Chamber, university programs will boost local career options

Chamber, university programs will boost local career options

By Teresa Pione Friday, 26 June 2009

The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and local universities are responding to the growth in career fields and job opportunities with plans for increasing college enrollment and expanding degree programs.

Drew Scheberle, senior vice president of Education and Workforce Development at the chamber, said local investments in education will attract more big businesses to the city.

“When companies look at where to locate their operations, one of the things they look at is what percent of your labor force has an associate degree, bachelor’s degree or higher or some particular science and math components,” Scheberle said.

In 2007, 38.4 percent of the greater Austin population held a bachelor’s degree while 13.5 percent had earned a graduate degree. For Scheberle, the challenge in raising those percentages begins with motivating high school students, he said.

To promote post-secondary enrollment, the chamber launched the 20,010 by 2010 Initiative in fall 2006. A part of the larger Opportunity Austin 2.0 program, the initiative is designed to increase metro-Austin’s college enrollment by 20,010 students by the year 2010. Through the program, chamber officials and volunteers guide students in the financial aid application process.

Scheberle said the chamber focused on education in order to meet the demands of the local economy. He predicts a growing need for employees in the areas of health care, software, biotechnology and government jobs.

“We’re still below where we need to be on technicians, nurses and network administrators — those are jobs where they’re still hiring,” Scheberle said.

Both biotechnology and software remain strong locally, though industries with lower costs could prove healthier in the long run.

“The biotech industry is a very capital intensive industry, and thus far they’ve still been able to get access to capital,” Scheberle said. “[For] software you just need brains.”

As the state capital, Austin’s job market may be poised to take advantage of increased government spending with jobs related to government services continuing to grow, Scheberle projected.

Lucrative industries

Lynne Milburn, director of the Career Exploration Center at the University of Texas, said high-paying, local jobs are readily available for one group of graduates in particular.

“Petroleum engineering is hot right now,” Milburn said. “Some [UT graduates] are getting, at a bachelor’s level, $90,000 [starting salary].”

According to AngelouEconomics 2009 Forecast, the average salary in the Austin software industry was more than $100,000 in 2008. The firm projected an 8 percent growth in the industry from 2008 to 2010. The information technology sector is also projected to grow by 6 percent in the same time period.

Despite what some may think, many information technology jobs are still available in Austin, said Robert Manzer, vice president of academic affairs at St. Edward’s University.

“The perception lingers that IT jobs are all being shipped abroad, and it isn’t true, but the perception is so strong,” Manzer said.

In fact, small, local information technology and software companies may have found their niche in a poor economy where larger corporations need help with business process management to help cut costs and improve supply chains.

“A number of these Austin companies are at this point where they’re moving into an international phase, so they’re growing locally, but they’re also setting up operations in Asia or India,” Scheberle said.

But sources agreed chasing the dollar may not always have a positive outcome for students seeking a fulfilling career.

Mike Midgley, vice president of Workforce Education and Business Development at Austin Community College, recalled a student who wanted to be a computer programmer during the last tech boom, but did not have much motivation past the salary potential. Such a student would be challenged to survive when the industry busts, as it did years later, he said.

Midgley said the lesson is that talent and interest should dictate a career path.

“There are a number of things that are still strong in Austin, so find the one that you’re interested in,” Midgley recommended.

Programs respond to local economy

Supplying the Central Texas region with 60 percent of its licensed vocational nurses, Austin Community College is working to expand its capacity in health care — a field growing as rapidly as the city’s population.

ACC also hopes to get involved in Austin’s burgeoning renewable energy sector. On June 8, the college launched a management course for undergraduates entitled “Sustainable/Green Business,” and by fall, a separate new program will be put in place to certify students interested in green economy careers.

The program is designed as a short course that will train students to make houses more energy efficient. Instruction will cover techniques from sealing air leaks to installing solar screens on windows.

Also taking part in environmentally focused programs, St. Edward’s University has a partnership with the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve to give students a first-hand glimpse into preservation issues.

Additional creative media classes are being considered to reflect Austin’s entertainment scene.

“We’re looking at a possible gaming program that would speak to that industry,” Manzer said.

St. Edward’s already offers an MBA in digital media, while ACC students can choose from three different associate degrees in video game development.

Strengthening skills

Aside from picking a major, students are tasked with developing certain skills to be competitive in the local job market.

“Austin is a hard town if you’re a liberal arts major because we don’t have a lot of large companies where you can hire young, bright, nontechnical people and coach them up,” Scheberle said.

Liberal arts majors should consider loading up on math and science courses, taking a computer programming course and learning a second language, he said.

“[A] well-rounded education [is one] where you can synthesize information and you’ve got the precise thinking that comes with math and science that you don’t get in liberal arts,” Scheberle said.

School officials also agreed students need communication skills to be effective in any career.

Manzer said a liberal arts education can lay a strong foundation for any career.

“You’re constantly hearing about the need for well-rounded students who can communicate effectively, whether it’s orally or verbally, and people who can think,” Manzer said.

Michael Heintze, associate vice president for enrollment management at Texas State, said a person’s major may actually have very little to do with future endeavors.

“In today’s society, it’s such a flowing environment that most of us who started out in a field may find that we change fields completely several times in our lifetime,” Heintze said.

Higher ed fueling the economy

In the 2007 Austin Independent School District graduating senior class, 63 percent of students enrolled for the fall semester at a Texas college.

As part of the push for enrollment, the Austin Chamber of Commerce took a campaign-like approach to informing local high school students on financial aid options by mailing 9,000 fliers to seniors and making 5,000 phone calls to families in financial need.

“For quarter one ’09, we had increased FAFSA [Federal Application for Federal Student Aid] submission by 25 percent year over year, which could be due to the economy, but over the last two years it’s increased by 48 percent. That’s millions of additional dollars to families to pay for college.” — Drew Scheberle, Austin Chamber Education and Workforce Development