Weekly Report – August 15, 2016
New Member
Please welcome Timothy Law Snyder, Phd, President of Loyola Marymount University, as the newest member of the L.A. Coalition.
Timothy began his term as LMU’s 16th president on June 1, 2015 and was inaugurated on October 6, 2015. He brings with him four decades of experience as a teacher and a scholar and a deep commitment to Ignatian education grounded in his work at three Jesuit universities. Snyder has been a professor and administrator for more than 20 years at Jesuit institutions, most recently as vice president for academic affairs at Loyola University Maryland from 2007-14. He was also dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield University from 2001-07, and dean of science at Georgetown University from 1995-99.
Snyder’s career has been devoted to the Jesuit and Marymount tradition of education of the whole person, encouragement of learning, and the service of faith and promotion of justice. Snyder earned his M.A. and his Ph.D. in applied and computational mathematics from Princeton University. He holds a B.A. in psychology and a B.S. in mathematics, and an M.S. in mathematics from the University of Toledo. He has published and presented widely on his research interests, including computational mathematics, data structures, design and analysis of algorithms, geometric probability, digital processing and computer music.
Recently, he has been working on risk assessment, with applications in commercial air travel, HIV and other areas. He has spoken nationwide about the Millennial Generation and ways to educate them. He has practiced “technogogy” for more than 20 years and created LCAST, a series of podcasts aimed at helping students. The podcasts also feature original music he has written, arranged, recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered; his music can also be found on iTunes.
He said he will encourage students to study abroad more and create more partnerships between the university and technology, film and fine arts companies. “L.A. is one of the most creative places in the world … and we should take advantage of that,” he told the Los Angeles Times.
Workforce Development
(1) As a founding adviser to Transmosis, an organization founded by Silicon Valley Technology Entrepreneurs dedicated to the research and application of technology to strengthen the American workforce, I am excited to share that the organization recently received a grant called the California Apprenticeship Initiative Grant from the Community College Chancellor’s Office to define, develop, and deploy a cybersecurity apprenticeship program.
In applying for the grant, we found that despite the burgeoning demand for cyber professionals with the skills necessary to address the increasingly complex and ever-evolving cybersecurity threats facing the nation, the cyber talent gap in the United States – and indeed across the entire globe – continues to grow. According to a report by Burning Glass, the supply of skilled cyber professionals is not keeping pace with the demand. Job postings for cybersecurity openings have grown three times as fast as openings for IT jobs overall. In fact, between 2010 and 2014, cybersecurity job postings increased by 91 percent.
The fact is cybersecurity employers are not connected to the workforce. This disconnect is significantly contributing to the current talent gap. The state and federal funding and resources are available, but are not being directed towards industry-driven training for future cybersecurity professionals. To help close the cybersecurity skills gap Transmosis is attempting to better connect the dots between government and industry by ensuring that state and federal resources are directed towards workforce training designed to meet the needs of industry.
Employers in the program benefit from subsidized training and administrative costs and apprentices are trained to their specific needs, resulting in greater employee retention. Essentially, the apprenticeship program serves as a talent pipeline for industry. Partners in the grant consortium include the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, Cisco, Symantec, Palo Alto Networks, Xilinx, workforce investment boards, and the Division of Apprenticeship Standards. We have found everything ready to go here. We have employers in growing fields like cybersecurity, we have people with transferrable skills, educational institutions, for and non-profit institutions, and $600 million a year alone coming from the federal government into the California workforce board system. So, all the pieces are there, but it is just not working.
The program is available to everyone – from stay-at-home moms to veterans to students – but is particularly geared towards individuals who are looking for a change and have transferrable skills, as well as the time to go through this process and work their way up.
(2) L.A. Coalition Member Cal State Dominguez Hills will partner with the Port of L.A. in a new port-oriented vocational training program. A new global logistics program at L.A. Harbor College and Cal State Dominguez Hills will give those living in the shadow of the nation’s busiest seaport another pathway to a career in port-related industries and help the growing industry close a skills gap. The new program, one of several educational efforts in the region, is intended to train the next generation of workers to run the port and supporting industries. An aging workforce is expected to drive job growth in L.A. County’s global trade and logistics industry, but many employers have difficulty finding qualified workers, found a report last year on the county’s labor force.
Created over the past few months with the Port of L.A., the program includes a new global logistics curriculum at Harbor College and an expansion of transfer opportunities between the college and Cal State Dominguez Hills, which has an existing global logistics and supply chain management track. Harbor College will add a 17-unit certificate program in logistics and offer short-term training for entry-level warehouse jobs and supply-chain management. Employers are looking for students who have people skills, can write, adapt to technology easily and can think critically, she said. One new piece of the program is short-term training that teaches students how to better deal with people. The class, called “bringing out the best in yourself at work,” uses a personality test to bring better self-awareness so workers can communicate better with others. She said they are especially encouraging women to join the program. Only a third of the labor force is female, according to the report.
The port also will offer 15 new internships — five for Harbor College students and 10 for those at CSUDH. The three entities are expected to sign a formal agreement Wednesday at a ceremony.The schools will join the ranks of other institutions attempting to bolster the logistics workforce through training, certificate programs and degree tracks. The profession offers a track for advancement and provides well-paying jobs for high- and middle-skilled workers. A logistics supply chain manager earns a median wage of $51 an hour, according to the report.
Earlier this year, the Port of Long Beach and the Long Beach Unified School District announced they would open the Port of Long Beach Academy of Global Logistics at Cabrillo High School. The four-year program, like other small high school academies that specialize in professions such as law or health, is intended to help entering freshman interested in trade and logistics find a career pathway. It’s expected to open for the 2017-18 academic year, but the school will hold a soft launch this year as it redesigns the pre-existing Cabrillo Academy of Business. Long Beach City College and Cal State Long Beach also have a global logistics and international trade program, helping to make it an easier transition for students interested in moving forward.