The College of Western Idaho (CWI) recently completed work on a comprehensive local needs assessment (CLNA) in compliance with the 2018 Perkins V federal legislation. The assessment will help provide a clear view of labor needs in our ten-county service region.
The assessment will also provide insight about opportunities to provide needed training to the local labor market and emerging industries in our service region. Results from the needs assessment will inform annual Perkins V applications and CWI institutional strategies to address current and future needs of the local communities and businesses that make up Region 3 and the State of Idaho.
CWI is required to conduct a local area needs assessment every two years consisting of analysis in six parts including:
- Student performance
- Size, scope, and quality
- Industry and occupation alignment
- Program of study implementation
- Recruitment, retention, and training of qualified Career and Technical Education (CTE) personnel
- Equal access
The CLNA is the first step and is meant as a tool to gather information, analyze and identify areas where programs of study could be initiated or improved. The CLNA results then inform the Perkins application (Perkins IV referred to it as a Local Plan) which is due every four years. The application is meant to be a high-level overview of the recipient’s CTE program and how they will incorporate their needs into existing policies and procedures.
Thank you to those who were able to participate in the research. Your participation in this process will help CWI better utilize federal funding to deliver local workforce training to meet employer needs.
The Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment results may be found at www.cwi.edu/clna.