The March membership meeting was held on Wednesday, March 21, at DeVry University in North Brunswick. The meeting was hosted and lunch was provided by Pavi Jalloh, Community Outreach Manager. Dr. Harold McCulloch, President, welcomed the membership and brought us greetings from his administrative staff. Kelley Taptich, Director of Admissions, distributed recruitment brochures to our membership and reviewed their scholarship process and deadlines. Victoria Vavricka, NJCEA President, presented Dr. McCulloch, Pavi Jalloh, and Kelley Taptich with certificates of appreciation. Dr. Deborah Helman, Professor of Business & Marketing, presented through PowerPoint sample marketing projects that have been completed by her students. Dr. Helman was presented with an honorary NJCEA membership. A membership meeting was conducted after this presentation.
Over 50 of NJCEA’s Cooperative Education Coordinators met at the New Jersey Department of Education’s Conference Room to enjoy a special workshop lunch sponsored by Janet Ryerson from Prentice Hall. Education Program Development Specialist, Roger McCloughan, from the Office of Vocational-Technical Career Programs, provided a hands-on workshop that should offer coordinators a tool that will streamline the various reports we are responsible to complete for each of our students. Most coordinators brought their laptops and were given the VTECS, Connect software (free of charge), so that they could experience first-hand the benefits it provides for student work-based learning reporting. Tim Withee, VTECS software implementation specialist did a wonderful job of explaining how the software is used and the many reports that can be generated from a single visit. 
 
Tim showed how Connect can be used in a training environment where detailed information must be maintained and kept current. The software allows you to fully customize instructional plans, track training progress, and keep a complete history of employers and training plans for each individual. You can do it all electronically, tie in the New Jersey’s Core Curriculum Standards, and make it easy to repeat for all your students without repeating entire training plans etc. From this information you can generate a variety of reports, including Training Agreements, Training plans & objectives, employment history, progress reports, achievement certificates, wage & hour reports, student information reports, and student evaluations, all with a push of a key. The meeting was well attended and further training will be continued at a future date, so keep your eyes open for the next workshop. This is definitely a tool all coordinators can use to make their jobs more complete. Thank you to Janet, Roger and Tim for a job well done.
 
  Al Lundgren (NJDOL) speaks at the NJCEA General Membership Meeting about proper techniques for evaluating student worksites. Our special guest speaker, Mr. Al Lundgren, from the New Jersey Department of Labor, provided an excellent presentation concerning our coop students and workplace safety. He reviewed a “Worksite Inspection List” we can all use when evaluating a worksite. He also reviewed workplace safety and the questions you should ask when inspecting a student worksite and what hazard observations you need to be aware of when doing your inspection. Al also provided all of us with a handout that explains to our coop students their responsibilities concerning safety and health on the job. Thank you to BCIT and Al Lundgren for a job well done! |