Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1267313
JULY 2020 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 93 ing increasing difficulty maintaining a curricu- lum that reflects current industry needs. While foundational learning for STEM careers involves a fairly static body of knowledge, the applications of that fundamental knowledge changes at the pace of innovation. As tech- nology development and commercialization cycles tighten, the corresponding demand for new knowledge, competencies, and equip- ment is accelerated. Increasingly tight inno- vation cycles make it virtually impossible for community colleges to maintain up-to-date coursework and tooling. The budget and space required to procure and house industrial-grade equipment and associated curriculum are far beyond the means of an average community college, as it is essential to student learning. To address this seemingly impossible situ- ation, there is only one option: colleges and industry must closely partner to provide the full range of education and training necessary for graduate success in Industry 4.0. Colleges deliver the foundational STEM learning in classrooms and labs, while practical applica- tions are taught in an industrial manufacturing setting at local companies. To facilitate and enable this division of labor, NextFlex developed Flex2Future, a work-based learning program designed for advanced man- ufacturing pathways. The program is adopted by community colleges and provides the twin pillars of successful work-based learning: part- ner collaboration and program management, and high-impact and transformative learning experiences for students. Academic and industry partnership initia- tives often fall between the siloes of educa- tion and industry, leaving important efforts to flounder without supervision and strategy. Joint committees are generally composed of volunteers operating not only outside their organizational hierarchy but also outside their job descriptions. Flat reporting structure and borrowed time are stumbling blocks that even the most motivated of teams will have trouble overcoming. Even if strategy and management can be effectively established by a multisector team, there is still ample opportunity to squander programmatic potential. Once students are onboarded at companies, their experiences vary greatly and have an immense impact on which individuals develop the skills and competencies that make them competitive and attractive hires—and which ones languish without direction or support. The most impactful work-based learning experiences are deliberately structured and carefully monitored to drive technical growth and skill development in interns. Essential components include technical training, pro- fessional development, routine feedback, and networking opportunities. To close the gap between academic learning and practical appli- cation of skills, intern managers need to scope a set of tasks that increase in complexity and couple each assignment with technical train- ing. Students also should receive guidance on building professional presence, including writ- ten and verbal communication, public pre- senting, and attire; these valuable competen- cies are frequently overlooked in a classroom setting but are central to career mobility. Impactful and transformative internships are only possible if the primary goal of the internship is learning and skill development. In many companies, interns are treated as a low-cost means of fulfilling a random series of tasks. To truly reap the benefits of work-based learning—future employees with initiative, deep comprehension, and analytical thinking, which are so critical to innovation and con- tinuous improvement—assignments must be chosen with strategy and accompanied by cor- responding mentorship. Designing and implementing this type of experience takes effort and resources most companies do not put into interns. Those that do, however, generally find the investment pays off as their students develop the aptitude, knowledge, and experience to become valu- able contributors. Companies that prove suc- cessful at this process transition from talent recruitment to development, redirecting their resources toward the deliberate creation of a capable and skilled employee base. While both education and industry tend to agree about the benefits and need for work-