An Innovative Approach for Advanced Technological Learning in Distinctive Manufacturing

For employers to compete successfully in the increasingly complex, technological, entrepreneurial global competition, they must have an ample supply of high-performance technicians. The traditional educational approach does not supply sufficient numbers of qualified employees to meet the demand. In response, OSU-Okmulgee and its partners are reengineering technological education to prepare technicians to add customer value in world-class, competitive distinctive manufacturing firms. To build a larger base of more competent technicians, the program is recruiting members of underrepresented groups and other students who typically overlook career opportunities in advanced manufacturing. The partnership consists of advanced technological employers, educational institutions, national resource organizations, and Native American tribes. The innovative approach infuses the content of a 90-semester-credit-hour Associate in Applied Science degree into a set of systematic learning experiences that occur in a real-world manufacturing environment to form a holistic, simultaneous, synergistic learning program; demands mastery of rigorous competencies in mathematics, science, and technology; ensures a competent faculty by selecting capable candidates and professionally preparing them to implement their roles in the new approach; recruits and capacitates members of underrepresented groups; articulates the program across secondary and vocational schools, associate degree and bachelor degree granting institutions; and disseminates and communicates the project's deliverables and lessons learned. The depth and breadth of this 90-semester-credit-hour Associate in Applied Science degree program will prepare high-performance technicians for distinctive manufacturing.