Chemeketa, Willamette academy get $500,000 in Workforce Ready grants

Chemeketa Community College has been awarded a $300,000 state grant to expand a program training people in workplace diversity.

The Workforce Ready grant was awarded by the state Higher Education Coordinating Commission.

The commission also announced an award of $274,329 to the Willamette Education Service District to pay for equipment, cover student fees and registration for a conference.

Those projects were two out of 42 totalling $10 million in grant funding that is “focused on encouraging innovation and removing barriers to job training and education for historically underserved and marginalized populations,” according to a news release from HECC.

Officials from Chemeketa and Willamette ESD provided more details of what the grants will mean for their institutions.

Cultural Competency Certificate

With the Workforce Ready grant funds, the community college intends to offer the six-week course leading to a cultural competency certificate at a cost of $25 per person. Twenty-five people have enrolled for the first round of training, which began this week. More training could be offered in the spring.

“We didn’t have the capacity within our office to be able to do these numerous workshops. It required additional capacity,” said Vivi Caleffi Prichard, chief diversity officer for Chemeketa.

Since March 2022, 17 people have earned cultural competency certificates, according to Prichard. The certificate carries no class credit. With the grant, Chemeketa will increase its capacity to offer the training and hopes to be able to award at least 100 certificates.

The cultural competency certificate “documents the attainment of knowledge and skills in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion,” according to Chemeketa’s website.

What was once a way to honor the requirements of 2017 state legislation that required all employees of Oregon’s public universities and community colleges to obtain “cultural fluency and competency standards” eventually became a certificate available to anyone.

“A lot of people from other higher education institutions and nonprofits were interested in having their staff participate in the certificate. But we didn’t have a way to award the certificate, because it was an internal thing that we did for ourselves,” Prichard said. “As a community college, we are uniquely positioned, because we can respond to the needs of the workforce by offering short-term credentials.”

With more classes, Chemeketa can strengthen “employer connections and (ensure) workplaces are ready to inclusively welcome and retain new employees,” the state agency said in its announcement.

Prichard expanded on that objective.

“There is research that shows the mono-cultural teams are not as innovative or do not perform as well as teams that are intercultural and have the cultural competency to work together,” Prichard said. “That is the intent of our certificate is to build capacity for people to interact with one another…so people are better prepared to interact with one another and serve their communities.”

Willamette ESD equipment, fees, conference

The Willamette Career Academy, the state’s first large-scale regional career and technical education center, is an arm of the Willamette ESD, which serves 21 school districts in Marion and Polk counties.

The career academy is an off-site program, not a school, with six programs: cosmetology, health services, diesel technology, construction, computer science, and manufacturing — which stands to benefit the most from the state grant, according to Johnie Ferro, Willamette Career Academy principal.

“Our manufacturing program is new this year. It’s different from some traditional programs in that it’s highly automated,” Ferro said. “We have a classroom set of modules and machines that allow students to learn all the different applications in modern-day manufacturing processes.”

Still, Ferro said, other educational settings similar to Willamette Career Academy possess equipment that is more advanced.

“We knew we would need to apply for grants to get the state-of-the-art equipment that our manufacturing industry already has on site to make sure our students are most competitive for those high-wage, high-demand jobs,” Ferro said. “That’s where this grant really helps us fill the gaps. We’re honored and thankful to get the industry level equipment in our facility.”

The equipment includes a computer numerical control machine kit, precision lathe, water jet, ironworker abrasive delivery systems, Akon welding curtains, a large scale printer and downdraft tables.

“Some of it is arriving, some of it is still on the way — but it’s all been ordered,” Ferro said.

Additional funds will go directly to students to help pay for various fees associated with organizations, competitions, and conferences — including the Oregon Tradeswomen Career Fair.

“Any good career and technical education program is coupled with a career and technical student organization,” Ferro said. “This is the first year of our program, so this year, we’re trying to stand up our student leadership organization.”

She added that the career academy would like to attract more women.

“It’s our moral imperative to share the benefits of all different types of the niche industries with our underserved and non-traditional genders,” Ferro said.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misquoted Vivi Caleffi Prichard, chief diversity officer of Chemeketa Community College. Her quote should have read: “There is research that shows the mono-cultural teams are not as innovative or do not perform as well as teams that are intercultural and have the cultural competency to work together.” Salem Reporter apologizes for the error.

STORY TIP OR IDEA? Contact Reporter Kevin Opsahl by email at [email protected].

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Kevin Opsahl is the education reporter for Salem Reporter. He was previously the education reporter for The Mail Tribune, based in Medford. He has reported for newspapers in Utah and Washington and freelanced. Kevin is a 2010 graduate of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington, and is a native of Maryland.

Kevin Opsahl is the education reporter for Salem Reporter. He was previously the education reporter for The Mail Tribune, based in Medford. He has reported for newspapers in Utah and Washington and freelanced. Kevin is a 2010 graduate of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington, and is a native of Maryland.