Aligning Florida's Manufacturing Programs with External Standards: Closing the Loops

In 2006, the Florida Advanced Technological Education Center (FLATE) completed the design and creation of an Engineering Technology Associate of Science Degree program and in 2007, this program was installed within the Florida Department of Education and adopted by three colleges within the Florida State College System. The program of study for the degree is a traditional “one-plus-one” design with the core courses in the first year and eight specialization tracks for focused technical study in the second year. This core course of study incorporates the unique feature of being aligned to an external industry standard with credential articulated credit. Today, the degree program is offered by 10 state colleges in Florida and is still growing. It has become an award-winning national model cited as a best practice by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the national Automotive Manufacturing Technology Education Collaborative (AMTEC) for career pathways. The program’s credential-based articulation supports a variety of strongly connected pathways for students to the manufacturing workforce in Florida. With this expansion and recognition comes the expectation that the program maintain relevance to career pathways and to employers. FLATE is supported by the National Science Foundation as an Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence, and works with its partner colleges, manufacturers, and manufacturing associations to establish the clear value of the degree to workers and validates the credential-curriculum alignment using multiple approaches.