillment of its work; and

· develop a training site that provides short-term, stackable credential programs in high-demand sectors that will improve employee readiness and job placement outcomes of participants.

The bill directs the secretary to annually apply for any federal, State, and private grant funds or other assistance which may be available to be used for the network and skills academies.

The bill appropriates $1 million to the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education to effectuate the bill’s purposes.