The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s TechEd Frontiers is filling the skills needed by industries across southeast Wisconsin and beyond.
TechEd Frontiers, UWM’s workforce development solution, reskills and upskills employees through online, self-paced pathways. The program leverages relationships with industry leaders and the infrastructure of a R1 research institution known for its online education platforms to deliver best-in-class learning in high-demand areas.
“Most of our curriculum across the university is industry-informed,” UWM Vice Provost Phyllis King said. “Conversations we’re having with our TechEd Frontiers Industry Advisory Council are keeping us current. We’re getting closer to understanding each other’s needs and being able to predict what is going to be needed in the future.”
The Industry Advisory Council provides a talent development perspective across a broad cross section of employers in southeast Wisconsin and across the country. Employers currently represented include Microsoft Corporation, Northwestern Mutual, Manpower Group and Rockwell Automation, among numerous others.
“What we’re finding when we talk with industry partners is that courses and topics need to be more applied to current experience,” King said. “Learning and skills acquisition is more effective when it is applied. What industry does is inform us about current practices and what our students need to know and learn to grow in their jobs. Industry has helped us understand the work environment and the application of knowledge and learning to the workplace.”
The first two TechEd Frontiers pathways – Cybersecurity Analyst I and Data Analytics and Visualization with Excel – are focused on skills and needs identified by these industry leaders. These same leaders are also realizing the most cost-effective and efficient way to build skills in their workforce is to grow talent from within. UWM is uniquely positioned to provide these opportunities in an on-demand effective manner.
“We’ve been doing this (online education) for a long time,” King said. “We have a very good national reputation for online education. We’ve identified and evaluated effective practices in online learning and competency-based education. This has helped us design some really high-quality programs and TechEd Frontiers is one of those.”
UWM is also able to rely on its faculty experts to provide the substance and depth of learning in the areas identified as high-demand.
“Because we are a R1 research institution, we can go and create these pathways with industry and then our faculty can lend a real depth of expertise,” King said. “Our faculty can create content from cutting-edge research. The discoveries that can occur alongside the learning and with industry are invaluable. We design a lot of the programming to be very current and focused on emerging skills, and we’re constantly adapting and customizing to fit the needs of industry.”
Employers and employees interested in enrolling in TechEd Frontiers can learn more online or by contacting Phyllis King.