1. Module 4: TSMO Workforce Education
Regional Operations Forum
Franklin, TN
May 21-23, 2019

2. Session Overview Brief overview of SETWC Future of TSMO workforce
Highlights from recent research
Roundtable discussions & reports
Opportunities for engagement

3. Southeast Transportation Workforce Center
Southeast Transportation Workforce Center (SETWC)
Established in 2014 through Federal Highway Administration
Serving 12 southeastern states and Puerto Rico
Areas of national focus:
Women in transportation
Freight (trucking, rail, logistics)
Transportation operations

4. for the Transportation Workforce
National Network
for the Transportation Workforce

5. What’s driving change? TECHNOLOGY Pipeline challenges
Outdated organizational procedures, job descriptions, etc.

6. Key Workforce Challenges
Perceptions
Lack of awareness
‘Everyone’ needs a 4-year degree
Misperceptions of occupations
(and connections to STEM)
Lack of understanding of career progression

7. Key Workforce Challenges
Changing demographics
Aging workforce
Multiple generations working together – and they value different things…
Ethnicity trends
DIVERSITY

8. Key Workforce Challenges
Technology
Change in the way work is conducted
Skillset shifts
New occupations
How do we respond from education/training perspective?

9. Attracting the Next Generation
EARLY intervention
Tell the story!
Alternative recruitment and retention strategies – it’s all about motivation….and recruiting who you really need...
“You can’t be what you can’t see”
- Marian Wright Edelman, founder of The Children’s Defense Fund
Early engagement- and changing perceptions
How do we tell the story about why these jobs matter? That they impact lives? That they are good jobs that pay well and have a future? That there is less ‘dirt’ and more ’tech’?
Talk about outdated job descriptions

10. National Transportation Career Pathways Initiative FHWA Agreement No
National Transportation Career Pathways Initiative FHWA Agreement No.DTFH6116H00030
Midwest
Engineering
Northeast
Environment
Southeast
Operations
Southwest
Planning
West Region
Safety

11. National Transportation Career Pathways Initiative
Characterizing the Workforce
Operations professionals must be:
Flexible, responsive, and adaptive to an ever-changing set of technological tools and innovations;
Capable of performing well under pressure and of making good decisions in high stress/high stakes environments;
Effective communicators, particularly with a wide range of stakeholders;
Knowledgeable of system infrastructure design and connectivity; and
No common academic pathway for transportation operations.
Operations in any realm requires significant on-the-job training.

12. National Transportation Career Pathways Initiative
Workforce Readiness Challenges
The workforce of the future must possess more interdisciplinary skills that cross over traditional boundaries of academic preparation.
One of most impacted discipline areas in terms of disruptive technologies.
Lack of awareness and misperception of operations occupations are the most significant challenges.
Experiential learning is crucial.

13. National Transportation Career Pathways Initiative

14. TSMO Workforce: Skills, Positions, Recruitment, Retention, and Career Development NCHRP 20-7/Task 408

15. TSMO Workforce: Skills, Positions, Recruitment, Retention, and Career Development NCHRP 20-7/Task 408

16. Discussion Groups

17. Where do we go from here? Flexibility and resilience
Starting (or changing) the conversation
COLLABORATION!
Key Message: There are many other resources for ITS in work zones
Background Information: Here are a few that I thought were good resources. These provide a good spread of coverage of work zone issues and how ITS can address those issues. They can all be found on the FHWA work zone website.
Interactivity: Ask if participants have resources that they have found particularly useful.

18. How can you be engaged?
Participate in Transportation Spotlight program
Join NTCPI working group .

19. Questions?
Stephanie Ivey