by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
When Steven Wallace takes over the chairmanship of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors in 2007, the Florida Community College at Jacksonville president will taking the next step in a so far successful campaign to bring Jacksonville’s corporate community into his classrooms.
Since becoming president in 1997, Wallace has sought to build an ongoing partnership with those who do the hiring and firing in Jacksonville. Now, about to enter his 2006 term as chair-elect, Wallace says he’s in position to bolster those bonds.
“This is one of the finest chambers (of commerce) in America,” said Wallace. “This is going to be an invaluable opportunity to continue to learn from these business leaders and translate what I learn into opportunities for our students.”
Wallace came to FCCJ with 30 years of community college experience on his resume. As first a community college student, then a professor at Chaffey Community College in California, Wallace was schooled in the traditional junior college mission: prepare students to enter a four-year university.
But as Wallace moved up the administrative ladder, he said he began to realize the potential two-year schools had to prepare students to directly enter the workforce.
He saw that two-year schools could adjust their structure and curriculum to quickly respond to the demands of the labor market. That was the mindset he brought to FCCJ. Eight years later, FCCJ boasts the largest workforce development program in Florida with 220 career and technical programs ranging from construction to aviation to radiation therapy.
“Our primary responsibility is to be responsive and relevant to the human resource requirements of employers,” said Wallace. “We want to pay attention to their evolving needs and develop programs to address them.”
Wallace’s focus on pragmatic education has helped put FCCJ at the forefront of an emerging trend: two-year schools as graduate schools. As the economy becomes more technology-driven, jobs come and go based on new operating systems, hardware and software. Community colleges are becoming the post-grad schools of choice for many workers trying to keep pace.
President Bush made community colleges a centerpiece of his half-billion-dollar continuing education initiative. His nationwide tour touting the initiative brought Bush to FCCJ last year, when he appeared on stage with FCCJ students.
The new role of two-year schools is a boon for their surrounding economies as well, said Wallace. Community colleges offer the quickest and easiest turnaround for continuing education, he said. That makes it easier to train employees for desired job openings and means more jobs are filled from within the local job market.
Creating a better-prepared workforce is one of the planks upon which the City’s campaign to boost per capita income is built. Not surprisingly, Wallace said implementing the City’s Blueprint for Prosperity campaign will be one of the Chamber’s priorities during his terms as chairman-elect and chairman.
The Blueprint is a joint venture of the City, the Chamber and workforce analyst WorkSource designed to help the City’s per capita income catch up to national averages. Wallace and several members of his FCCJ staff have already helped write the draft plan for the Blueprint. Several of the planning meetings have been held on campus.
“The reality of this situation is that the only way to increase per capita income is to increase the workforce preparedness of our population,” said Wallace. “I’m excited about continuing to work with the Chamber, but we really all need to be involved in this process.”