Joliet Junior College Focusing on Training Students for In-Demand Jobs

The following is a letter submitted to Patch from JJC President Dr. Debra Daniels.

JOLIET, IL — Joliet Junior College will celebrate its 115th anniversary this year. That’s right — it was in 1901 that our founders, J. Stanley Brown and William Rainey Harper, started the very first public community college in the country right here in Joliet. We’ve gone from six students then to a total 38,000 credit-seeking and lifelong learning students today.

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Our mission has remained relatively the same: to provide local access to quality higher education at an accessible cost. Over time, however, our focus has evolved to include workforce development opportunities and business and industry training. Shifting economies, industries and technologies have encouraged us to develop programs to train students for in-demand jobs in our area.

One of the prime examples of this at work is our new Operations Engineering and Technician (OET) Program, which launched in the fall of 2015. This new technical program leads graduates directly to local careers in the petrochemical, nuclear and manufacturing industries, responding to industry growth and an increasing number of retirees in these areas.

Collaboration to get this program off the ground was crucial, and I’m proud to share the success with State Senator Sue Rezin and several local employers. Our partnerships with business and industry are critical. Because we engage in productive dialogue with our external partners and use their valuable feedback and insight, our curriculum gives JJC students the skills necessary to match what our area employers need.

I would like to personally thank the following industry partners who worked with us to develop the OET curriculum: Aux Sable Liquid Products, Exelon (Braidwood, Dresden and LaSalle Stations), LyondellBasell, Grundy Area Vocational Center, Coal City School District, and the Grundy Economic Development Council.

Since we kicked off the program several months ago, we’ve also received support and investments from other organizations who believe in the importance of this program and the opportunity it provides our residents and businesses. The international energy company TransCanada has donated a total of $55,000 to purchase modern equipment. Exelon has provided two $1,000 scholarships this spring semester to students in the program. Students currently in the program already have hands-on internships waiting for them with Exelon, Lyondell, Starcon, and Manhattan Mechanical, just to name a few.

Since it started, the OET program has received a formal congressional recognition in October 2015 by U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger as well as the 2015 Illinois Council of Community College Administrators (ICCCA) Innovation Award.

As we enter into our 115th year, what remains important to us is that our students have opportunities for stable, satisfying careers and that our district companies have access to educated and skilled employees, prepared to succeed in their chosen field.