Page 9 - BusinessWest July 24, 2023

“How do they engage the graduate, entice the graduate to stay local and not go elsewhere? That goes beyond pay; that goes beyond benefits. It’s more, how do we make them feel that they have a good career trajectory here at Western Mass.?”
leaders can do to meet those needs.
“It’s critically important,” Benitez told
BusinessWest shortly after that event. “Workforce development is one of the major focus areas of our education.”
Take, for instance, healthcare, one of this region’s key economic drivers — and, in particular, the persistent need for tal- ented nurses.
“There is no state that is not hurting for a nursing workforce,” Benitez said. “So our approach has been, let’s work together with the major industries in the region; how can we help provide that workforce? And it has to be a joint effort.”
That’s because students who study at
area colleges must have a reason to stay
here after they graduate. When they leave,
he noted, AIC has done its job providing
them with an education, but it has not
fulfilled its mission to meet the workforce
needs of Western Mass. or the Commonwealth at large.
“So we have to create an environment where the student under- stands that, if they pursue their nursing degree at AIC, they have a clear transition plan to the workforce at one of the major hospitals or hospital systems in the region.”
To that end, AIC has worked closely with Baystate Medical Cen- ter and the Trinity Health system to create models to fulfill their specific workforce needs. Benitez and his chief of staff have partici- pated in strategic-planning sessions for workforce development at Baystate, and have also spoken with the leadership of Mercy Medi- cal Center about creating a model to draw more advanced-practice providers to the hospital and the Trinity system.
“We heard firsthand, ‘we need more of this, more of this, and more of this,’” he said. “We have to be working together. If I don’t know — if the academic institution does not know — what they need, and what are the skillsets they’re looking for, there is no way
AIC is taking steps to better integrate career preparation into its programs.
the academic institution is going to be able to fulfill those needs.” Not only does a college need to understand the needs of indus-
tries into which its graduates will enter, he explained, but it must to be nimble and willing to move in the direction of creating or refor- matting initiatives that will fulfill these specific needs.
“How education has been delivered in the past may not be what employers are looking for,” Benitez told BusinessWest. “That may take form of certificates, certifications, short courses of instruction, staff development. Some
may say, ‘well, we really
don’t need more of these AIC at the baccalaureate
Continued on page 45
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