​MIAMI—Administration officials hit the road this week to re-affirm President Barack Obama’s commitment to community colleges, noting that more details on the plans he mentioned during his State of the Union address this Tuesday will be unveiled in a few weeks.

At the American Association of Community Colleges’ Workforce Development Institute (WDI), Jane Oates, assistant secretary of employment and training at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), told two-year college officials that those details will reflect “a lot of your ideas,” and stressed that the president has a long-term outlook for workforce development and education.

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“His goals are to build an America that is built to last, an economy that is built to last,” she told WDI attendees. “He came out quite strongly for American manufacturing (during his annual address to Congress). Now as the rebuilding continues, I hope we see job growth in each of your communities.”

The president's fiscal year 2013 budget is scheduled to be released on Feb. 13. It will include his requested funding for federal programs, including new ones that he is proposing.

A bright spot in Congress

With all the talk about congressional gridlock, Oates said community college leaders should appreciate at least one thing Congress did right—authorize the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program, which will provide $2 billion over four years.

DOL received 257 applications for the first round of the TAACCCT grants and funded 49 of them.

“The majority of the applicants were incredibly competitive,” Oates said.

The assistant secretary had some advice for colleges planning to apply for the second-round grants: “Follow the rules to the letter.” Applications not funded in the first round “failed to focus on trade-impacted workers,” which was the goal of the program, Oates said. “Your best ideas may not be eligible for this program.”

Second-round applications will be available in February. Oates suggested less money might be awarded to consortia in the second round in order to provide more funding to states. Colleges that received grants in the first round can partner in a proposal seeking a second-round grant, but they can’t be the fiscal agent for the grant.

Collaboration is essential

Community colleges should work with workforce boards in providing educational assistance and transferring credits for disadvantaged populations, including veterans and ex-offenders, Oates said, noting DOL wants to make it easier for community colleges to align apprenticeship programs that would serve these students.

In response to a question about federal funding for second-chance programs aimed at ex-offenders, Oates conceded that during the current focus on deficit reduction, “we will have fewer dollars for this.” She suggested that education leaders better educate elected leaders about the effectiveness of such programs in reducing recidivism rates.

Oates also encouraged community college leaders to present their ideas for the pending reauthorization of the federal Workforce Investment Act to their elected leaders.

“Your perspective from community colleges is important for them to hear,” she said.

Room for green jobs

Oates noted that Obama’s support for energy produced in the U.S., especially green energy, is good news for community colleges.

“The projects that you’ve been involved in will grow and become more important,” she said. “Not every community college is going to be involved in manufacturing wind turbines or solar panels, but there will be some niche for you to be involved in.”

Oates added that even the president’s remark regarding wealth and taxes relates to community colleges.

It’s about “fairness in terms of access to education, adequate funding for education, fairness in job placement,” and special attention to help veterans find jobs, she said. 

An official from Lone Star College​ in Texas asked Oates how DOL could better inform people about career opportunities in manufacturing. The department doesn’t have funding for this, Oates said, but corporate partners can help get the message out, especially to parents, who don’t always know that manufacturing jobs pay well. But those jobs are competitive and require high-level skills.

That’s why parents and teachers need to advise students to “take the hard math,” she said.

Oates also urged community colleges to “build a bridge between the credit and non-credit side of the house.” She said credit programs are mostly full of students age 18 to 22, while people over 25 tend to enroll in non-credit programs.

“We need to make sure people can earn some credit and maybe will come back and get a degree. It’s never too late,” she said. “Adults need to know they have the option to earn credit.”