Career Pathway Employer Teams
Over 100 volunteers representing all areas of business, agencies, and government make up the CPET (Career Pathway Employer Team) committee of the School-to-Career Council.
The mission of the CPETs (Career Pathway Employer Teams) is to create and strengthen effective, collaborative relationships among educators, employers, and students to prepare future employees to become productive, socially responsible citizens.
CPETs provide students with opportunities for:
- Career exploration and development
- Work-based-learning experiences
- Learning the value of school and academics as preparation for career development
CPETs integrate core academics and CTE (Career and Technical Education) courses with the world of work.
CPETs support school improvement efforts.
CPETs support the improvement and development of curricula and facilities for CTE courses.
CPETs identify current and future job trends and make recommendations.
CPETs promote cooperation and collaboration among employers, schools, and postsecondary education.
Basically, each CPET is a group of business people and postsecondary educators who share a common passion for one of the 11 career pathways and meet regularly to enhance the connections between school and career for the various careers within their pathway.
Career Pathways
Each CPET is aligned with one of the 11 career pathways as identified by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. The 11 pathways are:
- Agricultural and Natural Resources Technologies
- Arts and Sciences
- Biological and Chemical Technologies
- Business Technologies
- Commercial and Artistic Production Technologies
- Construction Technologies
- Engineering Technologies
- Health Sciences
- Industrial Technologies
- Public Service Technologies
- Transport Systems Technologies
Goals for Each CPET
- Develop a yearly plan
- Identify, prioritize, and build relationships with Business Alliances.
- Plan and complete programs, services, and events.
- Integrate learning initiatives with school improvement plans.
- Determine and meet the needs, expectations, requirements, preferences of students, student segments, and employer segments.
- Develop programs, services, and events that integrate core academics, CTE courses, character education, and work-based experiences.
- Help students learn and experience various occupations and careers.
- Help students and teachers better understand the value of school and its linkage with the world of work.
- Help students discern their gifts, talents, and aspirations.
- Help students increase their self-awareness and self-knowledge
- Help students define their personal and professional goals.
- Help students increase their awareness and understanding of he needs of our society and world.
- Help students plan and prepare for future education and/or employment.
- Help students understand the need to practice good values, ethics, and citizenship.
- Help students prepare for life after high school.
- Access how CPET programs, services, and events impact society.
Objectives of individual CPET members
By doing the following, each CPET member will help themselves, their employer, and the community.
- Describe/explain the value of their occupation, employer or employer type, and employerıs product, program, or service.
- Listen and learn from other employer representatives from your CPET and others.
- Be a friend, coach, mentor, role model, advocate for students.
Work of the CPET
CPETs provide work-based learning resources and help develop curricula for occupational categories within their particular career pathway. This complements school business alliances that are responsible for providing career awareness information to their students.
Each of the eleven CPETs has a leader. This leader enlists 5-10 employer representatives from across the county to serve on their team. CPET members may also serve on individual business alliances. The CPET identifies contacts with related trade associations who help recruit CPET members.
CPET members help alliances with work-based learning activities, and they make career awareness presentations when business alliances cannot secure a presenter from an occupational category in their pathway. CPET members volunteer on a system-wide basis rather than at specific schools. The CPET leaders have good communications with each business alliance, and they have a sufficient number of employer representatives available from the various occupational categories within their pathway to respond to requests from alliances.
CPET team members receive training on the various work-based learning strategies including job shadowing, internships, apprenticeships, and cooperative education. This training also includes how to prepare evaluations and follow up with school staff. Team members are advised on procedures to follow in placing special education students in work-based learning experiences.
The CPET leaders meet monthly to discuss their efforts, provide status updates, share best practices, collaborate, and support each other.
CPET Responsibilities
- Support STC activities at the elementary-school level.
- Support STC activities at the middle-school level.
- Support STC activities at the high-school level.
- Support STC activities that connect students with postsecondary education.
- Ensure good media coverage and public relations.
- Communication with other parts of the Council.
- Coordinate with the Career Development Coordinator (CDC) at the high schools
- Coordinate with the Career Development Coordinator (CDC) at the middle schools
- Coordinate with the senior administrators for curriculum issues.
- Support the academies at the high schools.
- Communicate with trade associations.
CPET Leader Responsibilities
Lead the Committee
- Come to meetings with a prepared plan/agenda.
- If unable to attend, identify a replacement and discuss plan/agenda with them.
- Keep track of planning goals and update School-to-Career Coordinator as progress is made and goals are accomplished.
- Distribute work to all members, i.e. engage the membership by providing them with assignments.
Training
- Train new members about STC and their specific place in the Council.
- Continuously train the existing members to ensure they are up to date.
Planning
- Make plans for STC activities.
- Be aware of how your ideas or suggestions might impact other areas of the Council.
Engaged
- Solicit membership from business community/industry segment in which you work.
- Provide a summary of goals, areas where help is needed and ideas on moving forward.
The CPET leaders coordinate their team's involvement with the STCC Leadership Team, school system, postsecondary education, chambers of commerce, Apprenticeship Bureau, and business alliances to develop/upgrade CTE course and career academies.
Curriculum Development
The following outline for adding curricula development to the CPET strategy focuses on identifying employer needs in our community and developing/upgrading CTE courses and academies on a system-wide basis to serve those needs:
Employer needs
Define the needs of the employers by:
- Collecting current labor market information (Identifying hot jobs)
- Forecasting future employer needs from trends
- Determining occupational categories (within career pathways but not necessarily inclusive of the entire pathway)
Career pathway teams
Organize system-wide, non-partisan career pathway teams for each occupational category that:
- Determine skill levels required for each occupational category
- Define program content for secondary and postsecondary levels
- Evaluate, select and/or create appropriate curricula (Avoid employer-specific curricula that excludes other employers from participating)
- Develop sample 4-year courses of study/schedules detailing academic and technical course sequences/requirements that articulate with postsecondary components
- Establish articulation agreements
- Establish a work-based learning plan
Instructional resources
Analyze and provide instructional resources
- Determine facilities and equipment requirements
- Determine faculty requirements and qualifications
- Define responsibilities of school system, community college, employers, etc.
- Select school/campus (The program could be at a magnet high school that serves students out of their normal base student population area, at a community college, or at a high school serving their own students and students based at other nearby high schools.)
CPET commitments
Develop CPET commitments to:
- Maintain program standards (certifications)
- Maintain selection standards for work-based learning opportunities
- Provide competent, trained mentors (Develop mentor training program)
- Maintain department of labor apprenticeship standards
- Provide tuition reimbursement/scholarships for postsecondary education
- Commit to work-based learning strategies
- Identify and recruit sponsors
- Assist with acquisition of specialized equipment, if required
- Assist with marketing program to students
Student interviews
Interview student work-based learning applicants
- Establish criteria and entrance/continuance requirements for work-based learning opportunities
- Develop application, interview and selection process
Marketing and public relations
Develop marketing and public relations plans
- Recruit students for CTE courses
- Develop/identify career awareness activities that work for students and employers
- Collaborate with postsecondary schools
- Educate employers as to how the partnership works and how it will benefit them
- Develop promotional materials (brochures, forms, presentations, and videos)
- Prepare information packet for prospective students
- Develop information packet for parents, teachers, counselors, administrators, and media
- Prepare parent presentation for PTAs, etc.
- Prepare kickoff or introduction strategy (press release, media event)
- Establish strategy for recruiting future students (middle school)
- Roles of public school system and community college:
- Provide staff to work with CPETs
- Establish administrative and coordination responsibilities
- Develop timelines
- Provide curriculum, lab and instructional materials and equipment
- Provide marketing material
- Employ qualified faculty
- Define role of contact at each school/campus (business alliances)
- Provide professional development
- Establish student transportation plan
CPET Team File
Each CPET will document the following information.
Team members and contact information
A list of team members and their contact information will be updated on a regular basis.
Yearly Plan
Program Documentation
- Brief description of programs, services (who, what, when, where)
- Summary report, including key results and outcomes
- Survey, feedback, satisfaction reports
- Improvement opportunities
- Periodic progress reports (from CPET leader meetings)
End of Year Report
- Summary
- Accomplishments
- Successes and strengths
- Opportunities for improvement
CPETs can function as advisory committees for CTE production work activities.
Wake County Public School System programs are staffed and offered without regard to race, gender, age, color, religion, national origin, citizenship status, political affiliation, or disability.